NPR: How One Mom Talks To Her Sons About Hate On The Internet

[Malmsy]

https://www.npr.org/2019/08/17/751986787/writer-joanna-schroeder-on-preventing-teenage-boys-from-turning-to-hate

"One of my kids said: If you can be trans and just decide what you are then how come you can't just decide to be a penguin?" said Schroeder, a writer and mother of two sons and a daughter, in an interview with NPR's Weekend Edition Saturday.

It may sound like a normal question a kid would ask, Schroeder admits. But she also knew that their curiosities didn't mesh with the values that she and her husband share with their children. "We've talked to our kids about LGBTQ community, we know trans people personally," she said.

As it turned out, her son's question had been inspired by a meme he saw on Instagram. "I knew it was time to start looking at their social media use and figuring out what they were being exposed to," she said.

She grew increasingly disturbed as she went down the rabbit hole of Instagram's "Explore" page and clicked "related videos" on their YouTube accounts. What she saw was an inundation of memes strewn with racist, sexist, homophobic and anti-Semitic jokes shared by other users.

"The boys [are] consuming media with the 'people are too sensitive' and 'you can't say anything anymore!' themes," Schroeder tweeted. "For these boys, this will ring true — they're getting in trouble for 'nothing.' This narrative allows boys to shed the shame — replacing it w/anger."