Team Internet

Monday

Mar262018

If I were a linkbait kind of blogger, in this space would be a warning to all of the parents of the world about the dangers of the internet. Kids these days have to navigate a land far different than what we had as kids and there are traps and pitfalls and dangers behind every click.

But I'm not that kind of blogger.

And I don't have that kind of kid (yet, anyway).

Instead, I'm the sort of blogger who has always embraced the internet and felt that my kids should, too. Alexis has had an Instagram account for years at this point, and with much practice comes knowledge. She screens the backgrounds of her photos for things she doesn't want to share. She flatly ignores memes that say things like "Double-tap if you think I'm pretty" because she thinks they are manipulative. She tells me about questionable things that other kids post (Don't smoke Smarties, kids. It's dumb.). There's still lots to learn, but she's doing a heck of a job.

And, man, is there an upside.

Alexis' world is so much bigger than mine was when I was her age.

I have a million examples of ways that Alexis has managed to turn access to the internet into a learning opportunity that is incredible, but the thing that's catching my attention right now is probably my favorite - my girls have access to an endless supply of strong women doing strong things. Some of them are people she knows "IRL" because they're my friends, but some are women she sought out.

I recently let Alexis start using Twitter. The first person she followed? Well, me. But then she followed Emma González.

She's also following Malala, Misty Copeland, Zandaya, Pink, Ellen Degeneres, Alicia Keys, Hillary Clinton, Millie Bobbie Brown, Emma Watson, Selena Gomez, and Taylor Swift. While some of those are not my favorites, there's no denying that it's a powerful list of doers.

BTW, Alexis can tell you an amazing amount about Malala because she has used the internet to learn as much as she can about the powerhouse who is changing the world.

The moment that I realized that Alexis and Mila have access to infinitely more powerful women than I did as a kid was this past weekend. We went to the March for our Lives because Alexis badly wanted to be a part of something she believes in, but it wasn't until after the march that I saw it. Alexis sent me a video of Naomi Wadler's speech with the text "MOM. SHE'S ELEVEN YEARS OLD."

"I want to be like her when I grown up."

"SHE'S SO AMAZING."

I want to be like Naomi Wadler when I grow up, too.

The notion of "girl power" has changed a bit in the 30 years between Alexis' world and mine, and wow do I love where it's going.