A Whole Lot of BS: Part 2

Over the years, we've seen and heard of people suing companies, either for their own clumsiness or something that they willingly chose to do. Such examples involve Red Bull being sued because their product didn't "give them wings", Uber sued for ruining someone's marriage, and a couple suing a video game company for their son's addiction. I feel like these people who do things like this are just looking for attention. What's next? Someone suing McDonald's for making them fat? I have zero sympathy for people who file meritless lawsuits. The topic for this story, however, is about parents suing social media companies for causing their children to develop mental health issues.

First and foremost, I'm an advocate for mental health and it matters. I do sympathize with everyone, especially children who have or are currently going through this. I'm going to address both parents and children, because an honest conversation about social media and mental health needs to be had. The thing that bothers me is that I don't like the majority of people, mostly parents, portraying social media apps like Instagram, TikTok, etc. as the villains and blaming them for their children being online so much. I grew up in the 1990s and back then, we didn't have social media. We are responsible for ourselves and no one else.

To the parents who are suing these social media companies for their children's mental health: social media companies aren't your children's parents. They didn't conceive them. You did. Why aren't you monitoring and limiting their social media usage? That's what a responsible parent should do. Parenting is a difficult job, but you are responsible for them. If you're so quick to blame and sue social media companies for something your child or children willingly decide to do, then I question your style of parenting. Stop ignoring your children and actually be parents. If your child chooses to take part in a dangerous social media challenge or trend and either gets injured or results in death, suing social media companies isn't the first thing that you should do. The responsible thing to do is encourage your children to not participate in them. I'm all for fun social media challenges and trends, but again, you are responsible for your own children. Social media companies are NOT their babysitters. Actually be in your children's lives instead of leaving them to their own devices. I need all of you to have several seats for this nonsense.

Recently, I ran into this ad on Facebook and it's proof that people are just looking for a quick buck. These law firms and attorneys are just looking to make money based on other people's feelings, and you can't convince me otherwise. Instead of parents taking accountability for their children's well-being, they seek an attorney and sue any social media company because of children they should've been paying attention to in the first place. We are such a sue-happy company and why we're such a complete laughingstock as a country. My intent is not to insult parents. It's me holding parents accountable and reminding them to actually more attention to the people in front of them.

To the much younger crowd: I've been on social media for over 15 years, using the internet for almost 30 years, and experienced verbal abuse on different apps. When I was growing up, apps like Instagram and TikTok didn't exist. We went outside, played with our friends, and enjoyed the simple things in life. I care about your mental well-being. However, you have to know when to take a break from social media. This isn't me saying this out of hostility or malice, but out of genuine care. I've been bullied as a kid and continued into adulthood. If I'm on social media a lot, but whenever someone or something becomes too much for me, I either log off or delete the app. The only person who is responsible for your life is you. We're all responsible for the things we do and say. You have to find healthy, relaxing things to do outside of social media. Yes, people are cruel and toxic online. However, like I said before, you have to take a break from social media apps when it becomes too much to handle. Appreciate the good things in life offline and enjoy them. We're all works in progress, and I hope your life can be filed with happiness and prosperity.