When Sophie Szew first downloaded Instagram at her 10th birthday party, she was exposed to a flurry of information that “promoted eating disorders,” she told California lawmakers. By 15, she said, she was following “every starvation regimen recommended” by Instagram’s “explore” page. Szew, now 20, spoke in Sacramento at a Senate hearing in April in […]
Teenagers
Posted inLetters + Opinion
The Black Market’s Legacy
Fifty dollars worth of weed. That’s reportedly what led four young men to arrange via Snapchat a meeting with a 16 year old on the dark Arcata street. According to Arcata Police Chief Brian Ahearn, they’d planned to simply hand over whatever small quantity of black market cannabis $50 buys these days and go on […]
Posted inArts + Scene
Five Things To Know Before You Attend Outside Lands With Your Teenager(s)
1. If your little darling still wants to hang out with you, savor it. This year’s event starts Friday, Aug. 8, but the best Outside Lands fest I went to was in 2009, because the two offspring I brought with me were 13 and 15, respectively. It was their first major music festival. They studied […]
Posted inLetters + Opinion
Systematically Misled
Gil Kerlikowske is worried about our nation’s teenagers. Or so he claims. As the Obama administration’s drug czar, he says he’s concerned that kids today just aren’t scared enough of marijuana. Last week, Kerlikowske spoke soberly to the media about the latest survey from the National Institute of Drug Abuse. He blamed softening attitudes (read: […]