My internal monologue reading about teens today

 Okay, to organize my ideas to convert into my internal monologue I am doing bullet points. 

These are in no particular order but I did read these three and will try to add in the comments other articles that are relevant to the point I am trying to cook in here. 

- Teens, Social Media and Mental Health eens, Social Media and Mental Health by Michelle Faverio, Monica Anderson and Eugenie Park 

- 12th grade girls are less likely than boys to say they want to get married someday by Dana Braga

- Is teen summer employment in the U.S. rebounding after a long fade? by Drew DeSilver

• Though DeSilver says that teen employment is decreasing. I actually have very mixed feeling about teens working. I am all over the place when it comes to teens working. I started working at 14 years old because I wanted to be able to take the burden off my parents from buying me the equipment I needed for my sport and to fund the phone I desperately wanted. But it also let me to always relying on the money I was producing and I blame this for my lack on focusing on my career and at times putting work above all else simply because it paid the bills. So, I do think jobs can be bad as money can start flowing, we get used to it and it might be hard to for one to want to cut the flow and focus on the future. Specially if family is depending on it.
• I also think jobs are awesome and they prepare you for the real world. I think jobs can really prepare you to be a kind, well rounded and patient individual. Specially if you directly work with the public like at retail, food service or any customer service. 
• But I wonder if there is also an influx of how much do teens really prioritize seeking unpaid internships rather than a paid summer job with low stakes since you know it is only for the summer?
• Do teens think free labor is kinda crazy in this economy but also just inherently problematic?
• Then I thought about why would teens need a job when parents just buy them cellphones at such a young age now- IT DAWNED ON ME! Teens consume so much social media. In my perspective, social media is consumerism town! 
• This was the way I thought about it when I read "Teens, social media and mental health." As teens feel more connected I feel like there is an appearance that social media carries or produces the idea that it expects for these ever changing standards. 
• Call me old but the aesthetics change every month. I thought we were in "clean girl era" for long enough to stick until all the other eras seem to pile one after another. YET they all the same tone of " If you buy this makeup/clothes/accessories/technology you are going to achieve this persona. I feel like young girls are so impressionable and tent to mimic each other for validation. If a friend ground is using a certain type of lipbalm it means something. IT MEANS COMMUNITY. 
• I think social media is so damaging because teens are expected to boosts their appearance by consuming products that influencers are paid to promote. 
• It also worries me that we are getting to the point of that crazy TikTok lady that consulted AI for mental health and presumed abuse by a mental health provider. 
• Even I fall for it... I might be old to teens but those ads get me too. Did I really need that one poop scooper that claimed to effortlessly pick up all my dog poop with minimal effort? INDEED I DID! Or thought I did… I was under the impression that I could not live without this product as the owner of two large breed dogs so I ordered it, the size XL?
• I guess we can all pretty much guess what happened next. I assembled my plastic poop scooper and failed horribly to clean my snowy poop filled back yard. Thinking it was user error, maybe my dogs were just too large, maybe it's the snow but I couldn’t let my husband know I bought another useless gadget. I HAD to make it work. I went so far as to pretend it was working so well to the point that my husband was SO impressed that he asked if he could try. As suspected, he failed and was pretty baffled thinking that I was able to do it seemingly. Truth was I WAS NO LONGER EVEN ATTEMPTING TO MAKE THIS SCOOPER WORK. I would just pick it all up with poop bags. Anyway, sorry for the tangent and the multiple mentions of dog poop. We just threw out the poop scooper today after owning it for probably no more than a year and had “used” it a handful of times which none were successful. POINT IS that social media is so persuasive and I cannot imagine being a teen these days.
• With the amount of information that teens are consuming I often think about those kids that come from a situations where not every want can override a need
• I also think about how unrealistic social media is. Have y'all seen those "night routines" and other videos in which these influencers are making it seem like their glamorous life is just so normal. Id they can why can't I? If you can't then you are "lazy" or "unmotivated"
• l would be worried too if my children were in their teens and already dealing with growing up but they are also expected to buy everything they see when they scroll
• at least they are consciousthey spend too much time online? This could be good as they can create positive spaces for IMPORTANT things like advocacy, a broad world view and being able to be informed and share good and important in formation
• I am happy parents are concerned about mental health and that they keep in mind when thinking about their teens.
• It is so refreshing to also hear that the world is changing when it comes to women and how we measure their development and milestones. As a person that tries to think historically, the idea of marriage (thought I am married) seems so archaic! And I truly applaud all those parents who encourage their girls to not thinking that this part of their life is everything and that the person who they are forming today is so worthy to have a variety of goals

At the end I think we should really add financial literacy to the equation especially if we think about literacy as something inherently oppressive. Social media sells an unattainable lifestyle