#their grandparents certainly weren't offering to take them anywhere

[faejilly]

so, when I was a teenager, I was Not At Home most of the time. I would just. Go outside! Find people! Explore the area! Wander around! Read a book under a tree!

School, extracurriculars, work, libraries, legit hanging out at the food court and movie theatres and arcades and playgrounds and 24 hour restaurants until bar time and drunk adults showed up, etc. etc. etc.

Almost none of those places allow children & teenagers to hang out at them anymore, most neighborhoods don't even really encourage you letting your children explore, actual parks/stores etc. have fewer hours, or require membership or adult supervision, or simply don't exist now.

The only social outlet most kids have available to them anymore is online. Even when they'd rather go see their friends in person, they can't. (Half of them can't even CALL their friends, because their families don't have landlines and there are limits on their mobile access until they're older.)

AND NOW YOU'RE GOING TO TAKE THAT AWAY TOO?

(Plus also mass censorship and surveillance is BAD, but even logistically, why do you hate letting children do things and then claim their isolation is for their own good?)

objectively good idea