Comments

COMMENTS developed out of a feeling of fear and deep empathy. Fear of the challenge’s teenagers must tackle because of social media, and empathy because I only just made it out unscathed. I am part of that odd generation who experienced some life without the internet, but had early versions of social media in the very formative high school years, and became addicted in my 20s.
I talked to a lot of teen girls, teachers, parents and researchers. The feeling of living a double life and feeling hostage to your device was spoken about a lot. Stories of bullying came up a lot. The difference between then and now lay in the weapons of choice; the apps, the message threads, the fake accounts, the digital blackmail. The anonymity offered to online perpetrators was unprecedented. What I found even more complex was the confluence of the online tools being the source of pain but also the balm for the wounds.
Social media is not an addition to young people’s lives, it’s an extension of their reality. Isolating yourself from the network, or deleting the apps is not the simple solution. There’s no real permanent escape from the internet.
The film examines the relationship between resilience building and the online rabbit hole. It asks, how can you find resilience as a young person when the internet is both barrier and balm?
I hope anyone struggling with similar experiences knows that there is always someone in their life who is there to help.