Big Sister worries about her 'little's' media use
Dear Amy: I am a 30-year-old woman with no children.
I am mentoring a 12-year-old girl through the Big Sisters program. "Sandie" is a great, strong-willed kid, but has been through the wringer, with a history of sexual abuse, her dad in prison for most of her life, serious poverty and her mom giving up custody (just to name a few).
This doesn't faze me; my question is regarding the kind of media she consumes.
She has never had any supervision at all and has always had unlimited access to a smartphone and the internet.
As a result, her favorite music is the most intense kinds of "gangsta rap," with shocking and horrible language. She loves horror and R-rated movies and her idols are all incredibly trashy reality/YouTube teens with prison records.
I am a total bookworm square and was raised in white upper-middle-class suburbia, so this was definitely new territory for me.
I know this kind of stuff can't be healthy for a little kid to be taking in, and my question is how I should handle it when she (regularly) pulls up her favorite videos or songs to show me.
I have to keep myself from cringing. I want to be a good role model, and I do not want her to feel like I am judging her or putting down her favorite stuff.
Should I gently say ... anything? Should I just keep my mouth shut and nod neutrally?
-- No Kid Experience
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