Jen from Oregon
My parents are pretty reasonable, middle of the road centrists. The problem is they would probably agree with every critique of Fox, Limbaugh, and Jones on here but don't realize -what a lot of people don't realize in my opinion- is there is a less centralized force spreading the same hatred coming for our kids and my parents unintentionally fed my son into that meat grinder.
Youtube has imposed some rather unimpressive measures to get rid of the worst of the worst, but the same messages aimed at our kids, primarily young men, are still there. Online gaming gets blamed for a lot, but it's not the games themselves that are the problem.
It's the people they meet through online gaming and the related twitch and discord communities. You can find n*zis in Roblox if you know what you're looking for or you're invited. Reddit has quarantined these types of communities, but there are back doors so you can still get to them, if you know they're there.
If I can find them as a middle aged woman -SO CAN YOUR KIDS! One of the worst forums on reddit was started by a state representative from New Hampshire and it's no secret that Bannon was using these little corners of the internet to attempt to warp young minds.
Please educate yourself, my parents either still don't realize (or want to admit what they've done). They don't understand the way they reinforce it, they just shrug and "well, that's the internet, what can you do?" Supervise your kids and grandkids. Know what your parents allow when your kids are with relatives.
Keep computers in public areas, console gaming does have more oversight, but keep those in public areas too, so you can see if the person your kid is gaming with has a klansman hovering over a dead Black body and gravestone as their profile picture -because that happened! I saw it, and my son tried to convince me it's not a reflection of the person behind that account.
I've lost my son. He's in his early 20s now and this has been going on for 8 years. Eight long years of fighting about whether this is even a problem that exists. Eight long years since we've had a family dinner or celebrated holidays.
Think it can't get that bad? ...I promise you, IT CAN. The only thing comparable, or in my opinion, WORSE, than losing your parents, is losing your kid. It's the same hate, the same mis/disinformation. Godspeed friends.