One of these days I’ll organize my thoughts and write this into an essay.

My theory is that many parents are increasingly afraid to parent their kids in the world of social media. They know deep down inside that they can’t compete against the messages on the platforms, and they can’t police their kids.

So instead, they go along with it, support any insane whim their child has, and even encourages whatever the latest trend is. It gives them plausible deniability and someone else to blame. “Everyone assured me that the puberty blockers and surgery was perfectly safe, I never thought it would end in regret and suicide.”

But before it gets that far, opportunistic predators can swoop in and claim the children as their own. The exhausted parents are more than happy to delegate the responsibility (and blame) to someone else, again, with that sweet sweet plausible deniability.