My son Andrew is going to be a junior in high school. I find that wildly unbelievable, as do many of my coworkers and friends that have known him since he was being carried around the high school campus by my students and being taught to say as much slang as they could get him to mimic before I caught on. Most of the time, I take his growing up for granted, especially during Shelter in Place, because I see him every day, and now that he is a teenager, he is in a world I know something about (even though he will tell you that I puzzle him just as much as any other teen puzzles their parent).
So, when I listened to him as a contributor to his second podcast on My Digital Tat2’s Media in the Middle series, I was taken aback by hearing him in his own context, saying things that were interesting to me as an educator and as a parent, in addition to as his parent. I have always been fascinated by the way that adolescents form their world views and feel so fortunate to see it, but watching it as a parent is so amazing, gratifying, and with all things child-related, puzzling. He remembers things that I clearly don’t, but he also catches things I didn’t know he did. It makes me proud to hear him state opinions, listen to others’ and take the risk of speaking up.
I am super proud of all my kids, and will surely brag on them another time, but I found this episode very timely and a good reminder about what teens are going through right now and what we can learn about what they see adults doing. I have to give a huge shout out to My Digital Tat2 for all that I’ve learned from them and the world they’ve opened up to my kids!