Dear Parents: Do Not Disturb Your Teens When They Are Scrolling

Imagine when you were teenager. There really was only one thing you were a fan of, and most likely all your friends shared that interest, because they too saw it on one of the three TV channels. But with the rise of technology, teens are now exposed to everything from all parts of the world. It is no longer that one radio station or the three TV channels, it’s online music streaming, hundreds of channels, e-readers and Netflix.

Today a young person is exposed to an average of 2 hours and 22 minutes on social media. That’s billions of possible interests, and “fandom” is now taking center-stage. Fandom literally means “the state or condition of being a fan of someone or something”. One can be in a fandom for anything. Some of these include: books, movies, music, actors, and TV shows, to name a few. Many parents believe that fandom is a waste of time, and I couldn’t disagree more, in fact, fandom has many benefits. 

Fandom helps us heal 

According to an article on Psychology Today by Dr. Janina Scarlet, it has been proven that being a fan of something, specifically of fictional stories, can actually help individuals heal from emotional stress and trauma. She found that, “drawing parallels between their [traumatic] experiences and those of other people or fictional characters made it easier for clients to process what they had been through”. The “real” world is rough, with bullying, poverty, racism, sexism and so much more to deal with on the daily. Because of how fandom can bring together fantasy and reality, it is easy to see ourselves in characters and relate to their experiences. For example, if you see your condition reflected on screen by a character in a story, you feel so much less alone and understood, which can really a benefit person’s mental health. 

Fandom connects us 

The real world can really make a person feel alone, especially a person with an obscure interest. The kid across the street could be a fan of Doctor Who, while I am a fan of Lord of the Rings, which don’t have much in common. You could show me Doctor Who, but there is a fifty-fifty chance that I would even like it. But because of technology, now we can find online friends who share the same interests as us and love them as much as we do. Author John Green summarized it perfectly: “I dislike the phrase ‘Internet friends,’ because it implies that people you know online aren’t really your friends, that somehow the friendship is less real to you because it happens through text messages. The measure of a friendship is not its physicality but its significance. Good friendships, online or off, urge us toward empathy; they give us comfort and also pull us out of the prisons of ourselves.” You can bond over your shared love of your fandom and make you feel more welcome than anyone in your own world can, so you never have to feel alone.

Fandom make us emotionally healthier 

Fans are often characterized as the crazy girls with tears streaming down her faces. But expressing emotions is the first step toward dealing with them. It acts as a stress reliever, and can relieve pent up tension. “By letting the tears flow, you are letting out what hurts while making more room in your heart for positive thoughts and feelings” says Barton Goldsmith, a media therapist with a PhD in emotional fitness. 

But still society looks upon fandom with stigma. Specifically the parents, who haul their teens off their computers and throw them into unwanted social situations - which can be more harmful than helpful - all because they don’t understand how much it’s helping them. Just like anything there are negatives, like fanatical fans stalking their idols, but those are only the 1% of the fan population. The rest of us just want to be part of a community and cry over Star Wars. Education is the key to bridging this parent-teenager gap and it starts with communication and openness to what fandom has to offer. Now, I’m off to Tumblr -- “Avengers: Endgame” is about to come out!