How to Talk To Teens About War, Pandemics, And Whatever Fresh Hell They’re Encountering This Week

You know what? You're right. Your parents’ generation is woefully unprepared to help you through this. It sucks, it’s unfair, and it shouldn’t have happened like this.

It is not fair that I have to ask you to grow up along side me right now. I should be able to show you the way, to guide you through all the shit you’re going through.

I want to have the answers, but I also want to be able to sit back and watch you make mistakes and learn and grow, knowing it’s going to be okay, more or less.

Not being able to give the young adulthood I want for you is painful.

No question about it. Watching you struggle while feeling lost and angry is painful. It’s worse because I can’t do anything to stop it.

But here’s the thing.

We’re at the part of the story where the Big Bad has just showed up, done something spectacular and terrifying, and we all start to get to see what we’re made of.

The reports you read about people going around without masks, crowding at the beach or calling the virus a hoax? They’re the ones who are so scared shitless that they can not accept the reality of the Big Bad. So they pretend the Big Bad isn’t really there.

They are also, unfortunately, the red shirts of this operation. So we know what happens to them.

But we also know what happens next:

after the initial Big Bad event, we start to learn the strengths and talents of our main characters. We learn that the little kid can actually set things on fire with her mind. We learn that the old guy knows a thing or two about how magic works. We learn that the Big Brave Hero is kind of an introvert and maybe a bit of an asshole.

So here’s the thing: I’m on your team. I'm one of your crew.

None of us knows the landscape, but I’m good with a map, and I know you’re baller with a set of throwing knives, and at least ONE of us has to know how to row a boat.

This is your invitation.

You can try to remain a kid - a child who wants an easy way through and who will let the grownups handle the Big Bad. Or, you can grow up and join the gang. Both choices are understandable. But I know which one I want for you.

Our stories are full of kids who had to grow up faster than anyone would want them to. Harry fought a troll at 10. Frodo definitely did not choose a life of adventure. Lyra went to hell and came back before her 18th birthday. Katniss got tossed into the arena at 16 to fight the most unfair fight in the history of dystopias.

But they all had teams. You see what I’m getting at?

I need you on the team. Your team is your future. And your present.

So let’s go to bed, and in the morning, we’ll start doing some research and see if we can’t figure out where this story goes. What we need. How we stay sane and hold on to the idea of a future that’s worth living in. I can’t tell you how we do that, but I promise you I’ll show up and do my part to figure it out with you.

I will. not. bail.

No power in the fucking ‘verse can stop me.