Erin Napier Gets Flooded With Comments After Sharing Parenting Rule
HGTV star Erin Napier wears many hats. The artist, designer, and small-town advocate shares her many talents with fans of Home Town, but her true passion shines through when she's talking about her family.
Erin and her husband Ben share two young daughters, Helen and Mae, and they're very careful about protecting their identities on social media, especially after a terrifying incident with a stranger in their hometown of Laurel, Mississippi. Now, the parents are looking toward keeping their children safe as they grow older.
A recent interview with Kate Winslet resonated with Erin. The Oscar-winning actress talked to BBC about the dangers of smart phones and explained that her three children do not have social media. Kate said, "I don't have some magic formula. I don't want to be accused of being a celebrity standing up on a soap box, but it is possible to just say, 'No.' My children don't have social media and haven't had social media."
Erin shared a clip from the interview on her Instagram story and then wrote an in-depth post on why she and Ben have come to the same decision for their young daughters.
Erin posted a photo of herself from high school and described herself as a "highly sensitive artistic kid." She found joy in creating art and sharing it with her supportive family and friends. Erin explained, "I am so thankful I grew up without the crushing pressure of social media... the criticism or silence of 'likes' would’ve hurt me deeply. It would have shaped me into someone, something else. I read once where we should only accept the criticism of people who know us and love us well enough to deliver it gently and in a way that helps instead of hurts. Social media for teenagers is the harshest criticism of all, and worst of all a distorted and broken and misguided kind of critic who sets these young people without their fully developed emotional minds on the wrong path."
Erin continued, "We and all our closest friends have made an agreement that until our kids are grown, they won’t have smart phones bought on our dime. That way, they can’t say 'but all my friends have one.' Is it mean to keep them from communicating with smart phones? I don’t care....Childhood is so short. We’re gonna savor every last second of our girls’ that we can. I bet lots of you feel the same way and have had success and I would love to hear about it!"
And Erin was right. Her fans flooded her with thousands of comments. Many parents who agreed with her strategy and left messages like, "We need more of this kind of thinking. Our children need it more than ever," "YEEESSSSSSS TO ALL OF THIS!" and "AMEN!! Thank you for using your platform for good??."
We love seeing this refreshing parenting perspective from Erin!
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