On Tuesday’s episode of Today with Hoda & Jenna, they welcomed Matthew McConaughey to the show, who just recently revealed he let his 15-year-old son use social media for the first time.
Obviously that was something Hoda and Jenna wanted to talk about as they both have kids of their own. Kotb asked McConaughey straight up how the conversation went with his son. How did they manage to keep him off social media for so long?
Oh he wanted it early on — probably when was 12, definitely 13, definitely when he was 14. And we waited until he was 15. We tried to look at the upfalls and the downfalls. We said, ‘Look, this is not like sending your kid off to college but it is like sending your kid out with a bunch of strangers into the world. Some you will know, some you won’t; some will be fair, some will not; some will give you a thumbs down no matter what you said, they’re just trolling. Does that affect you? It’s going to affect you. It affects me!’
He went on to say he just instructed his son to live his life. If he thinks he has something worth sharing, then share it and don’t be too concerned about what people think of it.
This is where Jenna chimed in, revealing she actually follow’s McConaughey’s advice…
We always talk about this because we’re actually following your lead. I have a 10-year-old, she won’t be getting even a phone for a long time. She knows that. But also, I want her to live in this world. But also, I don’t want her just scrolling. I want her writing songs or reading,
It’s a constant struggle for parents. You want to protect your kids for as long as possible, but you also don’t want them to fall behind either.
Where’s the balance? Ultimately it’s up to you and your kid.
