No Politics Allowed Transcript
Good morning, Preeti, how are you? It's your favorite season of the year.
Preeti (00:03.104)
I'm good, Curt. How are
Preeti (00:07.56)
It's really not.
Curt (00:09.269)
It's political season, which brings up a lot of questions right now about how much politics should we be spouting off on online? And how does that affect role modeling for our kids? If we're online screaming from one of the two bell towers, go Trump or go Harris. What do you think of that?
Preeti (00:27.138)
All right, so I actually had an experience earlier this week where I started unfollowing a lot of creators that I really, really have enjoyed over the last couple of years. And I'll tell you why. It is not because of anything specific that they said. It's not because they're on one team or another. It's because I come to them for information, entertainment, or help that I need. I have deemed them a trusted source for whatever it is, whether it's humor.
to help me through my day and take my mind off things that are more serious or whether it's needing help with relationships or my sobriety or, you know, it could be anything. And I come to them because I trust them to help me. And I started unfollowing because all of a sudden these people who I've really enjoyed their content over the last years.
have decided to use their platform to talk about one candidate or another. And for me, it doesn't matter. I'm not here to take sides or pick sides or anything. And I want to sort of say to our viewers that we're not gonna do that. We're not jumping on a bandwagon. We're here to talk about parenting. And very specifically, we're here to talk about how social media is affecting your child. And it seems really hypocritical for us to engage in
the kind of content and honestly that devolves very quickly into bullying and have a platform to actually say, hey, come to us so we can talk to you about how to help your child through bullying, how to help your child have a healthy relationship with social media. The fact is, is that we as adults,
We don't have healthy relationships with social media. And I can call myself out. I am 100% a culprit of this. And three and a half years ago, when I got sober, I made a very conscious decision to disengage from my bullying, from my terribly base instincts to go after strangers on the internet who don't agree with me. I don't do it anymore. It is something that I own, something that I did.
Preeti (02:38.72)
in the past where I weaponized my ideas and my intellect and my ability to communicate. It is an ugly, ugly part of who I have been. It is not who I fundamentally am. And it is definitely not who I want to be in the world. And I truly believe that if we as adults do not figure out a better way, if we aren't role modeling for our kids how to engage properly constructively,
respectfully online, then there's absolutely no leg that we have to stand on. We're not going to be able to help our children through bullying.
Curt (03:15.683)
So this sounds like a case of do as I say, not as I do. If a parent or a creator is saying one thing about forgiveness and peace and leave it behind and don't get, you know, caught up in the lower self or ego, it's not about you, yet they're turning the other side and, you know, doing a political statement one way or the other, which will naturally turn off whoever they're, you the opposite party is. Why do you think creators are going down this road when it could
dangerous to their growth on the internet as well as their business.
Preeti (03:47.704)
Well, look, let's just acknowledge the fact that everything exploded politically in the last couple of weeks. We've had some very dark moments in our history and we're not handling it well. I think that we as a nation have some level of PTSD between violence online and out there in person.
between the divisiveness that's happened, where people on social media are unfriending one another because they disagree with one another and they're doing it so vehemently and honestly very aggressively. And I've done it myself. I don't do it anymore, but it's definitely a trap that I've fallen into. We are unable to sort
self -regulate. Our emotions, our nervous systems are completely out of whack. And this is a really complicated and difficult moment. So I think for some people, winning seems to be a really big part of this. Everybody wants to win. And I feel like we're all losing because of it.
Curt (04:54.477)
Yeah, I think being right, winning and being right right now is engaging people. We're looking for external validation, like we talk about at MAYA through our political winning. If Trump does a great speech or Harris tweets something back and we won, right? It's, it's, we got to cut in on the other side. So we're really just devaluing our models by going out with our little insults and jabs and trying to cut the other side to feel better. And as you and I both know, bringing people down never lifts you up.
What would you say to teens that are in our program and are thinking about our programs, about how to handle if they see their mom or dad or even a creator they like going political, whether it's for their what they believe or
Preeti (05:34.846)
I think that the key to this, the key for me has been to not engage. It's really hard to do and it's something that I have had to practice over many years. My family is very political. My family is very interested in politics. I grew up in an environment where we were well -versed in history, where everyone was up to date on current affairs, where people read newspapers, and I'm grateful for that.
but they've also kind of, Not to call my family out, but they've also jumped on the bandwagon and I've had to set some very clear boundaries with my parents and my sister and they've been respectful of it. I have to reinforce those boundaries time and time again, but for the most part, people have respected it as soon as they've realized that I'm serious about it. And the boundary is very simple. Please don't send me political memes. Please don't send me anything, any short videos. I don't want it.
And I'll tell you why. They generally are not constructive. They're not informational. They're not there to provide me with information for me to make an informed decision. They seem to, especially when we're taking sound bites and we're cutting down things that people have said to these little clips, these digestible pieces, which is the world we live in. In doing this work together, you and I know that 30 -second and 60 -second clips
If anybody actually even watches the full 30 or 60 seconds, and it's probably a really good one, for the most part, we're watching 10, 15 seconds of something that somebody says. And you can't get a point of view across in that short period of time.
Curt (07:18.421)
Yeah, I think you're right. And this is obviously a representation of their own pain or what they're going through. If they're unhappy in life, we're just using politics for this year and this stretch to, you know, kind of express ourselves in that. And I think you're right. Setting up a boundary, which, course, social media, not a lot of boundaries because no one feels accountable. As Mike Tyson says, everyone's a tough guy until you show up at their front door. You know, everybody likes to talk online. So they have this great freedom to express themselves that could rub you the wrong way. So I agree
You know, knowing that when a friend or someone responds politically online, it's not about you. It's their beliefs. It's what they're going through and you don't have to engage and you can just kind of wish them well, separate with peace and say, well, good for you if that's, you know, what you believe politically and you want to express it. That's actually the freedom of the internet and also in America, they have a right to do that. So you have to respect that right as well that they can express themselves. You can express yourselves. And if it is triggering you, you can unfollow, you can not respond.
and it's okay. It isn't a slap back at them. You're just respecting their space and they have to respect your boundary
Preeti (08:23.906)
That's exactly right. I think we want to teach our children that the internet is a really helpful and useful place, but it's also a place where people go to air grievances. It's a place where people go to work out things in sort of a public way that they probably wouldn't do in real life. It's a bit of an outlet for people to vent. And unfortunately,
I don't know that we as a society have done a good job learning how to do that in respectful and constructive ways. And it's really hard for us to actually be able to teach our children how to do it if we're not doing it ourselves. So I feel deeply for the parent whose child is being hurt daily. And that hurt is coming home with them, that they don't get to leave that at school anymore because the internet is on their phones. The bullying is now.
24/7 and it's really really hard for a child to go through and a parent to witness But I but I pose the question you have to ask yourself after a certain you have to ask yourself Is there something that that I am doing in my interactions with others online? That is perpetuating this This
this environment of vitriol and hatred for complete strangers with different points of view? And also, am I presenting my ideas in angry and snarky ways instead of actually making a contribution to a dialogue? It's no longer a dialogue or a debate. And people I respect and people I really care about and love and whose viewpoints I might agree with, I have noticed in the last couple of weeks are posting things on social media.
that are just full of anger and snark and sarcasm. And none of it's actually even celebrating the candidate that they're supposedly excited about. It's not lifting anybody up, as you said. It's all about jabbing here and jabbing back and it's reactionary and it's very, very...
Preeti (10:34.87)
It's going to sound super judgmental. I think it's very unhealthy. It makes me feel unhealthy. And I will tell you that it was a great excuse to drink. It was a great excuse that the world was going to hell in a handbasket. The world was falling apart at the seams. I jumped on that bandwagon and I enjoyed a certain amount of outrage that made me feel justified in doing other things that were maladaptive. And by that, mean,
shopping, drinking, eating, and engaging with like -minded people who wanted to bash others who didn't think the same as we did. All of these are coping skills that are super unhealthy, that serve to actually hurt us and not help us. And we are showing that this is how we engage with others and this is how we deal with our stress. This is what we're modeling for our kids.
So it is no surprise that they are coming home feeling wounded and wounding others, by the way. We should also talk about the fact that if we are bullies, then we are teaching our children to also be bullies.
Curt (11:43.161)
Yeah, 100% on that. think you're right. If you're an adult and a parent who is against online bullying, whether you're telling your child about this or looking out for the signs of it, you won't stand for it. It's not right. And then you literally turn around on your phone as you give that speech and give the, Trump's the best. I hate Trump. Like you're doing the same thing. So role modeling and kind of look at yourself in the mirror. How are you responding online? It's certainly in this political season.
Are you bullying? Are you, like you said, putting out correct and interesting information, positive, or are you an online political bully? Maybe that's what we should call this. And is your child seeing that or responding the same way in school? Because kids are getting into the same type of engaged and triggered situations in school arguing about this. If you like Trump, you're X. If you like Harris, you're X. So they're just role modeling you and what they're seeing. So adult bullying politically? Does it transfer to kids online?
Preeti (12:22.936)
All right.
So it's one of those things can do the same type of thing again to contribute
Curt (12:42.509)
Find out at www.MAYA4Life.com
Preeti (12:44.92)
And I challenge parents, your child has been wounded by behavior on social media and online, if your child has come to you in tears, the next time you want to lash out at a complete stranger or somebody that you know online, maybe pause first and remember that it's incredibly hurtful. It doesn't add to the dialogue and that we're teaching our children a way to engage in behavior that's going to hurt themselves and others.
Curt (13:13.849)
That's a great opinion, fascinating talk. How can people get in touch with you? Where do they go to find out more about MAYA?
Preeti (13:19.98)
We are at www.maya4life.com and you can find our videos on social media, on TikTok, on Instagram, on Facebook, @maya4lifeofficial and YouTube. Don't forget about YouTube. Thanks.
Curt (13:34.562)
All right, thanks.
ARE YOU BEING RESPONSIBLE OR A VICTIM, WATCH THIS...
Comments