My Kid Wants to Be an Influencer. Is That Bad?

<div class="OutlineElement Ltr SCXW249907872 BCX4"> <p><span data-contrast="none">A parent of a six-year-old</span> <a href= "https://www.wired.com/story/my-kid-wants-to-be-an-influencer-is-that-bad/"> <span data-contrast="none">recently asked</span></a> <em><span data-contrast="none">WIRED</span></em> <span data-contrast="none">Magazine’s advice columnist, “My kid wants to be an influencer. Is that bad?”</span><span data-ccp-props="{"201341983":0,"335559731":720,"335559739":0,"335559740":480}"> </span></p> <p><em><span data-contrast="none">WIRED’s</span></em> <span data-contrast="none">answer, more or less, was that the concerned parent should relax. “All that collective angst about television, movies, newspapers, and theater,”</span> <a href= "https://www.wired.com/story/my-kid-wants-to-be-an-influencer-is-that-bad/"> <span data-contrast="none">the author wrote</span></a><span data-contrast="none">, is “a lineage, a rite of passage through which all generations must proceed.” </span><span data-ccp-props= "{"201341983":0,"335559731":720,"335559739":0,"335559740":480}"> </span></p> <p><span data-contrast="none">That’s true. But just because “The Twist” was pretty harmless doesn’t mean that TikTok is. Smartphones are an open door for pornography, sexual exploitation, peer pressure, mental illness, and abusive relationships. </span><span data-ccp-props= "{"201341983":0,"335559731":720,"335559739":0,"335559740":480}"> </span></p> <p><span data-contrast="none">Not to mention, fame is a dangerous thing. In a 2011 interview,</span> <a href= "https://www.breakpoint.org/dont-let-your-babies-grow-up-to-be-pop-stars/"> <span data-contrast="none">Billy Ray Cyrus</span></a> <span data-contrast="none">said the decision to let his daughter Miley become a pop star “destroyed [his] family,” and if he could, he’d “take it back in a second.”</span><span data-ccp-props= "{"201341983":0,"335559731":720,"335559739":0,"335559740":480}"> </span></p> <p><span data-contrast="none">In other words, before we let our kids become “influencer