Science compels us to explode the Sun!

Her mom and dad return and give her iPad on first request. She plays with it peacefully while adults talk. Mom moves to take it away for bedtime and it’s immediate tantrum. Screaming and crying tears. The screaming continues all the way to bathtime and bed. Mom and Dad have to cajole her with a snack and lots of attention for about twenty minutes before her crying stops.

Now, I want to be fair to these parents: toddler is overwhelmed by Mom and Dad returning from a, by her standards, “long” time away. It’s getting late, toddler is tired and maybe actually did need that snack. Toddlers also just act different around babysitters than they do mom and dad.

But for a toddler who was a pleasant and attentive kid for three days to dissolve into tantrum of that length as soon as she is reunited with and then separated from her iPad freaks me out. She is not a teen upset she can’t communicate with her friend. She’s not even a grade-schooler who didn’t save their Minecraft world. She’s a toddler who is distressed by being separated from an overstimulation machine.

Her parents have convinced themselves it’s a tool and a convenience by handing it to her and gaining silence at mealtimes and car rides and every request when she’s a bright kid who can spend just as much time with a book as with a screen, with much less distress at separation.

HOWEVER.

In a stable long-term relationship and considering marriage

Shifting my investment portfolio from an aggressive growth-focused into a conservative mixture of low-risk stocks, bonds, and real estate

In possession of a beam that disintegrates all of someone's ligaments

Comfortably in my role as the leader of a small team after an initial promotion, and firmly on track for a second promotion

Zapping people and small animals indiscriminately with the aforementioned beam

three questions:

will these teens be financially compensated for their labor?

what happens to these teens when they become adults?

if your parents are controlling enough to set up family sharing on your account, this is what discord lets them do:

see all of your gay and trans friends with their gay and trans pride flag profile pictures and pronouns in bio

see all of the gay and trans servers you join

see all of the gay and trans people you talk to

see how much time you spend talking to your gay and trans friends

see how much money you spend on decorating your profile to express yourself

see all reports you file against other users when they make you feel unsafe (so your parents can beat you for having talked to someone that tried to take advantage of you)