When the Kids Start Saying No
By: Chloe Papadakis
From the fictional town of Cedar Valley, where characters from Quiet Echo continue to respond to real-world events.
Nearly half of American teenagers now believe social media is harming people their age—and they’re starting to put down their phones.
That’s the finding from a new Pew Research study that stopped me mid-scroll this morning. Forty-eight percent of teens say social media has a mostly negative effect on their peers. That’s up from 32 percent just three years ago. More striking: 44 percent say they’ve tried to cut back. Our children are doing what we’ve begged them to do—not because we told them, but because they finally see what we see.
I think about this as I watch my daughter play with blocks on the living room floor. She’s too young for a phone, too young for the feeds and filters and endless comparisons. But she won’t stay that way. Someday she’ll want what her friends have. Someday she’ll measure herself against images that aren’t real, curated by algorithms that profit from her insecurity. That day is coming, and it terrifies me.
What gives me hope is that the teenagers themselves are waking up. Not because adults lectured them into submission—that never works—but because they’ve lived the experience and found it wanting. They’ve felt the anxiety that spikes with every notification, the loneliness that somehow deepens the more “connected” they become. Teen girls especially report that social media damages their sleep, their confidence, their sense of who they are. They’re not waiting for Congress to fix it. They’re choosing differently.
This is how real change happens. Not from the top down, but from the inside out. A generation raised on screens is learning to look up from them.
As parents, our job isn’t to ban and restrict—though boundaries matter—but to stay present. To ask questions and actually listen. To model the behavior we hope to see. My husband and I have started putting our phones in a drawer during dinner. It’s a small thing. But my daughter notices. She notices everything.
The research tells us something else worth remembering: teens who feel supported by family and community handle social media better. The answer isn’t just less screen time. It’s more real time. More conversations at the kitchen table. More walks without earbuds. More of what humans have always needed—presence, attention, the steady knowledge that someone sees you and thinks you matter.
Our kids are figuring this out faster than we expected. Maybe we should trust them a little more. And maybe we should follow their lead.
This editorial is part of the fictional Cedar Valley News series. While the people and town are fictional, the national events they reflect on are real.
Want to know the full story behind Cedar Valley? Teresa, Caleb, Dan, and the community you’ve come to know in these editorials first came together in Quiet Echo: When Loud Voices Divide, Quiet Ones Bring Together. Discover how a small town found its way from fear to fellowship—one quiet act of courage at a time. Available on Amazon: https://bit.ly/3ME4nSs
It’s free, live, and fresh! Quiet Echo—A Cedar Valley News Podcast is live on Apple Podcasts: https://bit.ly/4nV8XsE, Spotify: https://bit.ly/4hdNHfX, YouTube: https://bit.ly/48Zfu1g , and Podcastle: https://bit.ly/4pYRstE. Every day, you can hear Cedar Valley’s editorials read aloud by the voices you’ve come to know—warm, steady, and rooted in the values we share. Step into the rhythm of our town, one short reflection at a time. Wherever you listen, you’ll feel right at home. Presented by the Publication Consultants: https://publicationconsultants.com/
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This is Publication Consultants’ motivation for constantly striving to assist authors sell and market their books. Author Campaign Method (ACM) of sales and marketing is Publication Consultants’ plan to accomplish this so that our authors’ books have a reasonable opportunity for success. We know the difference between motion and direction. ACM is direction! ACM is the process for authorpreneurs who are serious about bringing their books to market. ACM is a boon for them.
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Cortex is for serious authors and will probably not be of interest to hobbyists. We recorded our Cortex training and information meeting. If you’re a serious author, and did not attend the meeting, and would like to review the training information, kindly let us know. Authors are required to have a Facebook author page to use Cortex.
Correction:
We take the quote by Marcella Smith, Small Press Business Manager, Barnes & Noble seriously: “The author is essential to the success of the book, giving energy behind the book to make it something that a customer will come in and ask for. That is what makes the difference in a book that sells, that develops legs, and has a life of its own. Otherwise the book goes on the shelf and stays there for three months. Then it gets returned.”
This is Publication Consultants’ motivation for constantly striving to assist authors sell and market their books. ACM is Publication Consultants’ plan to accomplish this so that our authors’ books have a reasonable opportunity for success. We know the difference between motion and direction. ACM is direction! ACM is the process for authors who are serious about bringing their books to market. ACM is a boon for serious authors, but a burden for hobbyist. We don’t recommend ACM for hobbyists.
We’re the only publisher we know of that provides authors with book signing opportunities. Book signing are appropriate for hobbyist and essential for serious authors. To schedule a book signing kindly go to our website, <
An Author Page on Amazon Author Central is a serious author ACM requirement and desirable for the hobbyist. Author Central is a free resource designed to help authors become more active participants in the promotion of their books. In Author Central you can manage an Author Page, update information about your books, and view Customer Reviews and sales information for your bibliography. If you don’t already have an Author Page on 
We hear authors complain about all the personal stuff on Facebook. Most of these complaints are because the author doesn’t understand the difference difference between a Facebook profile and a Facebook page. Simply put, a profile is for personal things for friends and family; a page is for business. If your book is just a hobby, then it’s fine to have only a Facebook profile and make your posts for friends and family; however, if you’re serious about your writing, and it’s a business with you, or you want it to be business, then you need a Facebook page as an author. It’s simple to tell if it’s a page or a profile. A profile shows how many friends and a page shows how many likes. Here’s a link <> to a straight forward description on how to set up your author Facebook page.
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