23/02/2026
Parents, Caregivers (& education providers)...
A little note about the Epstein files.
Our kids are reading them.
Not just the many vast social media reports, some truth, some created just for click bait and many in between...no I mean they are also reading the actual DOJ files.
THIS IS BIG STUFF.
I am sharing this because we don't know how they are receiving it.
At this age, they tend to share less, but their confusion, disillusionment, anger, pain...it all comes out in different ways....or worse, it stays in.
Your teen and you know their nervous systems best. Though they are still learning this and many of us are only now starting to truely understand our own. We have our worldliness wisdom and some generational differences on our sides.
We are here to guide them.
Its a lot to hold, for anyone, let alone a developing nervous system in amongst all the hormonal changes and stresses of being a teen.
This stuff, especially if its new or reasonably new to you, is huge. It's revealing the world to be something you never thought it was. This can crash someones beliefs, paradigms and shake them to the core.
It can really create a sense of unsafety and disillusionment - how do I be in a world like this? Questions like...whats the point? why bother?
For a teen managing any mental health challenges, and even those not, exposure to these things can be just too much. And unfortunately, exposure is hard to prevent in this social media world we live in.
💫 I encourage you:
- check in with your teen
- specifically ask what they've heard about the Epstein files.
- ask if their friends are talking about it
- how do they feel about what they've heard
- do they have any thoughts or opinions they'd like to share
- acknowledge the heaviness of this and open space for regular sharing and checking in
- It may help to acknowledge briefly how its impacted you, so they know they are not alone
- observe and notice even subtle mood or behaviour changes, but especially shutdown or explosiveness
- seek support if required
💫 If possible:
- discuss discernment - how they can chose what they are exposed to and how to discern truth
- discuss strategies to manage what this brings up for them
In addition to our teens reading them, the overall energy that the revealing of these horrendous acts has created, effects us all.
The whole collective is on some level processing and responding to this.
So be mindful of your own capacity right now.
Younger kids will be hearing things around them too and seeing things online. Programs like Stranger Things has almost prepared this generation for the reality of their actual world.
We are moving towards a world where we won't know whats real and whats not...
💫 Discernment is key.
💫 Relationship to self is key.
This generation haven't got what we had growing up - the hours of outdoor imaginative play and make-believe to connect to self, foster problem solving and develop resilience. They're growing up too fast, exposed to too much and these aspects of connection to self are being compromised.
💫 As parents, caregivers and educators we play a fundamental role in nurturing their connection to self and the capacity of their nervous systems.
💫 Know yours, so you can help them know theirs.
That will be their biggest asset to navigating all that comes at them from this crazy, beautiful and heartbroken world we live in 🙏❤️
