With @staff 's Recent Post Saying 1/4 Of This Site Is LGBTQ Going Around, I'd Like To See What The Actual

Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA) 2022.

definition from sentate: “the kids online safety act (KOSA) empowers kids and their parents to take over kids’ online experiences to protect their health and well-being”.

now, if you’re from the UK or any other country that’s not revolves around the US, you may not have an idea of what’s going on- like i did.

one of my anon’s sent a message to me last night, it was the 🦈 anon to be specific. and the message read “if KOSA gets passed, goodbye, you were my favourite blog.”

now when i first read the message i thought they were talking about another blog for a second, and i was a little confused. then, i decided to google what KOSA is.

KOSA is a bill that tried to get recognition back in 2022 that is focused on monitoring the internet of children. now, in 2023 it’s been re-introduced with some terrifying adaptations.

if the KOSA (2022) bill was to be accepted then:

-> filters would be installed to wipe the internet of anything that deemed ‘inappropriate’ for minors, which would silence them from accessing materials regarding suicidal prevention and LGBTQ+ content.

-> it would KOSA the power to shut down websites that discuss race, religion, sexuality- basically retract free speech and only allow access to content they approve of.

-> age verification and parental monitoring tools will be expanded and enhanced which are not only invasive, but can silence innocent victims of abusive environments for reaching out and finding help.

this whole bill is a sick and twisted way of trying to silence the younger generation, and attempt to stop them from seeking out the truth in the government’s lies and to have a voice in this world.

well, we’re not going down without a fight!

sign letters to oppose KOSA -> link here!

sign petitions here -> link here.

i’ve signed both! now it’s your turn <3

we deserve privacy to be who we are in a world that would rather kill us then listen to what we have ton say.

hell yeah, the best squid scientist on this hellsite (@sarahmackattack) got to meet Elmo & some cute kids and teach some Science™!

SM: I hate to break it to you, Elmo. I think this shark might be able to eat you whole.

E: Oh, this is terrifying.

also it helps me walk or whatever

[ID: a digitally drawn two-panel comic. / Image 1: Text reads: “How I expected using a cane would feel:” Panel depicts a miserable person in tattered clothes, hunched over a cane and shaking as she walks. / Image 2: Text reads: “How it actually feels:” Panel depicts the same person, now standing tall and wearing flowing wizard robes and a long white beard. Her cane is at her side, glowing with magic, and she looks confident and powerful. /End ID]

"Fishing" you a happy Valentine's Day!

part 3/4 of the fish valentine cards I drew for some friends

Crowtober day 1: Pumpkin

Inej was in town and thought Kaz's office needed a bit of spice

Don't try and tell me inej doesn't leave gifts on the windowsill

@crowtoberchallenge

The world is so hostile to tweens.....

Like we joke about how our schools growing up would ban the latest toy trends, but that reality genuinely horrific when you think about it. Like maybe 1% of the bans were based on safety, but the rest cited reasoning like

-"kids were bartering for collectibles" (kids learning about economics and product value)

-"kids were wearing them and the colors were too flashy" (kids experimenting with self expression and fashion)

-"kids were playing with them during lunch and recess instead of using our rusted safety hazard playground" (kids utilizing their free time to do what helps *them* unwind).

Play areas specifically geared towards children and especially towards teens are constantly being shut down. "Oh kids today are always on their phones!" Maybe because

-there are barely any arcades left and even less arcades that aren't adult-oriented,

-public pools and gyms are underfunded and shut down,

-"no loitering" laws prevent kids and teens from just hanging out,

-movie theatres only play the latest films and ticket prices are only rising,

-parks and playgrounds are either neglected or replaced with gear only directed at toddlers and unsuitable for anyone older

-genuine children's and young teen media is being phased out in favour of media directed only at very small children or older teens and adults.

-suburbs and even cities are becoming more and more hostile to pedestrians, it's just not safe for kids to walk to or ride their bikes to their friends' houses or other play destinations

Children's agency is hardly ever respected. Kids between the ages of 9-13 are either treated as babies or as full-grown adults, with no in-between. When they ask to be given more independence, they are either scoffed at or given more responsibilities than are reasonable for a child their age.

This is even evident in the fashion scene.

Clothing stores and brands like Justice and Gap are either closing or rebranding to either exclusively adult clothing or young children's clothes, with no middle ground for tweens. Tweens have to choose between clothes designed for adults that are too large and/or too mature for their age and bodies, or more clothes they feel are far too childish. For tween girls especially it's either a frilly pinafore dress with pigtails or a woman's size dress with cleavage. No wonder tween girls these days dress like they're older, it's because their other option is little girl clothes and they don't want to feel childish.

And then when tweens go to school, the books they want to read aren't available because they cover "mature" topics (read: oh no two people kissed and they weren't straight or oh no menstruation was mentioned or oh no a religion other than Christianity is depicted), so kids are left with books for way below their reading level. No wonder kids today are struggling with literacy, it's because they can't exercise and expand their reading skills with age-appropriate books. Readers need to be challenged with new words and concepts in order to grow in their skills, only letting tween read Dr. Seuss and nursery rhymes doesn't let them learn.

Discussions about substance use, reproduction, and sexuality aren't taught at an age-appropriate level in school or even by children's parents, so they either grow up ignorant and more vulnerable to abuse, or they seek out information elsewhere that is delivered in a less-than-age-appropriate manner. It shouldn't be a coin-toss between "I didn't know what sex was until I was 18 and in college" or "my first exposure to sex as a tween was through porn" or "I didn't know what sex was so I didn't know I was being sexually abused as a kid."

Tweenhood is already such a volatile and confusing time for kids, their bodies are changing and they're transitioning from elementary to middle to high school. It's hard enough for them in this stage, but it's made worse by how society devalues and fails them.

We talk about the disappearance of teenagehood, and maybe that's gonna happen in the future, but the erasure of tweenhood is happing in real time, and it's having and going to have major consequences for next generation's adults.

Greek Mythology has a few more I'd like to add:

- Athena, goddess of wisdom (among other things)

- Tyche, goddess of fortune and prosperity

- Elpis, spirit of hope

- the 3 Fates

i mean this in the gentlest way possible: you need to eat vegetables. you need to become comfortable with doing so. i do not care if you are a picky eater because of autism (hi, i used to be this person!), you need to find at least some vegetables you can eat. find a different way to prepare them. chances are you would like a vegetable you hate if you prepared it in a stew or roasted it with seasoning or included it as an ingredient in a recipe. just. please start eating better. potatoes and corn are not sufficient vegetables for a healthy diet.