“Anxious parents are no longer allowing their kids to go to slumber parties,” announced a blurb in the August 16 “New York Post.”
Slumber parties are not usually one of the top subjects on my mind in the morning (“Got my keys, got my snack, got my wallet, got a great ‘is your refrigerator running?’ joke to share…”), so I was surprised to learn that 12.3 million parents participate in the #NoSleepovers movement online. (Boy, I’m old. I remember when Arte Johnson popularized “Blow in my ear and I’ll follow you anywhere” on TV’s “Laugh-In.” Today the phrase is “Slap a hashtag on it and I’ll follow you anywhere.” But I digress.)
No, it’s not a COVID thing. Many Gen Xers and millennials simply remember their own childhood indiscretions (“the ankle monitor finally comes off aaaany day now”) and then extrapolate for Technology 2022 and Peer Pressure 2022. Forget sugarplums — visions of internet porn, texted genitalia pics, slasher movies, drug experimentation, hacked Russian missile silos and Caitlyn’s mother’s pervy live-in boyfriend dance through their heads.
