On Touch Grass, the announced social media ban, and mixed feelings

It’s been a little while since I’ve posted. In that time, we’ve announced our next show, Touch Grass – a platonic rom-com formed through an online connection, with a nostalgia for an unplugged life never lived.

The timing feels striking with the announced ban on social media for under 16s coming next year. Honestly, I have mixed feelings about it, and young people do too.

I think it’s worth noting that with this ban, not only are we losing the online social spaces, but we’re also in a climate where there’s a severe lack of places for young people to hang out in person.

So where will young people go to be together if not online? Where are there third spaces? Where do they get to be themselves, see themselves reflected, discover their identity and form friendships?

That’s what excites me about Future Makers. Through Theatre Centre’s work, we create opportunities for young people to come together, build connections and speak their minds about the issues shaping their world. We have big ambitions for Future Makers, but our reach is limited by capacity, budgets and geography.

If we’re asking young people to spend less time online, we need to create places worth choosing instead. Future Makers is one small part of that picture. The arts can help create spaces for connection and belonging, but they can’t do it alone.

Let’s do all we can to make sure there’s somewhere meaningful for young people to be.

“these conversations are so important, not only because they are so scarce (in terms of the content)… Being in a space that supports and cultivates meaningful conversations and creativity allows me to grow and be authentically me. Every child deserves this.”

-Young Future Maker