Drew Barrymore has said she is “shocked” by what she found on her 11-year-old daughter’s phone, as she issued an urgent warning to other parents about their children’s “toxic” use of social media.
The 49-year-old actress also reflected on her “messy” childhood in a lengthy post shared with her Instagram account on Friday.
She admitted that as a child she was subjected to “many hedonistic scenarios” at parties and within her own home.
But she said she was using the pain she endured when she was younger as inspiration for what not to do when it comes to raising her daughters, Olive, 11, and Frankie, 10.
Additionally, the ET alum shared a strong message to other parents about children whose “brains are not fully developed” who use “toxic” social media.
Drew Barrymore posted a warning for moms who “allow their kids” to access the internet. She is pictured with her children in 2018
In a recent social media post, Drew Barrymore revealed that she is trying hard to be the mother she needed when she was younger (pictured are her ex-husband Will Kopelman and their two daughters)
“As a child, I often wished someone would tell me no,” she wrote. “I wanted to rebel all the time, and it was because I had no guardrails to defend myself.”
‘I had too much access and excess, and in the end, “no” became a challenge.
“I wouldn’t accept it because I had so much autonomy at a young age that I just couldn’t accept authority of any kind.”
Drew previously revealed that her mother, Jaid, an aspiring actress who managed her career, took her to Hollywood parties and nightclubs when she was little, and even let her drink alcohol and do drugs as a child.
She continued in the Instagram post: ‘I have been surrounded by many hedonistic scenarios at parties and even in my own home where the viewing was highly sensitive in nature and caused me tremendous embarrassment.
‘We children are not meant to see these images. And when I was young, I was even a great exhibitionist because of the environments I was in.
“Children are not supposed to be exposed to this much. They are supposed to be protected. They are supposed to be told no.”
Drew said he “ended up in an institution” at age 13 for “two years,” which he called a “blessing.”
The 49-year-old actress reflected on her “messy” childhood in a lengthy post shared to her Instagram account on Friday.
Drew Barrymore became a screen star at the age of seven thanks to Steven Spielberg’s ET (pictured), but she believes her mother also “exploited” her
Drew’s mother took the young man to parties and nightclubs: he had his first drink at age nine, smoked marijuana at 10 and started using cocaine at 12.
“As a kid, I often wished someone would tell me no,” Drew wrote in a heartfelt Instagram post.
“It was a radical reset. It made me appreciate everything,” he added.
‘And since there is no time machine to go back and redo something, I will continue to love my journey.’
Drew recalled that she “wanted to disappear from the planet and never show her face again” when she was sent to the institution and it was all over the news.
But she said she made it through by putting “one foot in front of the other” and hopes it will serve as a learning lesson for her children.
“I have my own baggage of life experiences, but is that an advantage? Am I better equipped to ask these questions of my family because I know things?” she wrote.
“Can our painful and powerful life experiences make us stronger? I hope so.”
Drew described what she experienced as a “butterfly net to capture the understanding of what young girls need.”
She stressed the importance of implementing “guardrails” in technology to protect children.
“Do you remember my childhood? How do we allow children to have so much access?” he asked.
For brains that are not fully developed? And group texts? These texts can become very toxic.
“We must protect our children from being exposed to situations where they cannot always control the rhetoric of multi-party dynamics that are recorded in a cloud only to potentially haunt them one day.”
He said he hoped someone would create a device that had “many of the amazing aspects of artistic and inspiring innovations without the drawbacks of social media.”
“What if someone could offer a tangible solution that I could give my children so I could protect them the way I want to be protected?” she continued.
“I don’t just want to protect my children, I also want to be able to offer a solution to other parents.”
By the time Drew was 13, she had already attended drug rehab twice and had been admitted to a psychiatric institution for 18 months.
Drew said he had spent the past two years “devoting himself to this cause” and that it now “takes up his entire heart and soul.”
She revealed that she had done “deep research” and “spoken to developmental physiologists” about the impact of phones on children.
He also admitted that he gave his daughter a phone for her 11th birthday, but was “shocked” when he read her text messages three months later.
Although she did not reveal what was in the messages, she said she decided to “print out every text” and gave her daughter a “stack of pages” to teach her a lesson.
“I handed him a stack of pages and said, ‘This isn’t a black void that they’re traveling to. They’re permanent somewhere (even if) we don’t see it,'” Drew shared.
In the end he took the phone away from her and said it was “an important experiment for both of us.”
“Above all, I want parents to know that we can live with the discomfort of our children having to wait (for a phone),” the actress stressed.
‘We can be vilified and know that we are doing what we now know is a safer, slower, more structured approach.
“If my kids are upset with me, I don’t break my rules. Instead of trying to fix the problem, I can let them experience that discomfort and find a way to cope with it and overcome it.”
“I will become the mother he needed,” she concluded. “The adult he needed.”
Drew began modeling when she was just two years old and by the time she was seven she was a huge star thanks to her role in Steven Spielberg’s 1982 film ET.
But he previously revealed he first drank when he was just nine and was using cocaine when he was 12.
Her mother eventually sent her to a psychiatric institution when she was 13, where she spent 18 months, and at 14, after leaving the facility, she emancipated herself from her parents.
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