Actor Joey Lawrence Embraces ‘Helicopter’ Parenting to Protect Kids from Social Media

Published: January 2, 2024

Actor Joey Lawrence Embraces ‘Helicopter’ Parenting to Protect Kids from Social Media

By Movieguide® Contributor

Actor Joey Lawrence is embracing being a “helicopter parent” in the age of social media.

Lawrence has three daughters: Charleston, 17, Liberty, 13, and Dylan Rose, almost 1. As someone who grew up in the ‘80s and ‘90s, he knows how different things are for kids today.

“I think it’s the first time in history where things are fundamentally different to the way they were when we were growing up,” he said. “In the ’80s and ’90s you had your answering machine, your Walkman, which was a little different to your parents. But now you have social media, the internet, and it’s changed everything. That made the world smaller. It’s the whole world you have to worry about now.”

He explained that social media has resulted in new kinds of bullying that wouldn’t have been possible several decades ago.

“Everybody’s got a platform and you can bully from near or far,” Lawrence said. “It’s very tough to navigate as a young person through these times. Everyone wants to be glorified. Fame feels accessible to everybody. And they’re presenting this life that doesn’t really exist.”

“All these insecurities and everything that young people go through as they’re developing? I just try to give them perspective every chance I get to talk them through it. I don’t mind being a helicopter parent, as annoying as that is. You have to be really consistent and beat that consistent drum and hope that most of what you say somehow gets absorbed into their brains,” he added.

In addition to harming children’s mental health, Lawrence also mentioned how dangerous drug deals are happening via social media.

“These kids are buying their weed over Snapchat and it can be laced with fentanyl. There’s really crazy stuff going on. I tell my teenage daughter, she’s going to all these senior parties and is getting ready to go to college, I tell her you can’t [take anything]. I don’t care if they say it’s from a dealer, you just can’t do it because they’re lacing things with fentanyl on purpose — you eat a gummy bear and then you’re dead,” he said.

Movieguide® previously reported on Dr. Laura Berman, whose son Sammy died from a drug overdose after purchasing fentanyl-laced pills over Snapchat.

“I had no idea that drug dealers were reaching out to my son, accessing my son and connecting with my son through Snapchat,” Berman told ABC News in an interview. “We’re doing this to save other children from Sammy’s fate and to save other families from the devastation that we have to live with every day.”

Lawrence added, “You used to be able to monitor it. You knew who the bad kids in school were, the ones to watch out for in the neighborhood.”

Earlier this year, Lawrence made a sweet post on Instagram about how special his daughters are to him.

“…I have been blessed three times over with 3 beautiful amazing, wonderful daughters!” he wrote. “Yesterday to have them all by my side like they were and also to have my father there with me and my brothers and of-course my beautiful wife….Made the day so so special. No words will ever be able to describe what I feel inside when I look at my daughters. Perfection comes to mind but that doesn’t even do it justice. I am such a blessed man. The gift of fatherhood is the greatest gift of all and I am just so incredibly grateful.”