I nearly fell off my chair (Picture: Getty Images)
Sitting down for fajitas one night, I expected the dinner conversation would cover the usual subjects…
I was ready to moan about Kent’s terrible cricket season. A new shop had opened on the High Street. Presumably there would also be something incomprehensive that had happened on TikTok.
Then, my 16-year-old stepson surprised me.
‘I was looking at the election today’, he said. ‘I saw this really good video.’
I nearly fell off my chair.
You see, my stepson is your typical teen. He loves a bit of social media and is currently focussed, rightly so, on getting through his GCSEs.
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Politics is definitely not the most important thing in his life right now.
Just to hear him chatting about the upcoming general election in any way – regardless of the fact that he can’t vote this time around – was ace. Perhaps this was the start of a beautiful new chapter of my life!
However, there’s just one problem – the star of the video was not a candidate whose thoughts, policies or ethos match mine.
As an undiagnosed, bipolar teenager, I was very, very cross (Picture: Lucy Lawson)
Plus, it’s not like he’s been engaged by a policy or a vision for the future. Nor has he decided that this is the best person to steer our country into a better place because of a winning manifesto.
No. He’s drawn to this candidate because of their antics on TikTok.
Now what do I do?
I’m 43. How am I supposed to convince my teen that this candidate isn’t cool? That they don’t have, erm, ‘rizz’ – when I’m clearly the last person to know about those things?
Anyway, who, at 16, takes advice on vibes from their elders? I know I certainly didn’t.
As an undiagnosed, bipolar teenager, I was very, very cross, and constantly in search of a cause.
Eventually, I chose animal rights. I went vegan in 1998 and was angry all the time – especially with people who wore leather, used products tested on animals and ate meat.
There wasn’t much discussion to be had with me. To me, there was right and wrong – and most people were wrong.
Tatton likes to think he’s made conversations better across the country, but knows we’re as divided …read more
Source:: Metro
