“We cannot continue in the direction we are going. This seething undercurrent of hatred and vitriol, that is bubbling up in horrific ways, cannot continue. The world we live in now is most often viewed through the lens our algorithms give us. And those algorithms are so powerful, and knowledgeable, that if someone even pauses to watch a video for ten seconds they will be fed similar videos. Parents and schools recognize the need to detach our children from screens, noting marked upticks in focus and comprehension when phones are banned from classrooms. Maybe, just maybe, we could learn a thing or two from our kids’ experiences; detach ourselves from the social media vortex, actually talk to one another, work on listening and comprehension, and learn to admit when we don’t understand something or that we don’t know enough about a topic to articulate an informed opinion. We might find that we don’t hate each other as much as we’re told we do, that there is less to fear than the monster we’ve created in our minds, and even learn to coexist. *Clearly, this does not apply to those who choose bigotry over loving thy neighbor. Bigotry, in all forms, must not be tolerated.”