Jennifer Garner—whose latest project, The Last Thing He Told Me, drops on Apple TV+ on Friday—got candid on NBC’s Today about social media and her three children Violet, Seraphina Rose, and Samuel, who she shares with ex-husband Ben Affleck. None of them are allowed on social media platforms, she told Hoda Kotb and Jenna Bush Hager.
“I just said to my kids, ‘Show me the articles that prove that social media is good for teenagers, and then we’ll have the conversation,’” Garner said. “Find scientific evidence that matches what I have, that says it’s not good for teenagers. Then we’ll chat.”
Of the decision, Garner said, “my eldest is grateful.” Violet is 17, Seraphina Rose is 14, and Samuel is 11, and Garner said of keeping the younger two off of social media “We’ll see. I mean, it’s a long haul. I have a couple more to go, so just knock on wood. We’ll see if I really hang in there.”
Per People, Garner has long held strong opinions about keeping her kids off of social media. In 2019, she shared why then 13-year-old Violet wasn’t allowed on Instagram, speaking on the podcast “Next Question with Katie Couric”: “Without even having parents who are well-known, I worry about kids having to deal with this new pressure,” she said. “My daughter’s at an all-girl school, and it’s such a huge problem. She’ll occasionally talk to me about getting Instagram, and I can see why, because I’m on there and it’s something kind of fun that I do, and I am modeling the opposite of what I want for her to do. How often is that in parenting?”
Garner continued “But everything you look at, I don’t see anything positive for you out there. You can look at mine when you want to, we can go over it together, but I just don’t see it.”
Though Garner did admit that engaging in social media “makes you feel more connected,” she revealed that she joined Instagram begrudgingly and has continued to do things her own way since.
“I joined Instagram because of Once Upon a Farm,” she said, referencing her organic baby food company. “It was very much part of the deal and I did it kicking and screaming, but that’s how much I wanted to be involved with this company. And when I did it, there’s all these companies in L.A. who will come in and do your social media for you, and I just said I can’t do that. I have to be able to do this my way. I went out there and did what felt right for me.”
