Drew Barrymore has said she was “horrified” by what she saw on her 11-year-old daughter’s phone and has issued a strong warning to other parents about their children’s use of “toxic” social media.
The actress, 49, also reflected on her “messed up” childhood in a lengthy post she shared with her Instagram account on friday.
She admitted that as a child she was exposed to “a lot of hedonistic scenarios” at parties and at home.
But she said she used the pain she endured as a youngster as inspiration for what not to do when raising her daughters Olive, 11, and Frankie, 10.
In addition, the ET alumnus shared a powerful message to other parents about children whose “brains are not fully developed” and who use “toxic” social media.
Drew Barrymore posted a warning for mothers who ‘allow children’ to access the internet. She is pictured with her children in 2018
In a recent social media post, Drew Barrymore revealed that she strives to be the parent she needed to be when she was younger (pictured is 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 so badly all the time, and it was because I had no guardrails.
“I had too much access to it and too much, and at some point saying ‘no’ became a challenge.
“I wouldn’t accept it because I had so much autonomy at a young age that I couldn’t accept any form of authority.”
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 made her drink alcohol and use drugs as a child.
In her Instagram post, she continues: ‘I have been in many hedonistic situations at parties and even at home, where watching films was of a very sensitive nature and I felt extremely ashamed of it.
‘We, as children, are not meant to see these images. And year, I was even a big exhibitionist when I was young because of the environments I was in.
“Children should not be exposed to this. Children should be protected. Children should be told no.”
Drew said she ended up in an institution at age 13 for “two years,” which she called a “blessing.”
The 49-year-old actress reflected on her “messed up” childhood in a lengthy post she shared on her Instagram account on Friday
Drew Barrymore became a movie star at age seven thanks to Steven Spielberg’s ET (pictured), but she believes her mother also ‘exploited’ her
Drew’s mother took the young lady to parties and nightclubs – she had her first drink at age nine, smoked pot at age ten, and started using cocaine at age twelve.
“As a kid I often wished someone would tell me no,” Drew wrote in a heartfelt Instagram post
‘[It was] a hardcore style of a reset. It made me appreciate everything,’ she added.
“And since there is no time machine that will allow me to go back and do it all over again, I will continue to enjoy my journey.”
Drew remembers wanting to “just disappear off the face of the earth and never show her face again” when she was sent to the institution and it was all over the news.
But she says she got through it by “putting one foot in front of the other” and she hopes it will be a valuable lesson for her children.
“I have my own baggage from my life experiences, but is it an advantage? Am I better equipped to ask these questions to my family because I know things?” she wrote.
“Can our painful and powerful life experiences lead us to strengths? I hope so.”
Drew described what she experienced as “a butterfly net to create understanding of what young girls need.”
She stressed the importance of putting “restrictions” on technology to protect children.
“Do you remember my childhood? How can we give children so much access?” she wondered.
‘For brains that aren’t fully developed yet? And group texts? Those texts can be so toxic.
“We need to make sure our children don’t end up in situations where they don’t always have control over the rhetoric of multi-party dynamics that are captured on a cloud and could come back to haunt them one day.”
She said she hoped someone would create a device that “encompasses so many of the great aspects of artistic and inspirational innovation, but without the pitfalls of social media.”
“What if someone could come up with a tangible solution that I could give my children so that I could protect them the way that I want to be protected,” she continued.
‘I not only want to protect my children, but I also want to be able to point to a solution together with other parents.’
By the time Drew was 13, she had already been through drug rehabilitation treatment twice and was committed to a psychiatric facility for 18 months
Drew said she has been “devoted to this cause” for the past two years and that it now “takes up her whole heart and soul.”
She said she had done “extensive research” and “spoke to developmental physiologists” about the impact of phones on children.
She also admitted that she had given her daughter a phone for her 11th birthday, but was “shocked” when she read through the text messages three months later.
She didn’t reveal what was in the messages, but she said she decided to “print every message” and gave her daughter a “stack of pages” to teach her a lesson.
‘I gave her a stack of pages and said, “This isn’t some black void that these are traveling to. They’re somewhere permanent. [even if] “We don’t see it,” Drew said.
Eventually she took the phone away, calling it an “important experiment for both of them.”
‘I especially want parents to know that we can live with the discomfort our children experience when they have to wait [for a phone]’, the actress emphasized.
‘We can be vilified and still know that we are taking an approach that we now know is safer, slower, and more supported.
‘[If] my kids are mad at me, I’m not going back on my rules. Instead of trying to fix it for them, I can let my kids experience that discomfort and figure out how to deal with it and work through it.’
“I’m going to be the parent I needed,” she concluded. “The adult I needed.”
Drew started 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 the 1982 Steven Spielberg film ET.
She previously admitted that she had her first drink when she was nine and that she used cocaine when she was 12.
When she was 13, her mother finally sent her to a psychiatric institution. She spent 18 months there. At 14, after leaving the center, she became independent of her parents.