Secrets for a Bot

I read a heartbreaking article that explored

How adolescent girls were using chatbots more and more

To ask questions that girls have wanted to ask for generations

Using chatbots for advice, therapy and confession

Too afraid or embarrassed to seek answers elsewhere

What they cannot discuss with parents, teachers or peers, with chatbots they share

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Many teenage girls have internalized shame

They are dealing with emotions that they cannot name

From people around them, judgement they fear

So their questions in chat-boxes at late night appear

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It saddens me to see how the questions they ask reveal

How they crave connection and understanding, how they feel

Confused and afraid in a world that safe does not seem to be

They are searching for reassurance and clarity

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Instead of whispering their innermost thoughts

In the dead of the night to chatbots

I wish they would have people around them in whom they can confide

I wish they would not have to feel like they have secrets to hide…

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I wish the chatbot could be replaced

By a real human being, a kind face..