Eva Mendes Explained Why She Doesn't Let Her Daughters Use The Internet

Ryan Gosling has been getting rave reviews for his scene-stealing role as Ken in Greta Gerwig’s smash hit movie Barbie, but his daughters won’t be seeing any of them. Unless they buy a newspaper and read those reviews the old-fashioned way. That’s because Gosling’s partner Eva Mendes recently admitted that their two daughters are not allowed to have access to the internet right now, but acknowledged that this rule will be harder to enforce as they get older.

Mendes, who shares 8-year-old daughter Esmerelda and 7-year-old daughter Amada with Gosling, recently took to Instagram to share a GIF of herself shaking her head and saying “no” with the caption, “When my kids ask me if they’re old enough to go on the internet, social media or anything requiring wifi.”

Considering the fact that the U.S. Surgeon General has issued a mental health advisory about the damage social media is doing to young people, Mendes’ decision to keep her daughters away from it was met with lots of support on Instagram.

“I don’t think it’s safe for anybody’s mental health anymore. Too much hate to handle,” wrote one follower, while a fellow parent commented, “Your [sic] smart @evamendes I have limited it a lot for my now 10 year old but feel like your way is better.”

Mendes responded to this comment with an explanation on how she keeps her daughters away from social media. “I’m just sharing what I feel now, but I know it’s gonna get harder as they get older,” she wrote. “So, I hear ya, mama. I let my kids use the iPad to make movies and watch films I’ve downloaded, but I don’t have internet access on the iPad. Lotsa love your way, fellow mama!”

When one of her followers asked the mom of two about what age she considered appropriate to introduce social media, she replied that she was “keeping up” with research on the subject, “Honestly, I don't know. I'll have to see where it goes. For now, I'm observing them and keeping up with research about how social media can impact a child's brain. I'm taking it stage by stage.”

Both Mendes and Gosling, who famously does not have any social media accounts himself, have been incredibly careful about protecting their daughters’ privacy. They both share little tidbits about their lives with their daughters, including a sweet story from Gosling about his daughters inspiring him to play Ken because they didn’t treat their own Ken doll very well, but that’s really it. No photos of their daughters on social media, and even when they do share stories about their daughters, they are not overly personal.

Which means that someday, if Esmerelda and Amada ever get access to the internet, they won’t see much about themselves. A nearly impossible feat in the digital age and kind of impressive.