Penélope Cruz says one thing matters most when raising teens in the social media age

Penélope Cruz says the rise of social media has made home more important than ever for teenagers.

Speaking to Porter Magazine for their July cover story, Cruz spoke about the challenges of being a parent today and how she hopes to foster open communication with her kids.

“I remember puberty being a very challenging time for me. I don’t know what my life would have been if, in that time, I had been given a phone with all the horrors of social media,” Cruz said.

Cruz shares two children, Leo and Luna, with her husband, Javier Bardem, whom she married in 2010.

“It is so difficult to be a teenager right now; what the boys are being fed, what they are being tricked into thinking,” Cruz said.

She said social media can be “a very dangerous weapon” for children and teenagers because of the ideas and messages they are being fed online. “It is a type of manipulation that confuses even adults,” she added.

Parents have to “work much harder” to build trust and create an environment at home where kids can feel comfortable sharing what’s on their minds, Cruz said.

She says she and Bardem try to spend more time offline as a family, encouraging their children to write by hand, go outdoors, and simply talk to one another.

The actor said she always felt comfortable speaking openly with her parents because they had her at a young age, and hopes to do the same for her kids.

“To create a safe environment where they feel that they can ask all the questions and share whatever they need to. And I will listen without judgment, ” Cruz said.

Cruz has long been outspoken about the impact of social media on the younger generation.

In 2021, Cruz told CBS Sunday Morning that she uses “very little” social media and has no plans to let her kids use it “until at least 16.”

“I really see that as like protecting mental health, but I seem to be part of a minority,” Cruz said.

In a 2024 interview with Elle, she said her kids didn’t have phones and described social media as a “cruel experiment” on children.

“It’s so easy to be manipulated, especially if you have a brain that is still forming,” Cruz said.

Cruz is far from the only celebrity to set strict rules around social media for her children.

Chrissy Teigen has said that her “absolute dream” is for her children to stay off social media until after high school.

“Unless there are more rules and regulations in place, I would prefer for them not to be on social,” Teigen said in a 2024 People interview. “I want them to be safe and happy and flourishing as kids.”

Several tech leaders have also said they limit their own children’s access to screens.

Earlier this year, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said that becoming a father changed how he views algorithmic feeds and “infinite scroll,” adding that he wants his son to “play in the dirt for now” rather than grow up glued to an iPad.