Teen Mom OG star Amber Portwood and ex-boyfriend Gary Shirley spent most of their time on this week’s episode debating when they should let their 10-year-old daughter Leah use Instagram and other social networks. Portwood worried about the impact social media will have on Leah’s life, since she has been on television for so long. Shirley suggested the two wait to allow Leah to use Instagram.
Early in the episode, Portwood told boyfriend Andrew Glennon that Leah mentioned wanting to join Instagram lately.
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“It just scares me for the fact that she’s been on television her whole life,” Portwood told Glennon. “People are weird.”
Portwood suggested that Leah does act “like she’s 12” and can understand that she wants to join Instagram like her friends. Glennon said they should set a date to create a profile for Leah, but Portwood said they needed to talk with Shirley first.
Later on, Portwood told Shirley she thinks they should wait until she turns 12 to let her use Instagram. However, he thought they should wait even longer because she is doing so well in school and Leah does not need more distractions.
“She’s doing so well right now, then you add in social media… you know how that affected you,” Shirley reminded Portwood over the phone. “I don’t want that to be her.”
Portwood had the “same fear,” but since Leah has talked about it, she wanted to bring it up with Shirley. She ended the conversation by telling him they an talk about it every year.
Portwood told social media does “bother her as a mom” because she knows about the nasty messages people send.
Back at Shirley’s house, he told Leah that social media is still “off limits,” which she reluctantly agreed to. Shirley told Leah she can be a kid and not have to worry about the negative comments trolls send.
“There will be a time when you have social media before you’re 18,” Shirley told her. He said maybe by the time she is 14 or 15, they will let her join social media and will revisit it in a year.
“On your birthday, we’ll figure it out. I’ll let you know,” she told Leah.
The events playing out in Portwood’s story on Teen Mom OG were filmed months before she was arrested in July for allegedly hitting Glennon while he held their 1-year-old son Jason. She was charged with domestic battery, and Glennon later filed for sole custody of their son.
“I need to do what’s right for James and I need to take the right steps for myself,” Glennon told The Daily Mail last week. “The future’s unknown… All I know is what I need to do, like, right now, and that is to provide James with a safe, secure happy environment.”
Glennon added, “If you could imagine having your whole world and everything that you love flipped upside down in a heartbeat, that’s it. There’s gonna be a lot of healing that needs to be done and repairing between James and I.”
Teen Mom OG airs Mondays at 9 p.m. ET on MTV.
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