Jobs and college offers are lost because of offensive social media posts. Here’s how to talk to your teen about this life-changing issue.

27-year-old Alexi McCammond had to step down from her new post as editor-in-chief of Teen Vogue magazine once a slew of anti-Asian and homophobic comments she made nearly 10 years ago were brought to public attention.

In tweets she wrote as a 17-year-old at the University of Chicago, McCammond said, “Give me a 2/10 on my chem problem, cross out all of my work and don’t explain what i did wrong..thanks a lot stupid asian T.A. you’re great.” Another said, “Now googling how to not wake up with swollen, asian eyes…”

As a political writer for the news site Axios, McCammond was already an acclaimed reporter named the year’s emerging journalist by the National Association of Black Journalists in 2019. Her experience, awards, and ability did not save her. In a statement McCammond posted Twitter, she said, “My past tweets have overshadowed the work I’ve done to highlight the people and issues that I care about—issues that Teen Vogue has worked tirelessly to share with the world—and so Condé Nast and I have decided to part ways. I should not have tweeted what I did, and I have taken full responsibility for that.”

Colleges have rescinded admissions offers to high school seniors due to racist posts on social media. In 2017, Harvard told ten incoming freshmen to stay home because they participated in an offensive Facebook group called “Harvard memes for horny bourgeois teens.” The group was an offshoot of a larger Harvard Class of 2021 Facebook group, and members traded memes that were sometimes racist or obscene.

I don’t know about you, but when I was seventeen, I made some bad choices. Thankfully, there was no Internet or social media. My mistakes only live in the memories of the peo ...