By Mallory Mattingly
Two-time Super Bowl champion Ray Lewis sounded the alarm on social media while speaking at the Florida State Capitol last week about concussion awareness and stronger safety protections for athletes.
Lewis’ son, Ray Lewis III, died from an accidental overdose on June 15, 2023. One year after his death, it was confirmed that he had Stage 2 Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE), a brain disease that is caused by repeated impacts to the head, per PEOPLE.
“I stand here as a father, as a warrior of Christ, and my son doesn’t stand next to me, but my other two sons do,” Lewis said at the Florida State Capitol. “We are a family that believes in God with all of our hearts, and there are a lot of issues on why our kids are dying. There are a lot of things that we need to take a different approach to when we think about the things that our children are being exposed to.”
The event in Florida honored “the families of two former student-athletes whose deaths have been associated with brain injuries and long-term effects of head trauma,” per Essentially Sports, but Lewis wanted to broaden the conversation to include another issue most young people today struggle with — social media.
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“Social media is worse than drugs now, because it’s taken the ability from being a parent simply away,” the former linebacker continued. “Instead of hugging a child, we now give them an iPad or iPhone. There are so many things that if I were to challenge anyone, the one thing you never want to endure in life is having to bury your child.”
Lewis mentioned the recent death of Arizona Cardinals wide receiver Rondale Moore, who died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
“What is it that we’re not hearing? What is it that we’re not saying? What is it that we’re not doing? There’s something that has to change; if not, our kids don’t have a future,” Lewis continued. “I got two beautiful granddaughters, and we’ve got to do something to make sure that they’re gonna be okay.”
“But today is just a warning. Parents, talk to your kids more than watching them scroll on social media all day,” the Hall of Fame linebacker emphasized. “Find out what they’re really going through in life. Ask the hard questions and go back to old school. Be the old parent.”
Lewis concluded his speech with Proverbs 13:24, which reads, “Whoever spares the rod hates their children, but the one who loves their children is careful to discipline them.”
“I tell you what, just one thing about Junior, he always said one thing: ‘Pops, let’s make today a great day.’ So today, all of us standing here beside each other, let’s make today a great day for somebody else,” Lewis concluded.
As parents, we should take Lewis’ reminder to be vigilant about our children’s social media use to heart.
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