Dear Shayna,

I love your section in the newspaper. I look forward to it every week.

I want to start by saying I love TikTok and so do all my friends. The thing is I only have about 40 followers while some of my friends have almost double the amount. I know I shouldn’t, but sometimes I can’t help but feel jealous. How do I stop comparing myself to others?

Signed,

Melancholy Mordy

Dear Melancholy Mordy,

Everyone gets jealous; it’s natural. People don’t always look jealous because they can feel this way about different things. But look, my child, that’s going to happen in life. Followers don’t really matter in the grand scheme of things. You don’t actually need followers for anything except watching silly videos and that’s kind of ridiculous.

With time, you will realize that in many cases people can have lots of followers online but no friends in real life. Besides, I’m sure TikTok will be unpopular soon and being on it will actually make you look less cool than not. So stop wasting your time feeling sorry for yourself about what you don’t have and make plans with friends you actually do have. And if you’re still upset, remember, I’m sure there’s someone out there who only has 30 followers!

Best of luck,

Shayna B.

Shayna is a fourth grader and understands what kids in elementary school are going through. She is happy to help others navigate this tricky time. She can be reached at [email protected]. She is looking forward to hearing from you soon.