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Tech Addicts
2025-12-10
I have daily experience with kids and tech, and the more I’ve seen from the big tech and AI companies, the more convinced I am that we need to start looking the other direction. <h3>The Education Problem</h3> Most people seem to have pretty similar feelings. Across the political spectrum, people are looking at test scores in the post-COVID one-to-one device world and asking the very reasonable question, “why aren’t kids learning like they used to?” Up to this point, many educators have blamed what kids do at home. They don’t read like they used to. Their parents aren’t raising them right. They don’t have siblings forcing them to practice learning and teaching in the home. But recently the conversation has shifted. Educators and parents have started asking why it is that we put devices into the hands of children from the moment they enter the school system. It’s iPads, then iPads with keyboards, then Chromebooks with varying levels of internet access depending on the whims of district administrators. Having one-to-one devices clearly isn’t helping children learn, and it creates massive amounts of extra work to implement “right.” Not to mention that anytime Cloudflare or AWS goes down or the wireless access points get misconfigured or the standardized testing app doesn’t support the latest ChromeOS, teaching screeches to a halt. This year, these kinds of interruptions are a near weekly occurrence. This didn’t happen with the same frequency or to the same degree when all we had were hard-covered text books and printed homework sheets. But now I sound like a stick in the mud. I’m someone who loves technology and innovation, so how can I stand on the train of progress and yell “STOP!” at the top of my voice? I can and will because what tech companies are marketing as a benefit to education and kids and humanity is actively causing harm. I’m starting to believe that innovation is going the wrong way. It’s enshittification, not of a single platform, but of technological advancement as a whole. I believe we’ve lost the plot. <h3>Interlude: Why This Article is Special</h3> This is the point in the article where your average commentator will pivot to referencing the book The Anxious Generation and tell a couple memorable personal anecdotes, but I’m not going to do that. If you’ve made it this far, I think we likely agree that limiting kids access to tech, particularly unfettered access to mindless media (youtube, tiktok, instagram, etc.), is a good thing that parents and schools should do. So, because I’m not like other girls, I’m pivoting to a topic I haven’t seen people discuss yet. <h3>Is This a Moral Panic?</h3> Are we at risk of going too far? The Anxious Generation has seen massive public support and laws are changing left and right to help protect kids, but are we at risk of extrapolating the little data we do have to irresponsible and dangerous actions? This anti-child tech movement looks, smells, and waddles like a moral panic. Is this moral panic a Dungeons and Dragons encourages satan worship kind of panic? Is it a COVID vaccine panic? Or is this a cigarettes cause cancer situation? Even then, is it “drugs and alcohol are bad for kids so we should create a program that puts cops in every school who will then use those kids as informants to arrest the parents of those kids” sort of thing? Moral panics are an ideal cultural moment for bad actors to push through policies and instill beliefs that actively harm communities. Here are a few examples: - Gang violence leading to heavy policing of predominantly black neighborhoods. - School shootings leading to safety protocols that isolate kids and prevent the creation of campuses that promote student mental well-being...and puts more cops in schools. - Strained and failing health and social services stoking xenophobic fears and horrific immigration enforcement. - The COVID pandemic and anti-masking, anti-vaccination, and anti-science rhetoric. - Demographic and birth rate changes leading to alterations in pension distribution and the proliferation of misogynistic talking points. When there are problems that effect everyone, objectively false but palatable narratives take hold and root themselves into the collective societal conscious. <h3>Will We Go too Far?</h3> For the present moral panic, I’m really only seeing one major potential negative outcome: mass surveillance. Many states are instituting age verification laws that predominantly impact pornographic websites. Age verification systems do pose a data privacy risk because, if the system is insecure, it could leak the identity of millions of people including kids. BUT, to be honest about my opinions, website age verification is (and I’m willing to be corrected here) probably a net positive? Is it a hot take to say kids shouldn’t be watching porn? Adult content is another moral panic with underlying misogyny, and teens will always be hormonal and curious, but maybe the open internet removes the friction that could be preventing unhealthy habit-forming and addiction. And to extend this idea further, maybe kids shouldn’t have access to habit forming, brain-draining, and addictive social media. <h3>Tech That is Actually Awesome</h3> And here are a few things I will give on: - Video games are awesome. Social games let kids make friends and maintain relationships. Narrative games tell long-form stories and reward skill development. The feeling of accomplishment when the ending credits roll is incomparable. Esports teams are absolutely amazing for so many kids that don’t find sports or art or school government particularly compelling. Video games can be pro-social. Learning to balance school, work, and hobbies is an essential life skill. One of my proudest moments as a parent was watching my four-year-old land *the* iconic gap jump in DK Banaza’s lagoon layer after only his third or fourth try. He *worked* for those skills, and he’s learning motor control well beyond his age. It’s incredible. And I GOT TO SHARE THAT MOMENT WITH HIM. I TAUGHT HIM HOW TO DO THAT!!! Video games RULE. - Computers are amazing. Kids should learn to use real-world software like Excel or Photoshop. Kids should learn graphic design and filmmaking. Kids should have the chance to learn to code or learn CAD or program a robot. Children’s brains should grow in every way they can, and tech should be one of those ways. - Movies are pretty cool! Some TV shows are pretty cool too! Kids learning narrative structure and watching characters being social and “doing the right thing” is a win. If their parental figure can afford to sit down and share that experience with them, even better! - Letting kids have messaging and phone capabilities is a good thing! Let them connect with their friends. Teach them how to make a phone call. Let them socialize with their peers. Don’t isolate them by taking away the most common modes of communication. - Retro tech is cool too! Maybe this is my nostalgia talking, but there’s something so *real* about old tech. It was physical in a way that bonded you to the hardware in your hand. Modern cell phones are endless variations on a theme, but my blue Nintendo DS lite or my first generation iPod shuffle, those were devices that I can still remember the feel of. They were devices that taught me to love tech even and maybe *because* of their imperfections. <h3>Conclusion</h3> Anyways, I’ve said all I need to say. For now, I say we moral panic away until it’s no longer socially acceptable to let your child watch youtube kids in a restaurant. I’m getting preachy, but I want to live in a more social world, and current innovation won’t make that happen. Please have a lovely day. As always, I love you all, and I wish you the best in navigating our tech-addicted world. You’ve got this.
