Who’s Raising the Kids?
Susan Linn, who founded Campaign for Commercial Free Childhood (now called Fairplay) has been an advocate for protecting children against consumerism for many years. In her latest book, “Who’s Raising the Kids”, she takes a deep look at unregulated technology and how it can harm children.
What we know is that marketing to children on the many devices available to them is effective and is also harmful to their development. Using devices draw children away from real interactions with real people. And we know that real interactions help childrens’ cognitive, language, social, emotional and physical development. Companies that market to children are not interested in what is best for children. They are interested in promoting screen use for their own financial benefit. So, when a company offers “free” games to children they are really interested in having children (or their parents) pay to move on to the next level or buy merchandise connected to the game. Thus, the term used by companies, “collect the whole line,” is encouraging the child to nag parents to buy more and more to make the child happy.
A surprising finding that Linn looks at is the bias that children can be exposed to when they Google information. The algorithms that google searches use can’t detect appropriate information for a six year old, can’t detect gender stereotypes or racial biases. Social media can give biased information also. The clicks we make influence the information that is provided to us – what may hold our attention based on what we’ve just clicked on or liked.
One of the most informative chapters in the book is called “Resistance Parenting” and it offers ways to limit the influence of corporations on children because, “The tech, toy, and entertainment industries’ practice of monetizing childhood is a problem for all society that can be solved only through social change.” The change can begin at the family level, maybe having several families agree to limiting device access. Linn offers ways to reduce device access for infants and toddlers, preschool and kindergarten children, and middle childhood and elementary grades.
Who’s Raising the Kids? Hopefully it is the adults in children’s lives that care most about them. Susan Linn’s book can help.
This article is part of our Spring 2023 Newsletter. See all articles.
