Nov 11, 2024
One of the best things I’ve learned from being an advocate for tech-intentional parenting and schools is that by and large this is (or at least, has been) a mostly non-partisan issue. Politicians I would never agree with on almost any other measure agree with me that Big Tech has way too much influence in our children' s lives, and it brings me hope when senators and representatives come together to push for change.
There is no question there is still a lot of work to do, and that some leaders are very much captured by Big Tech money. And if this past week’s U.S. presidential election showed us anything it is that “political technology” in the form of mis- and dis-information played a significant role in guiding millions of people to vote. Fear is a powerful motivator and when weaponized in the form of scare-tactic marketing and manipulative advertising, it drives people towards a distorted worldview. (Not to mention that we are inundated by so much more information than any previous generation through applications like social media that are unlikely to be free of bias and where many people now go first to consume “news.”) And to be clear, I see this occurring on both the left and the right.
This shouldn’t surprise us, really, as we’ve known for over a decade now that social media, YouTube, and online news sites are largely funded by companies with vested interests in specific outcomes. We are all cogs in a bigger machine, vulnerable to the algorithms and caught up in the spin. For those of us raised in a pre-internet world, where critical thinking skills were honed on difficult texts and handwritten essays, we may be able to step back and view the current state of things with some perspective.
Like many before me, I do put great stock in the younger generations to forge a better world than the one that marred by the errors of my own generation. But the youngest voters in 2024 represent the tip of a spear of a generation of children who were raised on iPads and TikTok, yes, but worse– who also experienced, just as their tender young minds were developing, an influx of digital technology into their classrooms, the displacement of their teachers as experts of their crafts, and the dumbing down of content in the name of equity.
As a result, today we hear about college students unable to persevere through long texts, an emerging workforce unable to solve problems with colleagues, and an electorate unable to think critically about the choices before them, not just for lack of skills, but also for lack of context.
This concerns me deeply, as it threatens to undermine trust in institutions that are already fragile. “It’s a republic, if you can keep it,” warned Benjamin Franklin in 1787.
In response to this week’s election results, there has been much worry and panic, some of it warranted. But hand-wringing, virtue-signaling, and retreating back into a tent that is already too small will not save us, our children, or our institutions.
Because while propaganda-generated fear won this election, there is another reason so many electorates were duped. Yes, deeply held systemic issues rooted in misogyny and racism absolutely exist. And yes, many people’s real lives are much more affected by issues like feeding their families or paying for gas than feeling concerned about climate change (whether that appears rational or not– for many, it is a reality). And yes, fear blinds us, but that’s true for both sides of the political spectrum.
What concerns me, and what drives me to believe that more than ever opting out of EdTech is going to become more imperative to change the course of history, is the reality that those who control the children, control the future. (And yes, that is a paraphrase of a quote attributed to Adolf Hitler, not someone I’m prone to citing.)
Today, in 2024, schools face increasing pressure to adopt digital technologies, such as A.I., that are far from ready for primetime and far from appropriate for children. Yet schools are doubling down on EdTech, digital curriculum, and 1:1 programs for children as young as preschool in the name of the future, in the name of “21st century skills,” and in the name of equity.
This is wrong. EdTech does more damage than good and it is a direct threat to democracy to think otherwise.
Broadly speaking, here are a just few ways EdTech harms children:
EdTech collects massive amounts of data about our children and their families without our informed consent, then sells this information to third parties for profit.
EdTech utilizes addictive, persuasive design elements (much like social media platforms do); targets advertisements to children; normalizes constant surveillance; creates “algorithmic profiles” that leads to predictions about our child’s future behaviors; displaces other essential learning activities; and undermines family values.
EdTech doesn’t work: student outcomes are not improving; 21st century skills are not tech-based; and education is being reshaped to serve EdTech companies, not children and teachers. EdTech products impact focus, learning, and development negatively.
And in addition to serious privacy and data violations and nefarious business practices that profit from it, all of these harms also negatively impact higher-level thinking skills like critical thinking, empathy, and creativity, which are absolutely necessary to get us out of this quagmire.
The day after the election, I took my 13-year-old daughter to the aquarium. There was a new exhibit we hadn’t seen, and I decided to go find some first fish to inspire me and put some things into perspective. Standing in front of a huge aquarium teeming with tropical fish, we watched the Nemos and Dorrys swimming among brightly colored coral. The tank was beautiful, but all the exhibits in the new aquarium were accompanied by touch screens, some at toddler-height, to “explore” information about the fish in the tank. Despite the flashiness of the new building, I found myself preferring the simplicity of the older part of the aquarium, where printed signs told me the fish's names and a few facts about them. It was quick and easy, and allowed me to spend more of my time watching the actual fish in the tank.
Next to us, a mother and her five-year-old son approached the tank. Instead of coming up to the glass to see the fish, however, the little boy beelined straight for the touchscreen display to the left. He started tapping furiously, unable to read any of the text, but very satisfied by the flashing digital display that responded to his every tap.
Clearly frustrated, his mother tugged at his arm and said, “Let’s stay off the screen and go look at real stuff.” Eventually, he complied.
If you listen carefully, you can hear here at the end of this video:
https://vimeo.com/1027836981/8a6c3719e6?share=copy
Children’s brains cannot compete with the pull of digital technology when it is an option, whether in front of a beautiful wall of real-life tropical fish or in a classroom. Teenagers will be swayed by manipulative algorithms in their social media feeds that tell them what it means to be beautiful or athletic or successful, and might perpetrate real-world harms on themselves to achieve the unachievable. And adults– even ones with fully formed brains– are deeply susceptible to political ads and videos that show them a terrifying (albeit false) “real” world in the context of their “digital” one.
More than ever, preserving democratic institutions, discourse, civility, and humanity will come in the form of resisting the manipulative power of political technology and propaganda. I have said before that becoming a tech-intentional parent means fighting for the future cognitive, emotional, mental, and physical health of our children. I would now add, of our democracy too.
If you are ready to fight for a better future for our children, then you are ready to opt them out of the school-based tech where this all begins. Yes, you will continue to work on being tech-intentional as a parent, too, and you will be mindful of your own social media consumption, but in the name of protecting the critical thinking skills of future generations, you will refuse to let EdTech and Big Tech control the future through your child. You will speak up. You will say no. You will be a first fish. You will find second and third fish to join you.
As we left the new part of the aquarium, we passed a wall of sponsors. Sylvie stopped and pointed– “Made possible with the generous support of Amazon.”
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