Aug. 17, 2026

“Lost Innocence: Balancing Awareness and Healthy Development”

“Lost Innocence: Balancing Awareness and Healthy Development”

Balancing the protection of childhood with the realities of an increasingly connected digital world is a major concern for many parents, educators, and Psychologists. Think about this concept; we’ve allowed machines to curate childhood, leading to a rise in anxiety & emotional dysregulation. “Innocence" isn't about being naive; it’s about readiness. The Reward System of digital devices and social media (ventral striatum) is firing, but the Brakes (prefrontal cortex) of the child isn't built yet.

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This program is designed to provide general information with regards

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to the subject matters covered. This information is given with

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the understanding that neither the hosts, guests, sponsors, or station

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are engaged in rendering any specific and personal medical, financial, legal, counseling,

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professional service, or any advice. You should seek the services

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of competent professionals before applying or trying any suggested ideas.

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Hello, and thank you for tuning in to A Sharp

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Outlook on K4HD Radio and Talk4TV. I am Angela Sharp,

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your host. Our armchair discussions with industry experts will give

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you the steps, tools, and information to be successful in

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business and to prepare you to be your best self. Hello,

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I'm Angela Sharp, and I'm here to talk to you

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about a very, very important subject that I think everyone

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needs to know about. And it's called Lost Innocence, Balancing

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Awareness and Healthy Development. And what I'm getting into is

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what's happening with our children and our young adults because

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of AI and digital systems and so much screen time.

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So bear with me. I just want to share information

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and you make your own decisions. But balancing the protection

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of childhood with the realities of an increasing connected digital

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world is a major concern for many parents, educators, and

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developmental psychologists. Think about this concept. How we've allowed machines

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to curate children, leading to a rise in anxiety and

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emotional dysregulation. Innocence. What am I talking about? It isn't

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about being naive. It's about readiness. In this episode, we

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will explore the development impact of early exposure to adult

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issues and We'll discuss the importance of preserving childhood innocence,

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the science of cognitive development, and practical strategies for parents

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to filter the world for their children without shielding them

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from reality entirely. We will open the discussion to a

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brief anecdote or a shocking statistic about the average age

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of the first exposure to adult content. such as some

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of our laptops and our smartphones and digitized tools that

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we're using these days. Innocence isn't about ignorance. It's about timing.

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Development relies on a staged introduction to the complexities of

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the world. Every child is different, and parents should seek

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guidance from from pediatricians or child psychologists for if they

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have any concerns because the digital world is here and

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is here to stay and we need to be prepared

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for our children to be able to survive all of

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the different things that happen in these systems. When you

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start thinking about digital systems, I know some of you

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have been using them. I know you're aware. I know

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how you can get almost addicted to using certain tools,

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certain shows, certain little bots and things that show up

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on your devices. Well, with your children, they're looking at

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the same thing. What do they do? It's called the

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reward system of the digital devices and social media. The

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ventral striatum is firing, but the brakes, which is the

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prefrontal cortex of the child, hasn't been built yet. Imagine that.

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They're having all of this information being fired at them,

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but their ability to understand it, their ability to dissect it,

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Their ability to analyze it hasn't been developed yet in

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their brain. Imagine what's happening to them. The plasticity trap.

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And this is something that was written by Dr. Adriana

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Galvin at UCLA. Why the adolescent brain is uniquely susceptible

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to the digital slot machine. And we all know that's

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what's happening. You get hooked up. on your digital devices

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and the things that you're watching. And they actually start

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taking over your lives. You can't wait to get out

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of school. You can't wait to get out of church.

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You can't wait to get off work or a break.

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And sometimes you won't wait because you've got to find

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out about the next thing that's happening on your digital devices.

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The scaffolding concept, the necessity of parental input in helping

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children categorize complex adult issues until they have the cognitive

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tools to do it for themselves. The algorithms, and I

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know about algorithms because my day job is finance and

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software engineering. I've been in tech for a very long time,

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so I understand them completely. I've written enough program software

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that I know what is. Algorithms are not evil. Not

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at all. But they are indifferent. They don't care if

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they are showing a child a cute animal or a

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video promoting self-harm. They're just showing information. The velocity of

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engagement pushing kids toward extremes is what's happening, which is

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the perfect storm that's described by Dr. Jean Twenge. The

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social comparison trap, and we know how much that's been

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harming our girls and our boys as they are developing.

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It breaks down the specific damage of curated, filtered imagery

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on body image and self-worth. We have them harming themselves

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because they don't think they're beautiful or they don't think

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they're smart or they don't think they're loved. And they're

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getting this information off of social media. I'm sure your parents,

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your grandparents, your aunties, your uncles aren't telling you those things.

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They're getting them from social media. The Surgeon General's warning

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back in 2023 is this is a public health crisis,

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not a personal failing of a parent. It's a health crisis.

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And what's the consequences? Too much information too soon. It

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causes toxic stress. Exposure to global tragedies or adult-level politics

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impacts a child who lacks the power to change those realities.

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What would they know about that? How can they get involved?

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How can they even understand what's going on? Normalizing aggression

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is what's happening. It develops desensitization to media violence and

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changes how kids interact in the schoolyards. They're watching things

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and next thing you know, they're trying to act out

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these behaviors at the schoolyard. They're wanting to fight. They're

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wanting to be aggressive. They're wanting to push people around.

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They're wanting to be bullies. And we know that bullying

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is a problem in our schools. Where are they getting

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these ideas from? It's not attractive. It's not cute. It's destructive.

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The displacement effect, the most important point every hour spent

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in the algorithmic loop is an hour of lost sleep,

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lost play, and lost physical movement. My question is, are

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we pushing our children to grow up too fast? I

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know some have circumstances where they're saying, well, you've got

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to take a little more responsibility or you've got to

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do this or you have to do that because mommy

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has to work or daddy has to work. But I

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don't think this is what you intended. From social media

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algorithms to global news cycles, children are increasingly exposed to

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complex adult level topics before they have the emotional maturity

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to process them. What is adult content? Let's distinguish between

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mild age appropriate topics and mature issues such as violence,

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sexual content, existential dread, political polarization. What do your children

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have to do with that? Do you remember playing outdoors?

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Do you remember swinging on the swings, climbing the monkey bars,

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playing hide and go seek, chasing one another, jumping rope,

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playing marbles? Oh, I loved the marbles. That was so cool,

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especially the little peewees and the bigger marbles. In fact,

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I was really good at it. What is the developmental window?

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That's what we want to talk about. Here's a brief

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overview of how the prefrontal cortex develops and why young

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children struggle with abstract, heavy or traumatic concepts. So when

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I say too much too soon, I want to discuss

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with you what that really means. The anxiety link, discussing

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the rise in childhood anxiety when children feel they must

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bear the weight of big world problems is they cannot control.

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It's bringing your children anxiety. The adultification of childhood, how

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constant exposure to adult issues can rob children of the

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essential play and imagination phases necessary for healthy social development.

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It's good for them to play and use their imagination.

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Let them have their imaginary friend. It's good for development.

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It's good for their mind to grow and develop at

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their stage where they are. Distorted reality. How early exposure

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to unfiltered adult narratives can shape a child's worldview in

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cynical and fearful ways. Practical strategies for parents. It's not

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to It's to filter, not to block, not even thinking

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of saying block them from using these, but filter them.

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Moving from strict censorship to scaffolding, helping children understand things

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in doses appropriate for their age. This includes digital hygiene,

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practical tips on parental controls, monitoring screen time, and fostering

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open dialogue rather than just Taking away devices. We're not

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talking about taking away devices. We're talking about introducing other

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ways of managing this information flow that could be damaging

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your children. Creating sanctuaries, ensuring that the home environment remains

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a space for joy, play, creativity, and relief from external pressures.

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Your home is your castle. That's the safe space. They

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need to feel that when they're at home. And when

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they're sitting there bringing in harmful information in the home,

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they don't even feel safe at home either. So you're

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robbing them of that safety that they all need. Remember

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that childhood is short. As you get older, you know

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childhood is extremely brief. From birth to 18 years old

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is a short time compared to the additional years of

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going up to 80. God permitting. We all need to

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watch for red flags. Unusual fear, withdrawal, sleep issues, bad dreams, nightmares,

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different things like that. The talking back. the disrespect. Those

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are things that they're learning. And we used to think

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they were just learning them at school. Some are. But

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some of it is showing up in what they're watching.

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Because when I turn on the television, I see children

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behaving in manners that I don't want my child to

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behave that way. So why would The movie industry think

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that disrespectful children is something cute. There's nothing cute about

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children being disrespectful and not understanding that children should not

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be telling adults what to do or sassing back or

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rolling their eyes and, heaven forbid, not hitting your parents.

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So those are just things that they're picking up from

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social media because it's all over the place. You are

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the primary reason curator of your child's environment, not social media.

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You're the one that decides what your child is going

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to be told, what they're going to learn, what the

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personality is going to be, what their behavior is going

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to be, if they're going to have respect or not.

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That comes from you. You're the curator of your children.

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Jane Plaget's stage of cognitive development is this. The sensory

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motor is birth to two years old, where they're learning

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through senses and physical movement. Preoperational is from two to seven.

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That's where you learn symbols, language, and pretend play. Concrete

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operational is from seven to 11 years old. You learn

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through logical thinking about real things. And then formal operational

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is from age 12 plus. You learn using abstract thought

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and reasoning to be able to solve problems. So they

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at least should be at the age of 12 if

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you're just going to turn them loose on the social

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media platforms and let them go for it. But if

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you are curating and you are guiding and you are

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spending time and you're watching things together, then you can

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maybe consider other things. The nature deficit disorder concept, while

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focused on nature, it parallels the idea that children need

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a pure environment to develop properly. The impact of social

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media algorithms, research shows that algorithms inadvertently funnel children toward

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more extreme content. Why? Because it arouses emotions. It arouses

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all of those things, fear and anger and aggression, and

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the dopamine kicks in. Research and development, psychology and pediatrics

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consistently highlights that children's brains are uniquely vulnerable to the

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quality and volume of the information they process. Unlike adults,

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children lack the top-down executive function housed in the prefrontal

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cortex to regulate emotional responses to distressing or complex information.

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Here's a guide. Expert recommendations from the American Academy of Pediatrics, AAP,

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and other child development organizations emphasize the following evidence-based framework.

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The media plan experts recommend that parents create a personalized

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family media plan. This shifts the focus from screen time

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as a binary good, bad, to the content and context

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of the media used. So as the curator, you can

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give them the time, you schedule the time, and you

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can even schedule the content. So they're not just watching

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some of the crazy things that are out there. Because

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right now, everything is designed for shock. And shock, like

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I said, creates emotions. And it's not the right emotions

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that it is creating. Co-viewing or co-engaging is something that's recommended.

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Research shows that active mediation, when parents watch or play

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alongside children, imitate the negative effects of mature content. It

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allows the adult to provide content for confusing or frightening information.

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So if you're watching them together, it gives you an

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opportunity to express your emotions, your feelings, your thoughts about

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what was just watched. You can give them explanations or

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some kind of context as to why that happened. Or

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most of all, you can say, it's just a movie.

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It's not real. Because they can't tell the difference between

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what's just a movie or what's reality. And seeing that

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a lot of movies are imitating reality and there is

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so much going on in society right now, a lot

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of it is real. But I don't think it's something

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that needs to be real in the lives and in

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the minds of children until they're able and capable of

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managing that information. The age-appropriate gatekeeper, that's who you are.

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Organizations like the AAP emphasize that parents must act as

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filters since algorithms are designed to keep users engaged rather

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than protect developmental milestones. They're not designed to do that.

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They're not writing that in the algorithms. They're writing things

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in the algorithms that do create shock, that do create anxiety.

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fear that do create something that affects your emotions and

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generally in a negative way not an exciting or a

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good way but in a negative way because it then

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generates you wanting to do this again and again because

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of the feelings that you're getting so it's really important

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to be watching and co-watching and planning, prioritizing unstructured play.

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Experts consistently cite that real-world face-to-face interactions are the golden

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standard for social-emotional learning, which should take priority over any

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form of digital information consumption. In other words, parents, you're

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their teachers. And even if you're wanting to use social

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media to begin the topic or show an example, be

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there to help explain what's really going on so that

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they don't try in their own mind that's not properly

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developed yet as to what is happening. General psychological impacts.

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The psychological impact of overexposure to adult-level information is often

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categorized as precocious development, which can have several consequences. One,

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heightened stress and cortisol response. Chronic exposure to adult problems

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such as world news, violence, or sexualized content can trigger

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a state of toxic stress. Because children often face the

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agency to solve these adult problems. It leads to a

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feeling of helplessness, which is a precursor to childhood anxiety.

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They're going to think they need to try to fix that.

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And they don't have all the information. They don't have

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the tools. They're not at the proper age to even

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be trying to think about those kinds of things. And

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it's causing them anxiety. And anything that is getting the

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cortisol to be reactive in the body is also causing

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health problems at a very early stage in their lives.

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Emotional dysregulation. Children who are exposed to high intensity content

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struggle to modulate their own internal state. If they are

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constantly stimulated by high-stake information, they may find the slower

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pace of age appropriate life, like school and family and play.

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They're going to think it's boring. They're not going to

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want to do it, leading to restlessness and diminished attention spans.

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Some of these things have been heightened. I'm not a doctor,

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so I can't analyze and say, oh, well, maybe that

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is what's causing some of the misbehavior in school or

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different things like that because they're restless and they're bored

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because they're always triggered most of the time in their

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free time by aggressive or violent or different types of

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emotional media information that's keeping them hyped up. And so

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when they're sitting there in school needing to Pay attention,

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needing to be still so they can listen to the lesson,

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remember the lesson, learn the lesson, be tested on the lesson,

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but they can't get their brain to stay focused because

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it's already been stimulated with all of this information that

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causes them anxiety. So they're anxious and then they start

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getting into trouble in the classroom. Because they've had this

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dopamine feel from these things that they're watching on social media.

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Developmental mismatch. When children are forced to process mature concepts

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before they have developed the cognitive empathy or abstract thinking

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skills to do so, it can lead to cognitive dissonance.

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where the child feels confused and disconnected from their own

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developmental stage. In other words, they don't feel like the

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other children because of things that they have been exposed

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to just by going out there, watching some things on

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social media. Specific contact impacts, news, violence, trends, the impact

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of specific types of content exposure is well documented. For instance,

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the mean world syndrome. Well, I think we all remember

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when they had a show called Mean Girls. I have

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no idea why that was supposed to be popular. What

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is wonderful about girls being mean and beating up other

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girls at the school and knocking their lunch over and

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causing them embarrassment? I'm sorry. That was even on television.

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It wasn't even on social media. Repeated exposure to news

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or violent media can cause children to overestimate the danger

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in their own physical environments. This leads to a world

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rooted in fear rather than curiosity. We all know that

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the brain functions in two ways, fight or flight. And

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so if we are exposing them to things that make

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them fear and make them afraid and make them feel

304
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like they're not safe, They're going to be in two

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different emotions. They're going to be fearful and wanting to

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run and hide and not associate with others and things

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like that. Or they're going to be fearful and want

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to fight. And now they're going to be oversensitized to aggression.

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All because they're exposed to things that they have not

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reached an age to be able to actually rightfully accept.

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analyze it and understand it so that they know exactly

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what it means know exactly what it is you know

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maybe they can laugh that off though she's being just

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so silly but maybe they can't because they are saying

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oh wow I wonder if that's going to happen to

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me tomorrow that girl was looking at me strange it's

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just causing negative and aggressive imaginations that shouldn't even be

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there It's their childhood. It's playtime. It's time to be

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out with your friends and making lots of friends and

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playing games and having fun at recess, not fighting, but

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having fun at recess and just doing wonderful things and

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laughter and rolling on the ground and just having a

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great time. It's not about aggression. It's not about the

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things that our children are getting involved in. They need

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that to develop. They need to have time to just

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sit and just imagine. Let their imaginations grow because you

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know how businesses have gotten started? Through someone's imagination. Well,

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if you end up sealing that ability to imagine something

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good happening because they're all caught up in fears and

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anger and aggression and all of these things, then you've

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stolen their dreams. Normalizing aggression. Research on media violence suggests

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that early exposure can lead to desensitization. When a child

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sees conflict resolved through violence or aggression repeatedly, they are

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more likely to adopt those behaviors in their own peer

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to peer interactions. And when I'm looking through some of

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the programs that are out there, I'm not seeing Anyone

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having dialogue and communication to solve problems. It's all violence.

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It's all aggression. That is not the path we're supposed

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to go when we seem to be wanting to be

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our neighbor's friend and wanting to care for our neighbors

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who are hurting and taking care of community and loving

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those that are hurting. It's hard to do when you

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have been desensitized to aggression, to pain, to hurt. And so,

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you know, you have kids fighting and have their phones

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out and they're laughing while someone's beating, getting beat up

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and kicked and everybody joins it. That's not something anyone

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should be watching or want to watch. And if it's

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your child, you need to grab him by the ear

349
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and sit him down and tell him what life's about

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because that's not it. Social comparison and body image, that

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has really been a problem for our young ladies and

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our young boys. Regarding social media trends and exposure to

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adult level, social pressure studies show a strong correlation between

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premature exposure to influencer culture and increased symptoms of body dysmorphia,

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social anxiety, and low self-esteem. In other words, they're seeing

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images that aren't even real. And they're comparing themselves to it.

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And in fact, they show them other pictures that may

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even be more where the child is. And they're thinking

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they're ugly. They're thinking they're fat. They're thinking no one

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likes them. They're thinking terrible things about themselves and building

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low self-esteem long before they're even at the point in

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their brain of knowing what that even means. all because

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of an exposure of things that should not be a

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part of the content that they're looking at. They don't

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know how to say, that's you. I like who I am,

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just the way I am. I can't be that. I

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don't want to be that. And it doesn't bother me. Good.

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Be you. Do you. I'm going to do me. But

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they're too young to be able to think to that level.

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They're just starting to hang their head and feel down

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and feel terrible. I remember when my sons were growing

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up and everybody was buying Jordans. Well, at that time,

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I was a single parent. I couldn't afford Jordans. But

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I bought them some tennis shoes. And they didn't want

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to wear them. Everybody's got Jordans. People are going to

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laugh at me. I'm like, we're not trying to be

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like other people. We're trying to be who we are. Now,

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why am I spending money to make somebody else rich

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00:31:53.380 --> 00:31:55.410
when I need to keep that money here so we

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can handle our business here at home? It's just a shoe.

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You're going to let your whole life fall apart over

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00:32:06.670 --> 00:32:11.579
a shoe? You have to intervene into some of this

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social media and all of this advertising and let them

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know they are enough all by themselves. Developmental readiness. Science

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00:32:24.200 --> 00:32:28.960
suggests that just as we wouldn't expect a toddler to

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00:32:29.029 --> 00:32:32.750
run a marathon, we shouldn't expect them to process the

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complexities of global tragedy or any other type of sexualized content.

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The goal isn't to create a bubble, but to act

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as a translator deciding when a child is developmentally ready

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to process certain information and providing the safety net of

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the trusted adult, which is you, when they finally do.

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I have some research to talk about the algorithms of

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00:33:11.410 --> 00:33:21.119
mental health. Recent scientists Analysis and whistleblower testimony, such as

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00:33:21.200 --> 00:33:25.779
the Facebook papers, have revealed that social media algorithms are

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00:33:25.839 --> 00:33:33.230
not neutral. They are engagement maximizers. For a developing brain,

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00:33:33.309 --> 00:33:39.569
this often creates a feedback loop of harmful content. They

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00:33:39.650 --> 00:33:42.109
watch to see what you look at. And then they

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00:33:42.150 --> 00:33:45.009
bring you more. And then they bring you more. And

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00:33:45.049 --> 00:33:49.019
then they make it even more aggressive or more ugly

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00:33:49.240 --> 00:33:53.380
or more angry or more whatever. And they actually start

401
00:33:53.460 --> 00:33:58.640
training you into this particular loop of watching this information. Why?

402
00:33:59.500 --> 00:34:05.440
Because they make money off the clicks. Don't let someone's

403
00:34:05.539 --> 00:34:10.820
profit line destroy your child's future. The mechanics of the

404
00:34:10.889 --> 00:34:16.719
rabbit hole algorithms are designed to identify what keeps a

405
00:34:16.900 --> 00:34:24.239
user looking at their screen. In children and adolescents, high

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00:34:24.320 --> 00:34:30.360
arousal content, which often includes fear, anger, or social comparison,

407
00:34:30.760 --> 00:34:38.460
keeps them engaged longer than neutral, calm, comfort. The velocity

408
00:34:39.119 --> 00:34:44.300
effect studies show that algorithms can lead users from relatively

409
00:34:44.420 --> 00:34:51.070
benign content to extreme content. For instance, body image tips

410
00:34:51.179 --> 00:34:58.570
and pro-anorexia content or political curiosity or radicalization in just

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00:34:58.630 --> 00:35:02.469
a few clicks. They know, they've done studies to find

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00:35:02.590 --> 00:35:07.190
out what gets your mind going. So it's not just

413
00:35:07.309 --> 00:35:11.309
play out there. It's not play. There is money involved

414
00:35:11.369 --> 00:35:16.969
in it. There is science behind it. There is intent

415
00:35:17.150 --> 00:35:21.349
behind it. And so we need to be aware of

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00:35:21.429 --> 00:35:26.360
this so that we are actually watching what's going on

417
00:35:27.239 --> 00:35:30.179
and what our children are watching and how it's affecting

418
00:35:30.219 --> 00:35:38.570
their lives. Targeting vulnerability algorithms Identify engagement triggers. If a

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00:35:38.670 --> 00:35:42.349
young user spends a few extra seconds looking at a

420
00:35:42.449 --> 00:35:48.739
post about dieting or self-doubt, the algorithm interprets this as

421
00:35:48.860 --> 00:35:55.500
a preference, effectively curating a feed that reinforces these insecurities.

422
00:35:56.420 --> 00:36:00.110
They're just going to look just to see something. And

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00:36:00.119 --> 00:36:02.730
the algorithms pick it up and they send it back

424
00:36:03.090 --> 00:36:06.889
and it grabs more content. Do you get the drift

425
00:36:06.949 --> 00:36:11.760
of what I'm talking about? Your children are being managed.

426
00:36:12.320 --> 00:36:16.860
And by the way, adults are too. You're being managed

427
00:36:16.900 --> 00:36:22.070
by algorithms. You're being managed by the clicks that you hit.

428
00:36:23.909 --> 00:36:30.750
The mental health correlation, the feedback loop mentioned above, has

429
00:36:30.809 --> 00:36:35.989
been linked to several things. critical issues in adolescent mental health.

430
00:36:36.969 --> 00:36:42.750
The social comparison trap, research consistently finds that platforms promoting

431
00:36:43.090 --> 00:36:50.360
curated hyper perfect imagery contribute to body dysmorphia. When an

432
00:36:50.639 --> 00:36:57.820
algorithm pushes high frequency imagery on unattainable beauty standards, it

433
00:36:57.880 --> 00:37:03.079
creates a normalized distortion of reality for the child. They're

434
00:37:03.139 --> 00:37:07.199
thinking that the only ones that people like, the only

435
00:37:07.340 --> 00:37:11.590
ones people appreciate, the only ones people hire is this

436
00:37:11.690 --> 00:37:16.670
made-up picture, this image that they're looking at. And they're

437
00:37:16.929 --> 00:37:20.889
now trying to be that and frustrating themselves because they can't.

438
00:37:22.820 --> 00:37:30.070
The desensitization sensitivity paradox, while kids become desensitized to violence

439
00:37:30.170 --> 00:37:37.150
or extreme discourse, they become hypersensitive to peer validation, likes, views,

440
00:37:37.690 --> 00:37:45.650
and comments. This creates an externalized self-worth. They are looking

441
00:37:45.809 --> 00:37:49.650
for their worth from something from the outside that doesn't

442
00:37:49.690 --> 00:37:53.039
even know who they are. from people that are on

443
00:37:53.119 --> 00:37:56.690
social media. They're basing their worth on how many clicks

444
00:37:56.750 --> 00:37:59.869
I get, how many views that I get, how many

445
00:37:59.949 --> 00:38:03.010
smiles did I get, how many thumbs up did I get,

446
00:38:03.670 --> 00:38:07.750
how many thumbs down did I get. They're basing their world,

447
00:38:07.769 --> 00:38:15.690
their life, their worth on something so minimal. That shouldn't

448
00:38:15.750 --> 00:38:20.309
even be something that they are even considering, but it's

449
00:38:20.650 --> 00:38:24.050
almost part of who they think they are based on

450
00:38:24.070 --> 00:38:26.469
what some people that they don't even know, never met them,

451
00:38:27.260 --> 00:38:30.659
that just jump on and start clicking what they say.

452
00:38:31.159 --> 00:38:35.119
And so if they're doing things that are mean content

453
00:38:35.199 --> 00:38:38.159
and they get some clicks, oh, wow, somebody noticed me.

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00:38:38.400 --> 00:38:40.179
I got to do it worse. I got to make

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00:38:40.239 --> 00:38:45.889
it worse. This is what's happening. Displacement of essential needs.

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00:38:46.369 --> 00:38:51.750
The most insidious impact is often the displacement effect. The

457
00:38:51.789 --> 00:38:56.590
time spent in these algorithm-driven loops is time stolen from

458
00:38:56.630 --> 00:39:03.500
their sleep. It's time stolen from face-to-face socialization. They're not

459
00:39:03.659 --> 00:39:05.739
out playing with their friends. They're not out trying to

460
00:39:05.780 --> 00:39:08.920
make friends. They're not trying to know anybody. They're not

461
00:39:08.960 --> 00:39:14.590
getting any physical activity. They're not getting any sunshine. They're

462
00:39:14.610 --> 00:39:18.869
too busy sitting there in front of a screen. Yes,

463
00:39:19.070 --> 00:39:23.010
they're not bothering you, but do you know what's bothering them?

464
00:39:23.929 --> 00:39:26.869
Do you know what's happening to them while you've just

465
00:39:26.909 --> 00:39:30.519
set aside and walked away and allowed a screen? to

466
00:39:30.579 --> 00:39:36.139
curate your children? The three pillars of healthy psychological development

467
00:39:37.250 --> 00:39:42.329
is to have, of course, sleep, is to have socialization,

468
00:39:42.409 --> 00:39:49.590
to have physical activity for healthy psychological development. And as

469
00:39:49.650 --> 00:39:52.469
I started out, I said, it's too soon. Why is

470
00:39:52.550 --> 00:39:57.860
it too soon for the developing brain? The reason this

471
00:39:57.940 --> 00:40:03.619
is so damaging to children is that their impulse control center,

472
00:40:04.619 --> 00:40:10.710
the prefrontal cortex, are still under construction. While their reward systems,

473
00:40:11.269 --> 00:40:17.780
the ventral striatum, is hyperactive. So the reward system, because

474
00:40:17.800 --> 00:40:20.619
they're getting the clicks and everything, boy, it's all hyped up.

475
00:40:21.699 --> 00:40:24.980
It's feeling like, oh, I'm getting rewarded. If I keep

476
00:40:25.019 --> 00:40:27.530
doing this, I get another reward. I had a show

477
00:40:27.590 --> 00:40:32.949
not too long ago about, it's called The Playground. It's

478
00:40:33.110 --> 00:40:36.750
their apps that are out there that children go into.

479
00:40:37.730 --> 00:40:41.090
And they're supposed to be having fun talking to other

480
00:40:41.139 --> 00:40:44.840
children their age, and yet they have predators that are

481
00:40:44.940 --> 00:40:49.940
entering those websites and they get those children's attention by

482
00:40:50.079 --> 00:40:57.659
sending them rewards. I'm not saying to block anybody, take

483
00:40:57.719 --> 00:41:02.389
their tools away. I'm saying pay attention and know what

484
00:41:02.429 --> 00:41:05.849
your children are doing and go in and spend time

485
00:41:05.929 --> 00:41:08.550
with them and see what they're doing so that you

486
00:41:08.590 --> 00:41:12.070
know what's happening. There's a lot more happening out there.

487
00:41:12.630 --> 00:41:16.730
I love tech I mean, I started with the first

488
00:41:16.789 --> 00:41:20.329
PC and to see where tech has gone. It's so

489
00:41:20.409 --> 00:41:25.469
fascinating to me. I mean, it's gone generations to generations

490
00:41:25.530 --> 00:41:29.510
and it is really grown a lot and it's not

491
00:41:29.570 --> 00:41:33.170
done yet, but there are some dangers and we need

492
00:41:33.190 --> 00:41:35.710
to be aware of those dangers and it can be

493
00:41:35.750 --> 00:41:39.409
a valuable tool, but we have to be aware of

494
00:41:39.530 --> 00:41:44.750
where they have left the back door open. just for profit.

495
00:41:46.429 --> 00:41:50.070
And so I need to protect my child because we

496
00:41:50.130 --> 00:41:53.789
know how money is and some people will do anything

497
00:41:53.849 --> 00:41:58.210
for money. Well, stealing your child's life is not one

498
00:41:58.269 --> 00:42:01.289
thing they should be able to do. You have to

499
00:42:01.329 --> 00:42:05.880
protect them. The reason this is so damaging to children

500
00:42:06.059 --> 00:42:10.280
is that their impulse control centers, and I've told you

501
00:42:10.320 --> 00:42:16.619
that are still under construction. The dopamine loop algorithms are

502
00:42:16.679 --> 00:42:22.280
essentially digital slot machines. A child's brain is biologically wired

503
00:42:22.340 --> 00:42:32.690
to seek dopamine hits, making them significantly more susceptible to

504
00:42:33.050 --> 00:42:37.760
the addictive design. of these platforms than an adult with

505
00:42:37.800 --> 00:42:42.400
a fully developed brain. But even some adults are addicted too.

506
00:42:42.760 --> 00:42:51.260
But your children are receiving shots of dopamine as they're

507
00:42:51.360 --> 00:42:54.320
out there getting these rewards and getting these hits and

508
00:42:54.380 --> 00:42:58.639
all these different things that are happening. And so until

509
00:42:58.699 --> 00:43:04.219
their brain has developed, until they have healthy development period

510
00:43:04.360 --> 00:43:07.920
in their lives so that they can be able to

511
00:43:07.960 --> 00:43:12.309
be achievers in life, be able to analyze and have

512
00:43:12.369 --> 00:43:16.309
critical thinking, then it's a little too soon to allow

513
00:43:16.989 --> 00:43:23.000
these awards from these dopamine hits to be controlling what's

514
00:43:23.039 --> 00:43:26.860
going on in your child's lives. Lack of content. Adults

515
00:43:26.940 --> 00:43:30.699
have the life experience to say that post is filtered.

516
00:43:31.449 --> 00:43:37.480
or this influences selling a product. Children often lack that

517
00:43:37.559 --> 00:43:45.670
critical media literacy, accepting the algorithm feed as an accurate

518
00:43:45.710 --> 00:43:49.969
reflection of the world and their peers and things like that.

519
00:43:50.250 --> 00:43:55.829
In other words, they don't know any better. They haven't

520
00:43:55.869 --> 00:43:59.550
been exposed to enough information yet. They're too young to

521
00:43:59.610 --> 00:44:04.090
have their analytical skills developed yet. They can't tell the

522
00:44:04.170 --> 00:44:07.920
difference between what is truth and what isn't. And so

523
00:44:07.960 --> 00:44:11.719
they're in a dangerous stage. So we have to protect them.

524
00:44:13.000 --> 00:44:16.599
We like to think our children's social media feeds as

525
00:44:16.619 --> 00:44:21.380
a reflection of their interests. But the reality is far

526
00:44:21.460 --> 00:44:29.340
more clinical. They are navigating a high-speed automated system designed

527
00:44:29.360 --> 00:44:35.460
by engineers to exploit, I hate to say that, to

528
00:44:35.519 --> 00:44:43.739
exploit their brains deepest insecurities. They aren't just scrolling, they

529
00:44:43.800 --> 00:44:48.619
are being trained by an algorithm that doesn't care about

530
00:44:48.659 --> 00:44:56.289
their development or their attentions. I have gathered some of

531
00:44:56.329 --> 00:45:02.280
the most impactful research based quotes and findings regarding how

532
00:45:02.320 --> 00:45:07.610
these algorithms and social media platforms interact with developing adolescent brains.

533
00:45:09.150 --> 00:45:14.070
On algorithmic design and the rabbit hole, the center of

534
00:45:14.190 --> 00:45:21.679
human technology and various legislative investigations have highlighted how engagement

535
00:45:21.840 --> 00:45:28.250
algorithms inevitably lead to radicalization or harmful content. And you

536
00:45:28.309 --> 00:45:32.610
know why they did these investigations? Because they were trying

537
00:45:32.650 --> 00:45:38.429
to find how terrorists get radicalized. So they have the

538
00:45:38.489 --> 00:45:44.570
information of what kind of algorithms are able to radicalize

539
00:45:45.409 --> 00:45:49.789
youth to go out and commit crimes. They know exactly

540
00:45:49.849 --> 00:45:54.869
what they're doing. Don't let them do this to your children.

541
00:45:56.219 --> 00:46:00.699
The algorithm doesn't have a moral compass. It doesn't know

542
00:46:00.719 --> 00:46:07.210
it's showing a 13-year-old girl content about self-harm or eating disorders.

543
00:46:07.929 --> 00:46:12.769
It only knows that she stopped scrolling and therefore it

544
00:46:12.849 --> 00:46:19.599
should show her more. That's all. Tristan Harris, a co-founder

545
00:46:19.639 --> 00:46:23.199
of the Center for Human Technology, is frequently cited in

546
00:46:23.260 --> 00:46:28.570
discussions on the attention economy. The algorithms are designed to

547
00:46:28.610 --> 00:46:33.050
keep users on the platform at all costs. For a

548
00:46:33.090 --> 00:46:37.889
developing brain, this often means pushing content that is designed

549
00:46:37.929 --> 00:46:41.389
to be sticky, which is almost always content that trigger

550
00:46:41.510 --> 00:46:48.289
fear and outrage or deep social inadequacy. Derive these findings

551
00:46:48.329 --> 00:46:53.949
from the Facebook papers. And so we can see that

552
00:46:55.170 --> 00:46:59.079
as we are Allowing our children to do more and more.

553
00:47:00.519 --> 00:47:06.539
Searching on the websites. We need to start looking at

554
00:47:06.619 --> 00:47:14.670
some of what the experts are saying. Dr. Gene Twenge, T-W-E-N-G-E,

555
00:47:15.130 --> 00:47:21.730
the leading researcher on general relational differences and author of iGen.

556
00:47:23.710 --> 00:47:26.489
I'm going to ask you to look that up. And

557
00:47:26.550 --> 00:47:30.070
look at what she has to say about what's going

558
00:47:30.230 --> 00:47:35.699
on in social media. In her research, trends, when girls

559
00:47:35.780 --> 00:47:39.699
spend hours a day scrolling through images of perfect bodies,

560
00:47:40.059 --> 00:47:44.099
they are filtered, edited, and curated. They aren't just looking

561
00:47:44.219 --> 00:47:49.349
at pictures. They are engaging in a constant process. subconscious

562
00:47:49.489 --> 00:47:56.480
process of self evaluation that are not developmentally equipped to handle.

563
00:47:58.260 --> 00:48:01.960
This is how they're getting these body image, negative thoughts

564
00:48:02.039 --> 00:48:09.659
about themselves. Expert analysis from the American Psychological Association is

565
00:48:09.860 --> 00:48:13.960
telling us that adolescents are in a period of heightened plasticity.

566
00:48:14.579 --> 00:48:22.489
This makes them more susceptible to social rewards. The social rejections,

567
00:48:23.030 --> 00:48:26.289
then children or adults, then they're going to feel that

568
00:48:26.349 --> 00:48:28.690
and they're going to take it, internalize it, and they're

569
00:48:28.710 --> 00:48:32.949
going to feel as if they are rejected too. As

570
00:48:33.030 --> 00:48:38.269
I said before, I'm in the tech industry. I'm excited

571
00:48:38.349 --> 00:48:42.820
about what's going on with all the new technology and

572
00:48:42.860 --> 00:48:46.280
things like that. But as I said before, algorithms are

573
00:48:46.320 --> 00:48:50.429
just something that's written a code in the program and

574
00:48:50.510 --> 00:48:52.670
it's told to do it over and over and over.

575
00:48:53.010 --> 00:48:56.909
If it sees this response and doesn't care what's happening,

576
00:48:57.309 --> 00:49:00.289
but we need to care and we need to make

577
00:49:01.010 --> 00:49:05.260
our politicians care and we need to make these corporations

578
00:49:05.360 --> 00:49:09.059
care and we need to let them know, not my child.

579
00:49:10.780 --> 00:49:15.809
I'm not going to let you harm my child. And

580
00:49:15.829 --> 00:49:20.900
let's protect our children. Let's protect them from harm. Not

581
00:49:21.019 --> 00:49:22.340
saying to throw.

582
00:49:22.000 --> 00:49:30.050
These digital items away, but we do need to observe them,

583
00:49:30.309 --> 00:49:32.550
track them, and see what our children are watching.

584
00:49:34.110 --> 00:49:38.639
I'm Angela Sharp with A Sharp Outlook. I'm here every Monday.

585
00:49:39.500 --> 00:49:43.840
at 11 a.m. Eastern Time, 8 a.m. Pacific Time. I'm

586
00:49:43.940 --> 00:49:47.409
here to give you information that makes your life better,

587
00:49:47.769 --> 00:49:51.590
your business better, helps you become your best self, helps

588
00:49:51.650 --> 00:49:55.210
us protect our children, and any other information that I

589
00:49:55.309 --> 00:49:59.869
feel the world needs to know. Tune in again next

590
00:49:59.929 --> 00:50:04.980
week for another exciting topic, and I hope that you

591
00:50:05.239 --> 00:50:13.769
do one thing, stay informed. I want to thank you

592
00:50:13.909 --> 00:50:16.809
for joining us on A Sharp Outlook. We have been

593
00:50:16.849 --> 00:50:20.469
informed and energized to take the next steps. We have

594
00:50:20.530 --> 00:50:24.119
posted links to websites and videos to learn more on

595
00:50:24.400 --> 00:50:28.320
today's topic. Please join us again next week for another

596
00:50:28.380 --> 00:50:36.000
thought-provoking conversation right here on K4HD Radio and Talk4TV. Listen

597
00:50:36.019 --> 00:50:40.269
to the podcast on all the podcast apps. And until

598
00:50:40.329 --> 00:50:42.469
next week, stay informed.