WEBVTT
1
00:00:01.010 --> 00:00:04.530
This program is designed to provide general information with regards
2
00:00:04.610 --> 00:00:07.629
to the subject matters covered. This information is given with
3
00:00:07.650 --> 00:00:12.130
the understanding that neither the hosts, guests, sponsors, or station
4
00:00:12.289 --> 00:00:19.100
are engaged in rendering any specific and personal medical, financial, legal, counseling,
5
00:00:19.359 --> 00:00:23.420
professional service, or any advice. You should seek the services
6
00:00:23.480 --> 00:00:27.960
of competent professionals before applying or trying any suggested ideas.
7
00:00:31.800 --> 00:00:34.570
Hello, and thank you for tuning in to A Sharp
8
00:00:34.710 --> 00:00:40.810
Outlook on K4HD Radio and Talk4TV. I am Angela Sharp,
9
00:00:40.950 --> 00:00:45.780
your host. Our armchair discussions with industry experts will give
10
00:00:45.799 --> 00:00:49.479
you the steps, tools, and information to be successful in
11
00:00:49.539 --> 00:00:55.340
business and to prepare you to be your best self. Hello,
12
00:00:55.640 --> 00:00:58.590
I'm Angela Sharp, and I'm here to talk to you
13
00:00:58.670 --> 00:01:03.490
about a very, very important subject that I think everyone
14
00:01:03.530 --> 00:01:11.760
needs to know about. And it's called Lost Innocence, Balancing
15
00:01:11.859 --> 00:01:18.079
Awareness and Healthy Development. And what I'm getting into is
16
00:01:18.200 --> 00:01:24.689
what's happening with our children and our young adults because
17
00:01:24.930 --> 00:01:31.719
of AI and digital systems and so much screen time.
18
00:01:32.500 --> 00:01:35.280
So bear with me. I just want to share information
19
00:01:35.799 --> 00:01:39.260
and you make your own decisions. But balancing the protection
20
00:01:39.299 --> 00:01:44.420
of childhood with the realities of an increasing connected digital
21
00:01:44.459 --> 00:01:49.859
world is a major concern for many parents, educators, and
22
00:01:49.920 --> 00:01:56.439
developmental psychologists. Think about this concept. How we've allowed machines
23
00:01:56.500 --> 00:02:01.280
to curate children, leading to a rise in anxiety and
24
00:02:01.340 --> 00:02:08.409
emotional dysregulation. Innocence. What am I talking about? It isn't
25
00:02:08.469 --> 00:02:14.909
about being naive. It's about readiness. In this episode, we
26
00:02:14.930 --> 00:02:19.449
will explore the development impact of early exposure to adult
27
00:02:19.560 --> 00:02:24.870
issues and We'll discuss the importance of preserving childhood innocence,
28
00:02:25.550 --> 00:02:30.330
the science of cognitive development, and practical strategies for parents
29
00:02:30.789 --> 00:02:35.490
to filter the world for their children without shielding them
30
00:02:36.129 --> 00:02:41.599
from reality entirely. We will open the discussion to a
31
00:02:41.759 --> 00:02:46.400
brief anecdote or a shocking statistic about the average age
32
00:02:47.039 --> 00:02:51.699
of the first exposure to adult content. such as some
33
00:02:51.719 --> 00:02:56.840
of our laptops and our smartphones and digitized tools that
34
00:02:56.870 --> 00:03:03.949
we're using these days. Innocence isn't about ignorance. It's about timing.
35
00:03:05.150 --> 00:03:10.580
Development relies on a staged introduction to the complexities of
36
00:03:10.620 --> 00:03:17.879
the world. Every child is different, and parents should seek
37
00:03:18.060 --> 00:03:24.340
guidance from from pediatricians or child psychologists for if they
38
00:03:24.680 --> 00:03:30.599
have any concerns because the digital world is here and
39
00:03:30.659 --> 00:03:34.210
is here to stay and we need to be prepared
40
00:03:34.969 --> 00:03:38.430
for our children to be able to survive all of
41
00:03:38.490 --> 00:03:42.770
the different things that happen in these systems. When you
42
00:03:42.789 --> 00:03:45.330
start thinking about digital systems, I know some of you
43
00:03:45.389 --> 00:03:48.620
have been using them. I know you're aware. I know
44
00:03:48.680 --> 00:03:53.219
how you can get almost addicted to using certain tools,
45
00:03:53.539 --> 00:04:00.979
certain shows, certain little bots and things that show up
46
00:04:01.060 --> 00:04:04.590
on your devices. Well, with your children, they're looking at
47
00:04:04.629 --> 00:04:08.979
the same thing. What do they do? It's called the
48
00:04:09.479 --> 00:04:13.919
reward system of the digital devices and social media. The
49
00:04:13.979 --> 00:04:21.610
ventral striatum is firing, but the brakes, which is the
50
00:04:21.639 --> 00:04:27.589
prefrontal cortex of the child, hasn't been built yet. Imagine that.
51
00:04:29.370 --> 00:04:33.209
They're having all of this information being fired at them,
52
00:04:33.670 --> 00:04:37.629
but their ability to understand it, their ability to dissect it,
53
00:04:38.100 --> 00:04:41.959
Their ability to analyze it hasn't been developed yet in
54
00:04:41.990 --> 00:04:47.689
their brain. Imagine what's happening to them. The plasticity trap.
55
00:04:48.829 --> 00:04:52.389
And this is something that was written by Dr. Adriana
56
00:04:52.589 --> 00:04:59.420
Galvin at UCLA. Why the adolescent brain is uniquely susceptible
57
00:04:59.519 --> 00:05:02.839
to the digital slot machine. And we all know that's
58
00:05:02.899 --> 00:05:07.990
what's happening. You get hooked up. on your digital devices
59
00:05:08.069 --> 00:05:11.089
and the things that you're watching. And they actually start
60
00:05:11.129 --> 00:05:15.230
taking over your lives. You can't wait to get out
61
00:05:15.269 --> 00:05:17.769
of school. You can't wait to get out of church.
62
00:05:17.829 --> 00:05:20.180
You can't wait to get off work or a break.
63
00:05:20.500 --> 00:05:23.439
And sometimes you won't wait because you've got to find
64
00:05:23.540 --> 00:05:26.899
out about the next thing that's happening on your digital devices.
65
00:05:27.920 --> 00:05:33.019
The scaffolding concept, the necessity of parental input in helping
66
00:05:33.079 --> 00:05:38.740
children categorize complex adult issues until they have the cognitive
67
00:05:38.860 --> 00:05:44.160
tools to do it for themselves. The algorithms, and I
68
00:05:44.199 --> 00:05:50.079
know about algorithms because my day job is finance and
69
00:05:50.639 --> 00:05:54.980
software engineering. I've been in tech for a very long time,
70
00:05:55.060 --> 00:05:59.300
so I understand them completely. I've written enough program software
71
00:05:59.579 --> 00:06:03.860
that I know what is. Algorithms are not evil. Not
72
00:06:03.920 --> 00:06:09.459
at all. But they are indifferent. They don't care if
73
00:06:09.500 --> 00:06:12.660
they are showing a child a cute animal or a
74
00:06:12.720 --> 00:06:19.819
video promoting self-harm. They're just showing information. The velocity of
75
00:06:19.899 --> 00:06:26.480
engagement pushing kids toward extremes is what's happening, which is
76
00:06:26.500 --> 00:06:33.540
the perfect storm that's described by Dr. Jean Twenge. The
77
00:06:33.600 --> 00:06:37.379
social comparison trap, and we know how much that's been
78
00:06:37.439 --> 00:06:40.680
harming our girls and our boys as they are developing.
79
00:06:41.959 --> 00:06:46.379
It breaks down the specific damage of curated, filtered imagery
80
00:06:46.850 --> 00:06:51.529
on body image and self-worth. We have them harming themselves
81
00:06:51.569 --> 00:06:54.149
because they don't think they're beautiful or they don't think
82
00:06:54.189 --> 00:06:57.589
they're smart or they don't think they're loved. And they're
83
00:06:57.709 --> 00:07:04.350
getting this information off of social media. I'm sure your parents,
84
00:07:04.670 --> 00:07:08.189
your grandparents, your aunties, your uncles aren't telling you those things.
85
00:07:08.360 --> 00:07:14.860
They're getting them from social media. The Surgeon General's warning
86
00:07:15.980 --> 00:07:19.779
back in 2023 is this is a public health crisis,
87
00:07:20.480 --> 00:07:25.279
not a personal failing of a parent. It's a health crisis.
88
00:07:26.560 --> 00:07:34.029
And what's the consequences? Too much information too soon. It
89
00:07:34.089 --> 00:07:40.730
causes toxic stress. Exposure to global tragedies or adult-level politics
90
00:07:40.829 --> 00:07:44.569
impacts a child who lacks the power to change those realities.
91
00:07:45.910 --> 00:07:49.490
What would they know about that? How can they get involved?
92
00:07:49.910 --> 00:07:57.519
How can they even understand what's going on? Normalizing aggression
93
00:07:58.060 --> 00:08:05.350
is what's happening. It develops desensitization to media violence and
94
00:08:05.430 --> 00:08:10.410
changes how kids interact in the schoolyards. They're watching things
95
00:08:10.470 --> 00:08:12.949
and next thing you know, they're trying to act out
96
00:08:13.009 --> 00:08:17.250
these behaviors at the schoolyard. They're wanting to fight. They're
97
00:08:17.269 --> 00:08:20.350
wanting to be aggressive. They're wanting to push people around.
98
00:08:20.689 --> 00:08:24.610
They're wanting to be bullies. And we know that bullying
99
00:08:24.810 --> 00:08:27.629
is a problem in our schools. Where are they getting
100
00:08:27.649 --> 00:08:34.860
these ideas from? It's not attractive. It's not cute. It's destructive.
101
00:08:36.120 --> 00:08:40.679
The displacement effect, the most important point every hour spent
102
00:08:40.879 --> 00:08:46.519
in the algorithmic loop is an hour of lost sleep,
103
00:08:47.419 --> 00:08:53.139
lost play, and lost physical movement. My question is, are
104
00:08:53.179 --> 00:08:58.029
we pushing our children to grow up too fast? I
105
00:08:58.090 --> 00:09:00.830
know some have circumstances where they're saying, well, you've got
106
00:09:00.850 --> 00:09:03.669
to take a little more responsibility or you've got to
107
00:09:03.730 --> 00:09:05.970
do this or you have to do that because mommy
108
00:09:05.990 --> 00:09:08.350
has to work or daddy has to work. But I
109
00:09:08.409 --> 00:09:12.940
don't think this is what you intended. From social media
110
00:09:13.240 --> 00:09:18.240
algorithms to global news cycles, children are increasingly exposed to
111
00:09:18.340 --> 00:09:22.580
complex adult level topics before they have the emotional maturity
112
00:09:23.039 --> 00:09:30.220
to process them. What is adult content? Let's distinguish between
113
00:09:30.500 --> 00:09:35.580
mild age appropriate topics and mature issues such as violence,
114
00:09:36.259 --> 00:09:43.470
sexual content, existential dread, political polarization. What do your children
115
00:09:43.529 --> 00:09:48.929
have to do with that? Do you remember playing outdoors?
116
00:09:50.529 --> 00:09:54.779
Do you remember swinging on the swings, climbing the monkey bars,
117
00:09:56.679 --> 00:10:02.600
playing hide and go seek, chasing one another, jumping rope,
118
00:10:02.940 --> 00:10:06.600
playing marbles? Oh, I loved the marbles. That was so cool,
119
00:10:07.220 --> 00:10:12.759
especially the little peewees and the bigger marbles. In fact,
120
00:10:12.840 --> 00:10:17.840
I was really good at it. What is the developmental window?
121
00:10:18.059 --> 00:10:21.000
That's what we want to talk about. Here's a brief
122
00:10:21.159 --> 00:10:26.279
overview of how the prefrontal cortex develops and why young
123
00:10:26.340 --> 00:10:33.470
children struggle with abstract, heavy or traumatic concepts. So when
124
00:10:33.509 --> 00:10:37.289
I say too much too soon, I want to discuss
125
00:10:37.309 --> 00:10:42.149
with you what that really means. The anxiety link, discussing
126
00:10:42.769 --> 00:10:46.840
the rise in childhood anxiety when children feel they must
127
00:10:47.200 --> 00:10:51.620
bear the weight of big world problems is they cannot control.
128
00:10:51.639 --> 00:10:59.730
It's bringing your children anxiety. The adultification of childhood, how
129
00:10:59.889 --> 00:11:04.309
constant exposure to adult issues can rob children of the
130
00:11:04.370 --> 00:11:10.789
essential play and imagination phases necessary for healthy social development.
131
00:11:12.009 --> 00:11:15.850
It's good for them to play and use their imagination.
132
00:11:16.549 --> 00:11:21.789
Let them have their imaginary friend. It's good for development.
133
00:11:22.149 --> 00:11:25.529
It's good for their mind to grow and develop at
134
00:11:25.610 --> 00:11:32.929
their stage where they are. Distorted reality. How early exposure
135
00:11:32.990 --> 00:11:39.090
to unfiltered adult narratives can shape a child's worldview in
136
00:11:39.210 --> 00:11:47.379
cynical and fearful ways. Practical strategies for parents. It's not
137
00:11:47.399 --> 00:11:52.559
to It's to filter, not to block, not even thinking
138
00:11:52.620 --> 00:11:56.090
of saying block them from using these, but filter them.
139
00:11:58.149 --> 00:12:03.870
Moving from strict censorship to scaffolding, helping children understand things
140
00:12:04.690 --> 00:12:09.889
in doses appropriate for their age. This includes digital hygiene,
141
00:12:10.470 --> 00:12:15.649
practical tips on parental controls, monitoring screen time, and fostering
142
00:12:15.809 --> 00:12:20.320
open dialogue rather than just Taking away devices. We're not
143
00:12:20.360 --> 00:12:24.730
talking about taking away devices. We're talking about introducing other
144
00:12:24.809 --> 00:12:29.490
ways of managing this information flow that could be damaging
145
00:12:30.090 --> 00:12:35.590
your children. Creating sanctuaries, ensuring that the home environment remains
146
00:12:36.200 --> 00:12:43.240
a space for joy, play, creativity, and relief from external pressures.
147
00:12:44.279 --> 00:12:49.009
Your home is your castle. That's the safe space. They
148
00:12:49.049 --> 00:12:52.590
need to feel that when they're at home. And when
149
00:12:52.610 --> 00:12:55.909
they're sitting there bringing in harmful information in the home,
150
00:12:56.309 --> 00:12:59.840
they don't even feel safe at home either. So you're
151
00:12:59.860 --> 00:13:04.340
robbing them of that safety that they all need. Remember
152
00:13:04.379 --> 00:13:09.179
that childhood is short. As you get older, you know
153
00:13:09.779 --> 00:13:15.909
childhood is extremely brief. From birth to 18 years old
154
00:13:15.970 --> 00:13:19.960
is a short time compared to the additional years of
155
00:13:20.620 --> 00:13:25.720
going up to 80. God permitting. We all need to
156
00:13:25.779 --> 00:13:36.519
watch for red flags. Unusual fear, withdrawal, sleep issues, bad dreams, nightmares,
157
00:13:37.320 --> 00:13:44.090
different things like that. The talking back. the disrespect. Those
158
00:13:44.149 --> 00:13:47.070
are things that they're learning. And we used to think
159
00:13:47.090 --> 00:13:51.379
they were just learning them at school. Some are. But
160
00:13:51.419 --> 00:13:54.200
some of it is showing up in what they're watching.
161
00:13:54.240 --> 00:13:57.460
Because when I turn on the television, I see children
162
00:13:57.500 --> 00:14:01.399
behaving in manners that I don't want my child to
163
00:14:01.450 --> 00:14:06.370
behave that way. So why would The movie industry think
164
00:14:06.409 --> 00:14:11.149
that disrespectful children is something cute. There's nothing cute about
165
00:14:11.509 --> 00:14:16.269
children being disrespectful and not understanding that children should not
166
00:14:16.309 --> 00:14:20.009
be telling adults what to do or sassing back or
167
00:14:20.070 --> 00:14:24.500
rolling their eyes and, heaven forbid, not hitting your parents.
168
00:14:25.360 --> 00:14:27.440
So those are just things that they're picking up from
169
00:14:27.539 --> 00:14:32.340
social media because it's all over the place. You are
170
00:14:32.379 --> 00:14:37.500
the primary reason curator of your child's environment, not social media.
171
00:14:38.740 --> 00:14:41.470
You're the one that decides what your child is going
172
00:14:41.500 --> 00:14:45.409
to be told, what they're going to learn, what the
173
00:14:45.470 --> 00:14:48.610
personality is going to be, what their behavior is going
174
00:14:48.629 --> 00:14:50.970
to be, if they're going to have respect or not.
175
00:14:51.850 --> 00:14:55.429
That comes from you. You're the curator of your children.
176
00:14:56.529 --> 00:15:02.830
Jane Plaget's stage of cognitive development is this. The sensory
177
00:15:03.509 --> 00:15:08.669
motor is birth to two years old, where they're learning
178
00:15:08.730 --> 00:15:15.389
through senses and physical movement. Preoperational is from two to seven.
179
00:15:15.769 --> 00:15:23.580
That's where you learn symbols, language, and pretend play. Concrete
180
00:15:23.779 --> 00:15:27.779
operational is from seven to 11 years old. You learn
181
00:15:27.840 --> 00:15:34.450
through logical thinking about real things. And then formal operational
182
00:15:35.350 --> 00:15:40.440
is from age 12 plus. You learn using abstract thought
183
00:15:41.960 --> 00:15:47.399
and reasoning to be able to solve problems. So they
184
00:15:47.460 --> 00:15:51.480
at least should be at the age of 12 if
185
00:15:51.519 --> 00:15:55.759
you're just going to turn them loose on the social
186
00:15:55.799 --> 00:16:00.500
media platforms and let them go for it. But if
187
00:16:00.529 --> 00:16:05.200
you are curating and you are guiding and you are
188
00:16:05.279 --> 00:16:10.720
spending time and you're watching things together, then you can
189
00:16:10.759 --> 00:16:16.240
maybe consider other things. The nature deficit disorder concept, while
190
00:16:16.399 --> 00:16:21.870
focused on nature, it parallels the idea that children need
191
00:16:21.970 --> 00:16:27.659
a pure environment to develop properly. The impact of social
192
00:16:27.700 --> 00:16:34.679
media algorithms, research shows that algorithms inadvertently funnel children toward
193
00:16:35.100 --> 00:16:40.889
more extreme content. Why? Because it arouses emotions. It arouses
194
00:16:41.389 --> 00:16:44.730
all of those things, fear and anger and aggression, and
195
00:16:44.750 --> 00:16:49.899
the dopamine kicks in. Research and development, psychology and pediatrics
196
00:16:49.960 --> 00:16:54.639
consistently highlights that children's brains are uniquely vulnerable to the
197
00:16:54.730 --> 00:16:58.809
quality and volume of the information they process. Unlike adults,
198
00:16:58.929 --> 00:17:06.750
children lack the top-down executive function housed in the prefrontal
199
00:17:07.150 --> 00:17:15.230
cortex to regulate emotional responses to distressing or complex information.
200
00:17:17.089 --> 00:17:25.259
Here's a guide. Expert recommendations from the American Academy of Pediatrics, AAP,
201
00:17:25.880 --> 00:17:31.400
and other child development organizations emphasize the following evidence-based framework.
202
00:17:32.259 --> 00:17:37.019
The media plan experts recommend that parents create a personalized
203
00:17:37.240 --> 00:17:42.549
family media plan. This shifts the focus from screen time
204
00:17:43.670 --> 00:17:49.099
as a binary good, bad, to the content and context
205
00:17:49.319 --> 00:17:54.180
of the media used. So as the curator, you can
206
00:17:54.779 --> 00:17:58.309
give them the time, you schedule the time, and you
207
00:17:58.329 --> 00:18:02.910
can even schedule the content. So they're not just watching
208
00:18:03.309 --> 00:18:06.829
some of the crazy things that are out there. Because
209
00:18:06.890 --> 00:18:11.849
right now, everything is designed for shock. And shock, like
210
00:18:11.930 --> 00:18:17.180
I said, creates emotions. And it's not the right emotions
211
00:18:17.339 --> 00:18:23.690
that it is creating. Co-viewing or co-engaging is something that's recommended.
212
00:18:24.470 --> 00:18:31.220
Research shows that active mediation, when parents watch or play
213
00:18:31.339 --> 00:18:39.210
alongside children, imitate the negative effects of mature content. It
214
00:18:39.259 --> 00:18:44.240
allows the adult to provide content for confusing or frightening information.
215
00:18:44.660 --> 00:18:46.980
So if you're watching them together, it gives you an
216
00:18:47.039 --> 00:18:51.500
opportunity to express your emotions, your feelings, your thoughts about
217
00:18:51.559 --> 00:18:55.670
what was just watched. You can give them explanations or
218
00:18:55.829 --> 00:18:59.730
some kind of context as to why that happened. Or
219
00:19:00.210 --> 00:19:03.470
most of all, you can say, it's just a movie.
220
00:19:03.890 --> 00:19:08.160
It's not real. Because they can't tell the difference between
221
00:19:08.819 --> 00:19:13.789
what's just a movie or what's reality. And seeing that
222
00:19:14.380 --> 00:19:18.809
a lot of movies are imitating reality and there is
223
00:19:18.930 --> 00:19:22.769
so much going on in society right now, a lot
224
00:19:22.829 --> 00:19:25.269
of it is real. But I don't think it's something
225
00:19:25.630 --> 00:19:28.349
that needs to be real in the lives and in
226
00:19:28.390 --> 00:19:32.769
the minds of children until they're able and capable of
227
00:19:32.809 --> 00:19:38.799
managing that information. The age-appropriate gatekeeper, that's who you are.
228
00:19:39.880 --> 00:19:46.690
Organizations like the AAP emphasize that parents must act as
229
00:19:46.769 --> 00:19:53.700
filters since algorithms are designed to keep users engaged rather
230
00:19:53.759 --> 00:19:58.720
than protect developmental milestones. They're not designed to do that.
231
00:19:58.779 --> 00:20:03.170
They're not writing that in the algorithms. They're writing things
232
00:20:03.269 --> 00:20:06.930
in the algorithms that do create shock, that do create anxiety.
233
00:20:07.480 --> 00:20:12.829
fear that do create something that affects your emotions and
234
00:20:12.890 --> 00:20:16.690
generally in a negative way not an exciting or a
235
00:20:16.710 --> 00:20:19.519
good way but in a negative way because it then
236
00:20:19.690 --> 00:20:23.960
generates you wanting to do this again and again because
237
00:20:24.000 --> 00:20:29.339
of the feelings that you're getting so it's really important
238
00:20:29.380 --> 00:20:37.750
to be watching and co-watching and planning, prioritizing unstructured play.
239
00:20:38.630 --> 00:20:45.450
Experts consistently cite that real-world face-to-face interactions are the golden
240
00:20:45.849 --> 00:20:51.740
standard for social-emotional learning, which should take priority over any
241
00:20:51.859 --> 00:20:58.759
form of digital information consumption. In other words, parents, you're
242
00:20:58.799 --> 00:21:03.839
their teachers. And even if you're wanting to use social
243
00:21:03.900 --> 00:21:08.880
media to begin the topic or show an example, be