As a parent of two young children, I am always worried about the world they will grow up in. This probably isn’t any different than any parent of past generations, but I feel this deeply. There is a sickness in our society that seems more prevalent and pervasive than it did in the past. I think it has a lot to do with the proliferation of technology, which, while incredibly useful and beneficial, has been of irreparable harm to a majority of the populace. I think one of the most harmful inventions of our time has been social media. The irony is not lost on me that I am using a form of social media to share and “market” this idea, and that I use social media regularly (perhaps too much, to be frank). However, as a millennial, I am of a generation that grew up in a time before the internet was commonplace, and also grew with the internet as it became ubiquitous and ingrained in almost every facet of our lives.
The Isolating Nature of Social Media
When social media first came about, I remember it being billed as something where you could connect with people from all over. You could reconnect with old friends, you could interact with people you had only met online, and you could share every aspect of your life with the world. This was a direct offshoot of the function of early internet usenet groups, forums, and other niche websites and areas where people could interact over a shared passion for a specific interest. Nowadays, social media functions as an effective echo chamber, where people with similar ideologies and worldviews congregate and reinforce one another’s thinking. In addition, youth are increasingly influenced by people who are dishonest at best, portraying an attractive lifestyle that is ultimately a lie (looking at you, Tate brothers).
The youth of today are the safest generation ever. They are less likely to drink underage, drive drunk, experiment with substances, and be present in dangerous situations. However, they are incredibly more mentally and emotionally at risk, and susceptible to all sorts of messaging. This is an insidious feature of our society. Children have smartphones and access to the entire world and are propagandized and sold to at the earliest possible opportunity. It is, in a way, incredibly evil. Teenagers alone on their phones can access any number of good or bad actors, and the accounts, posts, pictures, and videos they see are propagated by The Algorithm – the more you view of one thing, the more you see of similar items. So if an impressionable young man gets sent a video of Andrew Tate talking about the inherent worth of women being tied to their reproductive ability, he will continue to see videos like that as he engages. It is a pernicious cycle that is difficult to break.
Misinformation is propagated daily, but perhaps worse than that is the lie that so many people are selling. If you just get the new car, the new house, the new revenue stream, more money, more things, more attention, then you will be happy. Teenagers and young adults are especially vulnerable to this type of marketing, and it can consume their identity. Young men are taught by reprehensible creatures to view women as objects, to deny essential human traits such as empathy, compassion, and vulnerability and instead embrace the “strength” of power, wealth, and callousness. I weep for the young men who have fallen prey to this lie.
I don’t want to pontificate or appear too sanctimonious, but the fact remains that I am terrified of the world my son and daughter will grow up in. I want to do my best to encourage them to embrace actual, human connection and not just the friendships made behind a screen. Don’t get me wrong, I have plenty of friends I have made through video games that I’ve never actually met in real life. I treasure those friendships. But I fear that when a large majority of our friendships and relationships are mediated through a screen, we lose some of the more important aspects of human connection.
The Cult of Influence
A career path that didn’t necessarily exist in the mainstream until recently is that of the influencer. Accrue a large social media following, get paid by brands to promote their products, make a bunch of money and never have to work a traditional job ever again. Or you could be a streamer, playing video games, interacting with Chat, getting sponsored, and being paid to play video games all day. Sounds kinda cool. The issue is that for every successful streamer or influencer, there are thousands of instances of individuals who didn’t get the following, brands, money, or fame. But that side isn’t shown. The downsides of the lifestyle aren’t shown. The only thing teenagers see is the glamor and money and cars and fame. They also don’t see how difficult it is to become successful like the most popular streamers. And yet, we still have teens aiming to be a prank video maker, or a content creator, or a streamer, or an influencer. So often these people just say what they are told and they don’t do any sort of research or inquiry. They accept ads and revenue from companies selling products that are questionable at best. Many of the streamers that young men watch are sponsored by DraftKings, or Hard Rock Bet, or any other number of gambling companies. They receive ads for Blue Chew and other health products. They follow accounts of scantily-clad women, of models and porn stars. All of these things they navigate without oversight or supervision, while their brains are still forming. They grow up thinking that gambling on sports is normal. They think that women having a “side hustle” where they get naked on camera is normal. They have friends who gamble and subscribe to porn and this is all seen as a normal teenager’s life in 2026.
It is not normal.
The question is no longer if a child will be exposed to pornography – the question is when. I will have to explain to my son, inevitably, what pornography is, why it is not something we should engage with, and be vigilant around the content that he and our family engage with. The barrier to finding pornography has never been lower. And now, another vice has entered the mainstream and marketed as just another fun thing to do. Download an app, get “free” money to spend on a bet, and then keep betting. Lose, win, it doesn’t matter – as long as you keep betting and spending and earning and losing. Ads for these companies are everywhere now. There is no way to avoid them. So now we must become even more vigilant surrounding the things we view and listen to and click on.
I feel like I’m crazy, but I don’t think it is normal nor healthy for these things to be normalized. I’d argue the same for alcohol, but that’s a conversation for another day.
Onward and Upward
I touched on it earlier, but the prevalence of pornography today is astounding. While apocryphal, I remember hearing that the average age a boy is exposed to hardcore pornography is at the age of 8. 8 years old! That is insane. Absolutely bonkers. And yet, completely normal now. One wrong click, one curious navigation, and an entire new vista of experience is opened up. The main problem with porn, as I see it, is that it does not promote a healthy view of sexuality and intimacy. It teaches the viewer to fetishize and view both men and women as objects, as something to view and exploit. Any relationship based on exploiting another individual is not a relationship – it is predatory.
I hate the fact that I will have to explain these things to my children. I dream of a world where we can all have enough food to eat, a place to sleep, clothes to wear, and money to spend on necessities. Instead of living in a world without scarcity, the technocrats who have learned to dominate society instead enrich themselves while keeping the majority of the world servile to vices, and poverty. Instead of being optimistic about the future my children will inherit, I mourn what might have been. I remain hopeful that things can change, but I don not have much hope that the world will change all that much. I hope that I can teach my children to be compassionate and hopeful and finding inspiration from the best sources.
Of all the awful things I’ve spoken about above, I just want my children to know that I love them, want the best for them, and believe that they can do anything they set their mind to. I hope to teach them kindness and compassion, empathy and care for those less fortunate than them. I want them to be those who offer a hand to someone in distress and be the brightness in positivity in the lives of all they come in contact with.
I can’t change the world for my children, but I can teach my children to be forces for good and change in the world. And that’s all I want as a father – to teach my children kindness and empathy so that maybe the world can be a better place because of them.
