We are two mothers in tech
And we live our lives through rectangular screens. The exact opposite of what we want for our children.
We want our children to have a childhood. We want them to learn how to argue with friends. To get bored. To play outside. Rain or shine. To get dirty and dead tired. To band on imaginary missions and save worlds they create. We want them to get in trouble and make mistakes. To learn that you can make things right. Forgiven. Forgotten. To grow up free of ever-present judgement. To learn to attune to what they like, not the digital homogeneity they’ll get fed through algorithms. To get to really know themselves.
We see social media, AI, and technology’s invisible hands as standing in the way of that. What happens to our kids' nervous systems when they are made to feel deficient? What happens when they are overwhelmed with everything, everywhere, all at once, at their fingertips? Will they know themselves if they live in curated feeds and homogeneous echo chambers that tell them what to like and what to think? This can’t be good.
What we know today
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Last year, U.S. Surgeon General issued a public advisory warning of the risks of social media use to young people.
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Stanford researchers, previously unconvinced and skeptical, published a meta-analysis that conceded conclusive associations (small yet significant) between social media use and increased depression and anxiety.
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A C.D.C. study, reported 42% of high schoolers experiencing persistent feelings of hopelessness, 22% seriously considering suicide and 18% making a suicide plan.
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Teens use social media “almost constantly”.
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It is overwhelming to be thirteen today.
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Young people are becoming recluses.
The problem is nuanced and complex, so we are setting out to understand it more deeply.
Because despite all of the terrifying evidence, we are two mothers in tech, who are not against tech.
We want our kids to text with a few friends. To enjoy the occasional diversion on Youtube. To play a game or two. To use technology to create and learn. Today, our fear of them getting sucked into a rabbit hole of endless consumption, perverted content, or judgemental chatter stops us in our tracks.
We are past the idea that someone else will take action on our behalf. We are done waiting for policymakers, big tech, or educators to lead the way. This is a problem we are squarely part of. It must be a problem we try to fix.
This mess is not on our kids. Our kids don’t need fixing. Their role models do. We do.
Our relationship with technology needs fixing. 6+ billion smartphone users. 6+ billion dysregulated nervous systems. 6+ billion addicts.
This moment calls for each of us, as parents, to do our part.
We are two mothers ready to do our part.
Through collective investigation and sensemaking, we are building a research-backed roadmap for addressing our relationship to technology.
In 2024, we are setting out to…
Learn from Experts
Speak with experts in mental health, social and cognitive development, family systems, neuroscience, addiction, social media and AI, trust and safety, as well as practitioners dealing with the issues surrounding social media and kids, such as clinicians, educators, policymakers, economists, and ethicists. Educating ourselves and sharing what we learn along the way.
Launch a Pilot Program
Launch a pilot program that will be a growth environment for committed parents in tech* to sit together at the table with findings from research, ready to envision and co-create better futures. Envisioning solutions to different parts of this multifaceted problem together.
* Honestly though, anyone who cares deeply enough and wants to help us solve this is welcome!
Identify Partnership Opportunities
Identify opportunities to partner with research centers and think tanks to influence their studies with new inputs that lead to legislative and systemic change. Bringing a qualitative, human-centered layer to the world of academic research helping shape how big tech gets regulated.
