The Kids Arent Alright

That little, harmless looking app your child downloaded onto their iPhone may be doing more than wasting time. An artificial intelligence chatbot could be having conversations with them that no child should be having, presenting abusive relationships as romance or manipulation as love.

That online game they quickly mute when you walk into the room may be exposing them to language and behavior you wouldn't dare use face to face. That coach who seems just a little too interested in your teenage daughter's games may deserve a closer look if he is constantly finding reasons to be alone with her.

That YouTube channel that slips a little wickedness into its comedy, one joke at a time, may become your greatest obstacle as you try to correct behaviors that were quietly learned over hundreds of hours of screen time.

We all need to be active, proactive, and involved in who, and what, is helping raise our children. Evil has always existed in this world, and every generation has faced influences capable of leading young people astray. The difference today is that we've invited many of those influences into our homes and carry them around in our pockets.

As parents, we've found it far too easy to hand off portions of our responsibility to phones, televisions, computers, or even adults whose intentions may not be what they appear. Children are impressionable.

Their values, habits, and beliefs are shaped during their formative years, making it our greatest responsibility to guard what enters their hearts and minds. If we don't raise our children, something, or someone, else gladly will.

Check their phones. Know what apps they're using. Research the websites they visit. Pay attention to the games they play and the videos they watch. Vet the adults who spend time around them.

Don't ignore the older man who seems overly affectionate or the coach whose interest crosses healthy boundaries. Dig into their favorite YouTube channels. Understand what Instagram, TikTok, and other platforms are feeding them. Not everything that glitters online is gold.

Our children are being targeted, groomed, and influenced at ages that would have been almost unimaginable just a generation ago.

Every company, every platform, and every content creator is competing for every spare minute of their attention. Some have entire teams of engineers designing products to keep young eyes glued to a screen for as long as possible.

We may not be able to control the world, but we can control how much access the world has to our children. We can be present. We can ask hard questions. We can set boundaries. We can say no. We can take away a phone, turn off a game, or walk away from an unhealthy environment.

Our children may not always appreciate it in the moment, but they don't need another friend. They need a parent.

Raise your children like their future depends on it. Because now more than ever, it does.