Keep An Eye on the Kids

      Technology is the angel and devil sitting on our shoulders 24/7.  It is the driver of amazing change and catastrophic outcomes.  We are both more protected and less protected because of it, and we have yet to figure out how to regulate it.  It also knows no age limits, as I have witnessed babies and senior citizens in use of it.  But, one thing is for certain. The youth of the present are growing up under a technological microscope that anyone over the age of thirty can not relate to.

     I literally read George Orwell’s 1984 in 1984 when I was a high school sophomore. I was in a fiction class taught by the late, great Barbara Gordon Wise.  Despite Dr. Wise’s best efforts, I was a barely better-than-average student, and often read for the gist of the story, not the specifics that make the story special. But, I did remember Big Brother, and still think about it to this day. It felt so absurd forty years ago, and exciting to wonder about, but now, it seems anyway, we are living it.

     High school communication in the 1980’s came in the form of poorly-worded letters written during class, and passed on to its destination through a series of hand-offs by people you hoped you could trust. The only snafu in this situation was the teacher seeing this transaction and then confiscating the note. The nightmare scenario was said teacher opening it and reading all your raw, adolescent thoughts and feelings to the class. The fallout was 20 or so peers knowing the embarrassing sentiments that were intended for one target, and the humility that you didn’t realize you would still feel decades later. 

       Like everything else in the 2020’s, high school now involves webs of communication that most adults don’t understand, and have little chance of limiting or controlling.  IPhones, IPads, text messages, GIF’s, Snapchat, Instagram, and Tik Tok are the tip of the iceberg.  The irony of these devices is that students will go to extreme degrees to block an adult from seeing what is on their screen in person, but will, without hesitation, post their most intimate thoughts, feelings, pictures, videos, and problems on these devices and platforms for millions of strangers to see for eternity.  This is self-inflicted, and something that many adults are falling victim to also.  I don’t think we fully know the consequences of this yet.  I once read an article about websites that allow teenagers to post extremely inappropriate content to each other under the guise of a normal website.  To a parent, an app like Calculator looks benign, but click on the right button, and it opens a whole different world hidden from adult eyes.

      But, at least these behaviors are made by choice.  The problem is compounded by the amount of surveillance that saturates society, for better or worse (usually both).  When I drive to school, I pass by any number of cameras at local businesses that will record my passing by.  When I arrive at the school, I am seen by security cameras as I park and approach the building.  When I go inside the building, I am met again with the bubbled, all-seeing eyes of more security cameras.  Throughout the school day, I am surrounded by 700 or so people with IPhones, making them all potential social media reporters at a second’s notice (any fight will be recorded and posted within minutes, guaranteed).   Away from school, drones are becoming more common, and all have potential recording capabilities.  Smart phones, smart TVs, AI voice servers (like Alexa), home security (like Ring), the internet of everything, are all very convenient and often for protection, but they are also two way streets.  Every one of those allows someone to see into your private life.  Read the Washington Post article, “Alexa has Been Eavesdropping On You All This Time”, and you may never want to speak openly in your house again. 

         My point in this conversation is not to dump on technology.  It has been a God-send during the pandemic, especially teaching hybrid and remote classes, and has increased security, and accountability, for sure.  The teenager who recorded Derek Chauvin kneeling on George Floyd’s neck until he died, is now up for a special Pulitzer Prize.  My point, though, is that our children are growing up under a microscope under which no mistake, no matter how big or small, can be made.  Did you ever sneak out to go to a party?  Parents can find their children any time now.  Did you ever pull a prank at school?  Cameras picked it up.  Did you ever write something to a girlfriend or boyfriend that you would later burn?  It’s on permanent record somewhere now. We wonder why teenagers and young adults won’t speak to us out loud, but it’s because they are held accountable for anything and everything.  Sometimes, like the Precogs in Minority Report, they are called to task for things that haven’t even happened yet.  Technology has thrown a spotlight on every gross detail of their lives.  

       I like to believe that I’m not a bad person, but I, like every person on the planet, has done regrettable things, especially in youth.  These mistakes molded me into the person I am today through regret, fear, sympathy, and analysis through age. The outcome would have been much different if I had grown up with the current technology, and I’m not sure it would have been for the better.  Being a parent is an impossibly complex job, but every child needs space to make the small mistakes and learn from them.  If we don’t, many will make bigger mistakes with bigger consequences.