1KHO 685: Kids Are Not Content | Sarah Adams, Mom Uncharted

Oh, it's a beautiful world Ain't nothing on the screen that's ever gonna be this view Oh, it's a beautiful world And I just wanna share with you It's a beautiful world Such a beautiful world Hey friends, thanks so much for pressing the play button. I'm really glad you're here. Today's guest is Sarah Adams The voice behind mom Uncharted and the message kids are not content in this conversation is one You'll keep thinking about long after it ends We're talking about what it really means to share kids online in a world None of us can fully control and why pause before you post might be one of the most practical parenting habits of our time Sarah breaks down how algorithms reward child-centered content How AI can affect the photos we think are harmless and why protecting childhood now includes considerations about protecting digital privacy This episode is clear thoughtful and incredibly actionable And I think you'll finish it wanting to send it to friends and talk about it with them when you're playing outside Before we jump in here's a practical tie-in to this episode If part of what you react to today is how much time kids are spending time watching other people live On phones on feeds on get ready with me videos are free 2026 1000 hours outside tracker sheets are one way to shift that They give your family a simple structure to spend more time doing instead of watching You can download them at 1000 hours outside comm slash trackers and use them as a nudge toward more outside time and less screen time You can grab them at 1000 hours outside comm slash trackers print one hang it up and join in this journey anytime And if you want to track digitally our 1000 hours outside app is on ios and android And it is on sale for 25 dollars for the entire year for just 11 more days It's built to help you close your phone not live in it and for about two dollars a month It's a simple way to build momentum toward more green time and less green time One last thing and then we'll get into it if this podcast has helped you in any way Would you share this episode with a friend and leave a quick review wherever you listen? I run the show independently and those two things make a huge difference in helping other families find these conversations Your review doesn't have to be long this five star review came in last week This podcast gives me the frequent reminder I need that going against the cultural grain may be hard But it's so good it helps me keep a vision of the life I want for my children Just a couple sentences makes an impact. All right, here's my conversation with sarah adams My kids used to ask for sugary sports drinks at every gas station stop And I just couldn't get on board with the ingredients then we found cure hydration and honestly It's all of the whole thing cure makes plant-based electrolyte drink mixes with no added sugar and no artificial ingredients for my husband and me We have used hydration packs a lot I'll throw one in my water bottle before podcast interviews or on travel days or even mid-afternoon when I realized I haven't had enough to drink My favorite flavor right now is berry pomegranate. It's refreshing not overly sweet And it actually makes me want to finish my water and that's the key It hydrates better than water alone and uses the same science-backed formula shown to work as effectively as an IV drip And then there are the cure kids mixes. They're formulated with pediatricians completely free of artificial dyes and added sugars And they taste great. My kids love the fruit flavors and I love knowing they're replacing electrolytes after long days outside sports practices Or hot afternoons staying hydrated isn't just about water. You also need electrolytes. That's why my family loves cure It's clean tastes great and my kids love it You can grab cure on amazon or find a store near you at cure hydration.com slash outside real ingredients real hydration ready for the whole family Welcome to the 1000 hours outside podcast. My name is jenny urchin the founder of 1000 hours outside I actually feel like i'm talking to a celebrity Like this is just because you do videos online and I don't know if I've had this experience before I'm like Oh, she's actually like sitting right in front of me. Sarah Adams for mom uncharted parents uncharted kids are not content Welcome. Oh, thank you so much for having me. I'm a big fan of yours and all you do It's it's so important and necessary in this day and age. So thank you Oh, thanks for saying that this is so important. I kind of think that what we talk about in tandem Continues to be more important as the days progress So you're talking about the fact that kids are not content and I'll share a little bit of my backstory I also don't want to sound like a hypocrite because my kids have been shared online before But we have really pulled back and so it's really tricky I honestly feel like it should be nothing But like, you know, we've had some news articles or Yep. Um in the past We share photos and now Not much but like our kids have gone on tour with us and have done music. So it just it's a tricky thing So I don't want to come on off and sound like a hypocrite, but my story is that actually many years ago One of my children was with my mom at the library And somebody recognized the child. Yeah, and I was like, oh, that's not good And the person was very nice and very excited to me and they met my mom But my mom was like somebody at the library knew who your kid was and I was like, that was my big red flag I was like, that's not safe because You know, they they say not even to put your kids age on their backpack or their name on their backpack Because then someone could come up and say something to them So we started to sort of make the shift then and since however, I just think with AI and You talk a lot in depth about it. So I think it's really important We're constantly talking about it in our home. We're we're sort of um, we're not 100% But we really believe in it But I also think you have to be 100% to like make it super safe So when I first started mom and charted um and talking about these subjects about four years ago I always said that It's doing a little right. I'm not I've never been Super black and white, you know I've always been against parents who utilize their kids as content in the way that the whole feed is their kids They would not be successful Without the kids They would not have the following without the kids and I do think there is a difference between influencers who Occasionally have their children in their content, you know, this is mom's full-time job And at the holiday season they share one family photo, right? You know, it's I rally against the accounts that are solely and primarily based around children However, I've been doing this for four years now and with the advancements in AI I'm starting to become a little more black and white with the issue AI is terrifying when it comes to what it can do with images of Children and I also want to say that it's okay to change your mind as parents, you know technology advances social media advances We're all new to this. So when you say, you know, I'm not perfect. I used to share more. I used to do this A lot of parents said that's very Common to hear and I just want to compel parents to know that it's okay to change your mind It's okay to be like, wow, I was a little Uneducated or I didn't think about it like that or I saw it through that lens And then change your mind with how you share images and information about your children Um, I think that's really important for parents to hear. It's never too late I really like the pause before you post that is one of the things that you talk about And I think by by following you and learning more and seeing how the world is changing It does it gives and that's sort of that's what happened with me. I'm like, okay That's person knew who my kid was That now gives me pause moving forward for for all the things and then you go into a lot of Additional things that people may not have thought about so You also talk about who we interact with online and I talked to this woman named hara Astrof morano who is a editor. She's a she's an older woman She's an editor at psychology today and she wrote a book called nation of wims And she wrote the book in 2008 so before screens came out But she was talking about how we have sort of turned kids into trophies in a lot of ways And anyway, she used the phrase that it's a new kind of child labor Oh, yeah, definitely That really stopped me in my tracks because you look at you know, the sort of pushing of kids And it's really easy to justify it. Well, it's going to get them into a good college or whatever Or you look at the post, you know, people would say a lot of things about posting kids online They would say well, what about child stars? What if they're making money? You know, my kids already made 30 000 and they're only 12 years old But it is in a way a new kind of child labor and people would rail against putting kids in the mind You know mine for coal And that uh, we are pushing kids I think beyond what they're supposed to be pushed And then for monetization. So can you talk about that part of it? What's happening? Talk about how some kids have I'm talking too much. I'm kind of sick So maybe I'm losing my mind a little bit the second have like their own you can subscribe to them Oh, yeah, oh, yeah, even if you don't do that if you're constantly interacting with these types of accounts In some ways you're a part of that 100% if you are constantly interacting with accounts that are primarily based around children You are telling the algorithm that you want to see this content You want to see more of this content and it is okay It is okay to invade a child's right to privacy and their right to inform consent and to compromise their online safety That's what you are doing as an adult When you interact with this content because it's important to know that children can't consent to any of this They don't know the long-term consequences and ramifications of a life online And let me tell you some of these kids are having a life online There are people who are birthing children live on tiktok. Okay They exit the womb and there are people who are already like invested In this child's life and then many of these parents go on to share intimate details About their child private medical Information compromising photos and a lot of them profit off of that right and to the child labor aspect and the money aspect Is there are very few protections worldwide and specifically in the united states for these children and the monetary income they Are making right there are a few states like illinois was the first one California, utah Who have laws now? But a lot of them are quite complex in reading about like the views and the amount that you can have your kids in and things like that And so who's in control of this money and on top of that? Who's in control? It's only the parent or the caregiver who is in control of the information that is being shared publicly Could you imagine if a trusted loved one? Went online right now and started talking about how gross and disgusting your cold is and how sick you are In taking videos of you blowing your nose or in the bathroom And posted them online without your knowledge and without your consent How would that make you feel to find that in your digital footprint? And then they've made money off of it And then they've made and then they might have made money off of it or next thing you know You're a viral meme you're a viral video and you're being inundated with comments I have seen so many viral videos of children that are completely unkind that the only reason why they are viral is because Parents are allowing strangers to essentially bully their child in the comment section. It's heartbreaking. It's really hard to see Yeah Yeah, you know like the kids that have their tantrums, which is something that happens in childhood, you know And who wants to have that live on forever? It's interesting. You said they don't know the long term ramifications because you're saying like for the children They can't consent. They don't understand what social media is. You know, they're three. They're nine. They're 13 even, you know They don't understand the long term ramifications But I also think as adults We didn't and don't Also understand the long term ramifications because all of a sudden, you know, you may think, okay. I'm sharing these things Yeah, the internet lives forever All right. Well then enter child predators then enter ai and This this sort of data collection or the ability to shift things and to take someone's face and to turn it into something else Can you talk about the other? factors that a parent Or anyone listening who is engaging with this type of content maybe hasn't considered Yeah, so we need to recognize that like there's always been like dark shady people on the internet But now they are coming into like the mainstream. I don't know if you have heard recently about grok Uh grok via x and their integrated ai program that is undressing Uh women and girls and children Um on mass on a mainstream app, right? A lot of this isn't hiding in the dark web anymore. It's on like reddit threads. It's on discord threads And there are children who are going to grow up Who have been turned into content and some not turned on to Into content some are just regular Parents sharing their life and then a creep online finds them likes the look of that individual And starts talking about it on threads sharing photos Altering photos and there is going to be children who grow up and find lengthy digital footprints of adult predators online who have altered their photos who have altered Uh their videos who are saying some of the most disgusting and disturbing comments you have ever read And no child deserves to grow up and find a treasure trove Of this type of content Online I don't know the trauma that could potentially come from that but I can verify There are going to be specifically Many young girls who find this out later in life and I don't know how parents Are going to have the conversation when a young girl comes up and says hold on mom. I found a whole discord Uh pictures of me as a toddler a young girl in various states of dress with some really disgusting comments Like what is this? And it's there and it's not going anywhere because the internet now lives forever Right, right and that's the long-term ramification situation Where now you can take a photo of a kid. I think and turn it into a video, you know through ai And there is a lot To consider and then we don't even know. I mean it's rolling away so fast I want to add in That we were attending a church that we got kicked out of proudly got kicked out of because we sat in letters of concern about the Youth pastor and turned out to be a pedophile And he was a 40-something year old man, uh with boys So, you know talking about disturbing and disgusting content all of his Internet search history the stuff that they could find that he hadn't deleted Was all about boys and it was disgusting and disturbing and about little boys. So of course, this is not boy Boys are part of the conversation children in general are part of the conversation. Um, I have seen Discussing things on either side. I will also say that it tends to lean more towards young girls and women because sadly that's just the society that we live in But to your point in regard to a youth pastor at a church that is sadly fairly common and it also goes to say that you never really know Your neighbor, right? And it's important to note that, you know, 90 of children who are sexually assaulted They know the person it is a relative it is a friend and that's another thing to consider because one thing I preach is always go private as parents, you know Go private don't share publicly curate who follows you and know and trust them Right because I have had many people reach out to me with similar stories about a cousin an old co-worker Who, you know, followed them online and lo and behold was arrested for, you know CS Sam usually Yeah, because I think there's a lot there's it's so much easier to access it So this is becoming more and more rampant and it's something to really be aware of and I think that Parent involvement and parent raising red flags Those are some of the ways that you help and now we got kicked out for raising the red flag is awful situation Good for you good for you. Yeah Then they said we were gossiping and which we weren't we sent private letters in the mail We were gossiping and tearing apart the fabric of their community and raising false allegations And then like seven months later he got caught in a sting operation with some teenage youtubers Trying to be intimate with and then it turned out that he had been trading vape pens and Oh my gosh intercourse with college students It's a Netflix documentary in the making It is yeah, we got kicked out and then they tried to smear our name through the community that we were problem Colleges now I was like no actually we did the right thing But but the point was is that he had been on you know when you go through the police report This man who's in his 40s who was married with young children He had been on these types of apps that were you know, just Morally what most people would say is morally not appropriate Certainly not morally appropriate for a married man with children who is a youth pastor But he'd been on those for years and so there's just a lot more opportunity for for there to be a dark understory 100% and we hear this all the time because then now we now live in a world where Adults are regularly mingling with children right strangers are regularly Accessing our children and that is not something that we Normally grew up with right like we aren't taking our children to like bars and strip joints but the internet and social media is kind of like a bar and a strip joint with the Accessibility of like corn and things nowadays like We shouldn't have our children in these spaces whether we are posting them Sharing their lives or whether we are allowing young children access to social media It's not age appropriate. It is unsafe and we need to get them off screens and off social media. Yeah, that's right Spring has a way of filling up the calendar quickly field trips sports travel co-op which are all good things But they can make it challenging to keep curriculum learning consistent marches really about maintaining momentum while life gets busy That's right having a flexible organized learning tool can make such a difference in the final stretch of the home school year Ixl is designed to fit into your routine not complicate it Ixl is an award-winning online learning platform offering interactive practice in math language arts science and social studies From pre-k through 12th grade it adapts to each child's level keeps them motivated and Gives parents clear visibility into progress what I especially appreciate this time of year is how simple and time-saving it is Everything is organized by grade and subject so you can jump right into Exactly what your child needs whether that's reinforcing a concept before testing or Confidently moving ahead the clear explanations and visible progress markers help kids stay encouraged as they work toward year-end goals Make an impact on your child's learning get Ixl now and when thousand hours outside listeners can get an exclusive 20% off Ixl membership When they sign up today at Ixl.com slash 1000 hours visit Ixl.com slash 1000 hours to get the most Active learning program out there at the best price When I was a kid I used to use kits to build pinewood derby cars with my dad They often weren't the fastest but I remember thinking I made this and that feeling it stuck with me now as a parent I know how hard it can be to compete with screens. They're easy. They're loud. They're constant So we're always looking for hands-on experiences that actually pull our kids in that is why we love love love kiwi co We recently worked on one of their engineering crates together and watching my child figure out how the moving parts worked Testing it adjusting troubleshooting. It was all that same spark the best part The huge grand when it finally worked and that little aha moment. What surprised me most was how long they stayed with it No one's asking for a device. No one's getting bored. It's not busy work. It's just real building Kiwi co crates cover everything from science and engineering to geography and art and they show up right at your door every month The quality is incredible and these aren't one and done projects. They get played with again and again I love that my kids are building skills while having fun Persistence and creativity and confidence tinker create and innovate with kiwi co get up to 50 off your first monthly crate at kiwi co Dot com code 1000 hours. That's up to 50 off your first crate at Ki w I co dot com code 1000 hours. Panda crate is an exception seasite for details Okay, I have been waiting to say this womb bikes is the official 2026 bike partner of 1000 hours outside And it just makes sense because here's what I know when kids fall in love with riding bikes Something shifts they go from hesitant to flying down the sidewalk with total confidence and that confidence spills into everything else These bikes are lightweight thoughtfully designed and built so kids can actually succeed the brakes fit their hands the geometry fits their bodies They feel capable right away and in a world pulling our kids towards screens bikes pull them toward freedom So we are kicking off spring with a 100 hour ride challenge We'll release a special tracker to log 100 hours outside on bikes and yes at members We're working on bringing that right into the 1000 hours outside app It's going to be so fun If you've got younger riders the womb go bikes are perfect for beginners and come in six bright colors including a brand new powder pink That just screams spring if you're working toward your 1000 hours outside this year a great bike makes it a whole lot easier Womb designs lightweight bikes built just for kids so they can ride farther and ride happier go to womb.com That's wom.com and use code outside 10 to check out for 10 off your bike purchase excluding the womb wow excluding the womb wow that's outside 10 for 10 off at womb.com You talked about how now you've been in several documentaries so people can find all this at mom unchartered.com Kids are not content.com. I'll put all the links in the show notes You have a new podcast launching called parents uncharted incredibly important and then you have your own social media So this these are things to be aware of you talk about navigating generation shared together because this is an unprecedented time You're not going to be able to ask your own parents. How should I deal with this? I mean everyone can have common sense But this these are unprecedented times and so you're constantly talking about these current issues and you have brought up these articles where People have said in different forums like the different predators. They say thank god for these insta moms Oh 100 so I would say one of I think it's important for you listeners to know that like I don't have a background in social media or child advocacy Or the internet anything I was just a mom who saw some things on my feed Changed my mind had a few light bulb moments and thought like oh my gosh like Do other people think this way like I feel like I should say something and so I started talking and as I started talking and exploring I unearthed this very dark side of the internet and social media where there are Herons who are selling photos and videos of their Mainly young girls to predators online and I say that with confidence because who else is Buying a 20 dollar a month subscription to see an eight 12 year old in bathing suits right and That is where that quote comes from The predators online saying you know, we don't even have to look that hard Anymore they put it out there and then they give us even further access to buy exclusive sets of Usually active wear or kids in bikinis and things like this and As I went down this rabbit hole It wasn't just one platform It was it was meta meta was allowing people to subscribe to content of Children tiktok was allowing it. There were whole websites based around selling photos of minors and It's absolutely disgusting and sadly it still continues You talk about like there there's so many nuances like you know, there's I didn't hear I've not heard of this thing But it's called brand army And you were talking about how they're like, well, you can't have a bikini in every picture But but if it's like a one to one ratio and if you're in a group, but it's not like a provocative picture Like all the and same with the laws like it's just so difficult. It's so nuanced and same with catching the people Like so for example this youth pastor. He's still in the criminal justice system He got caught over a year ago trying to have intimate relationships in person with a with who he thought was a 15 year old minor male Like the guy in the car actually and he's still in the criminal justice system. He's still out You know, whatever on bond or whatever it's called and nothing's happened yet So you talk about how like with some of these people it's like, well, they can't really figure out if that's actually the person Yeah, or or even if it says their name, but you can have all these fake accounts. So there's just so many tricky situations I think one thing that touches on is a lot of the pushback I get or at least used to get because I feel like now people are really waking up But like four years ago people really didn't like what I had to say But it's that people will say Well, you're letting the predators win like stop going after the moms and the dads and the caregivers who are sharing photos and not Allowing kids online like go after the predators like they're the problem Of course, of course, they're the problem. I would love to go after the predators But it is too vast No one including law enforcement worldwide can keep up with what is happening online in regard to predators and what they are doing with videos and images of Children so therefore if we can't go to the root of the problem We need as parents to do the best we can to protect Our children and the best way to protect them from predators online is to keep them offline and I also think it's important that You know, instagram really took off in you know, 2015 I would say it was the really big rise and then tick tock kind of during the pandemic But when did we decide it was normal to share our kids online publicly to billions of people like when when did we decide that was Okay, we we normalize that just as a society So we can normalize Not sharing we can become informed and educated and change our ways to protect future generation because like I don't think it should be normal To share our kids this way Right it takes it takes them in our work because when you read about like for example youth sports like the youth sports craze What people are saying is that no one says it out loud, but they're like using their kid They're living vicariously through their kid. They're loving the attention that they get through their kid And you know, you have this cute kid and you like naturally There's something that pulls you you like want to get attention from What they can do their talents how cute they are the thing they said But we can't do that because it's not appropriate That that hair that I was talking about earlier who who used the phrase a new kind of child labor and she wasn't even using it in the fact of kid influencers She was using in the fact of allowing them to make you feel better about yourself. Yes, she says that in era's past That nobody did that and that now that parents are like I see us This is my second chance in life that she said using children as adult status markers Which that's what this is. Yes, you know, it's using it as adult status markers And then also as as livelihood, you know as the next step But using children as adult status markers comes at a high cost to children She says today's parents are imposing on their kids a violence of expectations And so it's it's a little bit of a twist because this came out before social media but the phrasing of a of a violence of um of long-term ramifications Yeah, well one of the um Recently I was sent a video and it was a a boy who maybe in between the ages of 10 and 12 And he is playing youth basketball at his school and he is being filmed But the thing that was a first for me was he was miked up His parent had a miked up on the court And then turned that audio and the footage he was filming Into his tick tock and his instagram reel and in my opinion that is such a violation for all the children and the coaching staff who's on the court with him That he is utilizing those Private moments during a game to like try and go viral and also with these sporting accounts is the pressure the pressure On these children because now they have the pressure to play the sport But then they have the pressure to you know perform to get the clip and then they're going back and saying well Did you get that play? Did you get that clip? How many likes did I get like what is all of this doing to our children's mental health? and sense of self when instead of looking inward they are looking for outward validation like Knowing that they are good comes in the form of likes and comments and virality at the age of 10 Or 12. I just don't see this being a beneficial thing for them in the future It is a violence of expectations. Yeah, and and she wrote that in 2005 the book came out in 2008 She was ahead of the curve. Yeah a violence of expectations Talking about then the basketball game one of the things that you talk about is Filming other people's kids. Yes So we just got through the holiday period, but there's going to be a lot of holidays coming up birthdays that come up teachers Teachers sometimes do this. So can you talk about how do we talk to family? What should we be doing in our own personal lives as it relates to other people's kids? Yeah, so um, my big thing is to not publicly post any Child ever Like just don't do it And if there are if you are at a birthday party and say you're hosting a birthday party And you're filming or taking pictures tell the other parents that this is just for my personal Use I will not be posting this publicly on the internet. I will not be tagging it. I think that is the universal expectation at this point that Nothing should be posted Unless you have explicit consent from the parent or the caregiver and back to teachers I'm not a fan of all these teachers doing their ticktocks in their classroom and A lot of them do it with just voice but they set up the camera And they get the audio of the kid and what is that saying to our children in the classroom when we're trying to get them off screens We're trying to ban the phones and a teacher is setting up their phone to record a tick talk at their desk during school Hours I think it's all gone too far But parents should also be asking their schools and the specific classroom if there are Consent forms in regard to Privacy and how it works in their school in their classroom and in their district So smart. There's a lot to think about which is why Adults need to be following along because a lot is changing and it's changing rapidly. Yes, you talk about AI you add it's really incredible actually the Breath of which you encompass a lot of these topics. I don't even know if that sense made sense Basically what I'm trying to say is you talk about a lot of things you talk about a lot of things that are important You're talking about AI, you know you talk about this recent skincare craze Oh, yeah, so I want to talk about both those things Okay, well, we can lighten it up for just a quick second. Let's just skincare first. Okay. Here we go. Yeah, go Here we go. So skincare, I think it started with the get ready with me So we saw adults doing the get ready with me's that are very popular And then the teens and the younger generations want to mimic So you see a lot of teens mimicking these get ready with me's and you'll see them doing these Five 10 step routines. I have seen you know kids in elementary school Get up they have their camera When they're like getting out of bed and they're mimicking all the things they're seeing on social media But they're eight and they're doing their 10 step skincare routine that their poor little perfect skin does not Need right we are creating these little Consumers and they shouldn't be consumed by things that are completely unnecessary But it goes to the capitalist market that we live in now that they want them as buyers at a very early age And I think some people think oh well, they just want to like mimic mom and dad and that's okay And in my opinion parents, it's okay to say no it's okay to say hey actually honey Mom uses a skincare mask because I'm older and my skin needs it because it's aging and because this has happened But your skin is perfect and you don't need that and that's okay, right? But they're trying to Make all they're trying to make our kids little buyers they're turning them into products and commodities and Again, what we share online is a lot of information and they're scraping our The kids data and this will follow them forever and they will just be marketed to And they will be spending their money on things they don't need and consumed with Their aesthetic and I just don't think it's good for a little girl specifically to be worried about hydrated skin When they're toddlers And that's my rant Well, that's a really deep problem I talked to because you know we just came through the holidays and I talked to an elementary school girl You know, it's like once you come through the holidays and you're like what you know, what'd you get for Christmas? Right? That's the the topic of conversation. So I was talking to an elementary school girl who's in the fourth grade and she like abashedly basically told me that she got barbies and She was like, you know really kind of skirting around it and I was like, well, I'm like barbies are great You know, if you read the little house and the prairie books like kids play with dolls until they were 15, you know It I mean that's very normal. Yeah, and she was like well all my friends at school got stuff from Sephora You know, like this is just like your average everyday american kid Yeah, and I just think it's okay for some things to be for adults and when you get older, you know, like if your child is Really interested in Skincare you can start them at the drugstore with some set of fell, you know a basic cleanser And some moisturizer and a lot of it is performance space. That's not because they actually want it It's because they see it online and they think that's what they want and what they need But the it goes back to the fact that kids just shouldn't be online These fourth graders shouldn't be online absorbing all of this stuff that they don't Need and is not good for their skin and their skin barrier. We're losing So do you remember? I'm sorry. I don't know how old you are, but you're younger than me. I'll tell you that much But I will say that we both do look like we have pretty good skin. Yeah, there we go. There we go I don't do too much either. I'm like, I'm just gonna let it wrinkle up So I didn't do anything until like my 30s. I didn't think about we we didn't think about our skin Like these kids did in our teens and our 20s like I I for sure didn't but that's because we also weren't online with these filters and the stuff and it's just I recognize that the places for young people specifically tweens and young teens Are deteriorating. There's no place for them to go. They're losing Their media, you know, like teen vogue is shutting down I don't know if all the teen beats and stuff that we had When we were kids are out there, but it seems like were The tween generation is like evaporating and The older teens and the young adults are like sucking them in and trying to make them Older than they are And it's disheartening and I don't necessarily have an answer But the best one I can think of is get them offline Get them outside Get them socializing and doing activities and reading and We need a big change. Yeah And and maybe even think about your own I don't know. I don't know if this is right or wrong. Like what is the legacy you're leaving? Like my mom didn't spend a ton of time on her makeup and you know, it's like well I like the accounts that are like look age gracefully like we are being trapped as adults. I would say like most of my Um, like ads that come through my thing are like about skin and I'm like, well shoot What should I be doing? Should I be doing something else? Yeah, but then it's like, well You know, like people wrinkle and people become grandmas and they become grandpas and like that's kind of how life is supposed to go And so these these trappings it feels like trappings and the tentacles are going so deep and so almost as um A mark of resolve as a as a guardianship for kids Is like maybe we step out of it as adults too and maybe we say look I'm just gonna let my skin go You know, I'm not gonna have a million step routine. I don't need the red light mask That makes me look like a monster for 15 minutes a day. I mean, maybe I do I'm not but at least It's the pause So the one thing the one thing I made a conscious effort of when I decided to be online Because I wasn't online before I wasn't putting myself out there and my family or anything like that So this was really new to me and I think 20 year old sarah would look at 40 year old sarah and be like Whoa, you're online now like without filters. I made a promise to myself that I would never use a filter I made a promise to myself that if I had something to say whether I just woke up whether I just took my makeup off whether Oh my gosh, I remember having something to say after I had a Micro needling appointment. I was as red as a tomato It was hilarious, but I had something to say and I put it out there and so I would like to see To this point of the conversation more women like us Drop the filters show up with makeup or without whatever it is, but Show the young people of today that it's okay. It's okay to just show up As you are but I I also acknowledge that You gain more confidence as you get older like as I said 20 year old me would never Understand that I get online with no makeup and in my sweats and I I don't care and I feel Confident right that 20 year old girl would not understand my mentality As a 40 year old now, so I do recognize I do recognize that That's a good point. I mean, you know kids are just in a really unfair position because you know, how are you supposed to? Exist like I remember being 12 and like feeling out of place You know like a 12 year old would and then you add in Sephora and kid influencers and and you're just You're up again. It's really sad. You're up against so much higher of an a set of expectations And I mean kids talk about like they have to spend an hour to get ready for school And they're 11 and you're like that is heartbreaking And so it does I think to a degree start with embracing ourselves and And as much as we can keeping our kids off from seeing those things Yes, trying to I guess develop You know like be homeschool. I'm like so, you know trying to and I don't I obviously like that can't be the answer for everybody But it's it's about developing At least at some level a sense of community of of like-minded people Who also allow kids to be kids and the kids can roll out of bed and go Run around at the playground and don't have to have have to be so done up Like you talked about how fisher price came out with a get ready set fisher price Yeah, yeah, they're normalizing beauty consumerism Before kids even start school. It's social conditioning Yeah, I would agree. It doesn't feel right. None of this feels right, you know, like 12 year olds 16 year olds coming out with skincare lines You know praying on their young followers and things like that. It just doesn't feel right, you know Shane Mitchell's line rene the skincare Mask thing that really took off last year With some outrage online, you know, they don't need hydrating masks It's just Unnecessary and I think it creates little consumers and our kids should be focused on other things Yeah, little consumers so much pressed so much pressure and who benefits so this is another form of kids as content Like this isn't even maybe parents who are Driving the ship. Maybe it is a 13 year old who is trying to grow an account and see someone else's things And so they're gonna do get ready with me. So that's still kids as content. Who benefits Sephora. Yeah, Sephora benefits Oh Sephora is benefit. Yeah, they're getting Sephora for Christmas. I never even heard of that You know and I'm like, I literally never even heard of it until I had a family member Who was like a teen and that's what you went in for Christmas. I was like, what's that? They're benefiting and everyone is losing out Yeah, yeah, and we're the kids are losing out on a childhood Yeah, you know, how often did we say or hear when we were growing up that like being kids the best Enjoy your childhood because you know, you're not going to get a fact. That's what I want for my kids I want to compel them to like be little be young play with your stuffies play with your Legos like go use your imagination and your creativity and I fear that's something that A generation is losing because they are on screens and they are watching social media and they are being told what to be interested in And what to like and what's cool and not cool and I just think by keeping them off You can assist them in developing a better sense of self a better sense of imagination a better sense of creativity and people I recognize that A lot of kids they say somewhere between like 80 90 percent of kids say they want to be like a youtuber or a TikTok or when they grow up, right? And for the parents who are constantly hearing that I would say if your children is interested in film videographer videography Editing script writing whatever you can do all of that offline. They can still You know go to classes and learn how to film and learn how to edit videos and prepare for when they are older to enter into that world And you can tell them that hey, I'm not like squashing your dreams. We can foster them in other ways We can foster them here in our home. You can make the videos I can share it with our friends and our family, but we're not going to do public things We're not going to be on the internet. We're not going to be on social media But when you're older and you're ready, you'll be so prepared You'll be ready to launch But it's my job as a parent to protect your childhood and to protect your development I've read the research and it's a no from me, but I'll foster your interests in other ways I think it's good parenting too because the world of the internet is unstable and so You know, I I see the appeal that I I read a statistic that one in eight gen Z has monetized their social media No, that doesn't mean that they're making full-time income off of it But they have figured out how to monetize so you can see the draw But then also you can see the instability in it and You're you're really if I think you're setting your child up for something that Has some dangers in it because it can't be counted on and it's constantly changing and so um But there's something to be said about real world real world skills real world skills never disappoint And I say a lot of the time some of these kids are peeking at like four Like that's the height of their internet career at eight at 12 at 16 Is that kid fluencer going to transition? Into young adulthood. Are they gonna lose their following? There's always something new coming up How are those kids going to deal with that when they're when their fame and their fortune was built out like 12 or 13? But then they're quote unquote old news by 16. What does that do to a child's? Psyche and a developing brain right? I just don't think kids are built to be Influencers or to be exploited in the way that many many parents and families do Yeah, and you just you think for some reason that it's secure, but it's not because here comes ai now ai does all the videos I mean, it's just it's so unstable because it's so shifting And so you know for parents who are looking at that as like a silver bullet or I don't even know if that's a phrase a silver spoon looking at that is like It's potential and promise. Yeah, it's like you don't control that There are forces that be that are very dark and very wealthy and have a lot of ulterior motives in mind And your kid is probably going to get stuck in this machine a churning of a machine And instead to your point they can learn photography. They can learn videography They can learn all of these skills real world real time for fun They can draw and that's going to help them in their actual development. Yeah And listen kids are cute. We all know that we all could like film our kids all day and say cute things and have like some viral Clips and things like that, right? But it's not fair to make your kid who cannot consent to any of this your cash cow And that is what is happening, right? Like for tessa latifi a journalist speaks about this a lot and She's interviewed some kids who come from mom fluencer families And they're basically like, you know, it was a full-time job to like be in mom's content and To film and they would say things like oh well, do you like living in this house? If you like living in this house, then we got a film then we have to do this brand deal and That's unfair pressure to put on a child and it's also We talked earlier about child stars because that's another pushback I get well. What about child stars? It's very different Child stars were going to sets They were pretending to be someone else. These children are in their homes. They don't have safe spaces They don't have private spaces I see parents uploading ring camera footage of their house and like intimate private conversations With their kids like what is that? Yeah, like my dog like your dog died Yes. Oh, I I have seen I'll just name a few off the top of my head. I've seen your dog died I've seen parents film your mom died. I have seen parents film Uh, the man you thought was your biological father is not your biological father. I have seen parents filming funerals, um with open casket I have seen the things I have seen are shocking are shocking But it just goes to show that the whole thing is unstable And so people are having to post more and more shocking things In order to gain the attention that maybe they once did with simpler things And that is the road and this is the violence of expectations You say children cannot truly consent their digital footprint isn't yours to build You can't control where the images end up tech companies don't need your kids data and children deserve Private spaces you're going to find all this and more at all. I'll put all the links in the show notes of where people can find you Can we talk about AI as we wrap up? Yes, we can talk about AI and this is the new thing and there's all the the point is is there's always going to be the new thing Yes, and it's not it's here and it's not going anywhere. So we have to Teach your children about it. We have to talk to them about it. But as parents we also have to rally Against it. Yeah in some capacity because what is happening is not okay. What happened with grok and x recently? And the undressing of women is not okay. It is not okay to be automatically putting AI on kids school-issued Chromebook devices It's it's not okay It's what it is jinny is the new social experiment on our children. So 10 years ago 15 years ago it was social media and now We are dealing with the ramifications, you know, jonathan height's book the anxious generation came out in 2024 Was it 2024 or 2025? It was 24 I think yeah And it came out and it was a rallying cry against the social experiment that was screen time In social media. Yeah, we are in the very beginning stages of This social experiment and AI with our children and in my opinion We need to teach them about it talk to them about it. But keep it away from their Childhood I do not see how this is going to benefit their education their critical thinking their creativity their imagination at young ages it's really scary to me and Parents need to be aware and on top of that what they can do to photos online With your kid, you know, there's a new to fi apps you can download a new to fi app On your phone now and then, you know high schoolers are new to find their classmates and things like this and weaponizing You know sexual harassment Ah, there should be no phones no phones in school that should have been from the very beginning I I mean, I can't believe it's gone on as long as it has But it just goes to show you kind of how awful we are at this honestly It's like the smartphone people were raising the alarms about smartphones right from the beginning dr. Nicholas carderis has got I think one of the most phenomenal books out there called glow kids digital madness is just as good And those were out. I mean and he was getting flack from it from the very beginning people like this isn't a big deal Let them be on the technology And so the alarms were sounded nobody listened the mental health tanked To your point we're in the very same spot, but now there's several buckets of problems There's a bucket of the new to fi apps, right? There's a bucket of AI writing your paper and doing your critical thinking. There's also the bucket of AI companions Oh, thank you for bringing that up and AI Algorithmic driven toys for kids Yes, thank you for bringing both of those up. That's definitely something I wanted to touch on and The majority of kids are using AI chat bots and companions and a lot of parents are unaware because technology is moving so fast, right? But parents keep your eye out for AI companions your children cannot be choosing Like choosing AI companions over real relationships physical real relationships and sadly these AI companions are built To engage your child to keep them on they remember everything they talk they tell them exactly What they want to hear and sadly we have lost some beautiful humans some beautiful young children Due to AI companions and assisting them in taking their own lives Okay, so it it's really Scary and then AI toys for kids, which were a big topic of conversation over the holiday They're telling kids like where to find like knives Like where to find like matches and things like that So we can't have our children be part of another social experiment Especially when the first few years are going terrible Yeah, right. I feel like it was a slow burn for social media and screens, but AI is like screaming at us like stop This is not good. Yeah the the strength of AI And you know, obviously the the strength I don't even know if that's the right word but like the the amount of influence and pull that a smartphone has is tremendous And then you throw in the AI algorithm and it's just another step. I mean, it's it's I think it's 14 000 more steps I mean, it just it's skyrocketed it immediately. Yeah, so the replica which I've talked a couple times on here because um, I read a statistic about replica to AI Which is a one just one of however many sites of a many companions But that there were millions of people that were on it for several hours a day This is a new thing But I was like, I'm gonna go on and see how are they Advertising this and it's the AI companion is this like what comes up the very first thing the AI companion who cares always here to listen and talk Always on your side I'm like, that's all just a lie. Yeah, no AI companion can care no AI companion can really listen or talk and I mean, I guess it's probably true that it's always on your side, but that's completely unhealthy Yeah, well, it's kind of like what uh grok did this week when grok apologized for the undressing of women and children on x Oh, how stupid it can't it's not sentient. It can't apologize. It doesn't feel remorse It's not real the people who should be apologizing are the leadership of x and the men who built these systems and neglected This issue, right? You know, it's it's not a glitch. It's Negligence and also with AI because I think it's really important to your platform To acknowledge that there is an environmental effect of this and I'm still learning more about it But the more I learn the more scared I am And something that I deal with is a lot of climate anxiety and so All of this the influence or economy in AI It's all wrapped in to the earth that our children are going to inherit And you preach being outside and therefore we as parents need To understand how these new systems are further affecting a world that is burning And our kids are going to inherit and I think it's important for us as parents to learn more and Fight more because our kids one day will come to us and they will say hold on mom. You were online Hawking fast fashion or amazon plastics or you were using AI regularly And you knew the effects Of my future and you kept doing that So that that sits really heavy with me jenny these days. Yeah, those data centers are freaking me out. Honestly They're freaking me out because they're like what do they need them for? Yeah, are they going to be monitoring every bit of our That's what I think. Yeah, I mean if I were to go down that rabbit hole and nicolas carteris actually was talking about that and glow kids He was talking about how and this is so long ago that the That there are people that want complete control. They want the merger of biology and Humanity so that they never die. They always live on in digital form Like there are some underpinnings here that are important And so the data centers that did not exist and now are popping up Everywhere everywhere. We're in michigan. It's a lot of water here and all of a sudden you're like they want one here They want one here. Everybody's pushing back and you're like What is this for? Yeah, what is going on and then like you said the water consumption? Yeah Let the alarm bells ring the alarm bells are ringing Yeah are ringing and I want to be a part of it with parents uncharted another reason why I want to start a podcast Is because I have these questions and I don't know the answer But I think a lot of us as parents are thinking about it. We just don't even know where to begin So if I can start asking some questions and better understanding then we as a collective Can maybe do something together because we just can't sit and watch big tech take our kids take Take our environment like take everything from us and it just be okay with us, right? We we as parents need to stand up and fight. That's right. That's right. I really liked how many passed away calling karchner He and I hope I pronounce his name right, but he um He just was always speaking in the schools about saving the kids That was his tagline save the kids and he just was so adamant like no smartphones No smartphones. No smartphones. No smartphones and they're like that would solve so much of the problem But also know that I guess there's way more problems There's a lot of problems, but you know, there's some things that we can be doing It's a lot. There's a lot and I I would say that the best thing we can do is just Try our best to stay informed because things are moving so fast, you know, I can't Know everything and talk about everything, but I've picked my little niche, right? You picked your little niche if all of us as parents Hit the one thing or a few things that we're passionate about that we can talk to other parents about that we can assist in educating and having these conversations Then we can all Hopefully do better for our kids. That's right. That's right You say using children and their real lives as entertainment for strangers on the internet has somehow become normal And I would like us all to consider a new normal one that prioritizes a child's right to privacy informed consent critical thinking And safety online over a parent's desire for online fame Kids are not content and I feel strongly that this is something parents need to reflect on So it's kids are not content, but also all these other topics that we've talked about today like ai companions and the the Sharon Ting and the insta moms and I mean there is there's a lot to think about here I'm so grateful that you came on for this conversation People can find more on your podcast and on all the links that will be in the show notes We always enter show with the same question. What's a favorite memory from your childhood that was outside? Oh my gosh, my favorite metal. There are so many I live in Canada So I'm very blessed to live in this majestic nation with so many outside moments um, I would say going to the great lakes, you know, like late like, you know summers in lake Ontario and lake superior and lake Huron and driving around the northern way in my grandparents RV to go to Minneapolis where they lived, um, You know, there's nothing better than summers in Ontario. I'll tell you that Isn't that cool? My summers have been filled with the great lakes too. We love the lakes We're very lucky. Yeah, let's let's protect them and exactly Not have it all get sucked up by the ai data centers. Thank you. Thank you so much for being here Thank you for having me, jenny As we wrap up, I want to say thank you for listening if this episode stuck with you Share it with someone you love to have deep conversations with technology is changing rapidly We need the support of friends and family as we navigate parenting in this day and age If you have never left a review for the podcast, I would be so grateful if you did you can keep it short a sentence or two Helps I read them all they're super encouraging and they help the right people find the show If you want a practical next step after today to help you and your children have less screen time overall grab the free 2026 tracker sheets at 1000 hours outside comm slash trackers or Join us in the 1000 hours outside app on ios and android The app is on sale for 25 dollars for 11 more days And it's a really simple way to help your family get outside more and scroll less The bad did you get through the app for different milestones are fun and motivating? I'm really glad we got to spend this time together today until next time. May you find extraordinary moments on ordinary paths Get outside Open your eyes feel that sunshine kissing your skin throw your worries out to the wind Climb some trees skin your knees feel that grass on your feet again get out there and take it in Oh Ain't nothing on screen Oh Oh And I just want to share with I just want to share with you It's beautiful Such a beautiful world So you want to start a business you might think you need a team of people and fancy text skills But you don't you just need go daddy arrow I'm walton goggins and as an actor i'm an expert in looking like I know what i'm doing Go daddy arrow uses ai to create everything you need to grow a business It'll make you a unique logo. It'll create a custom website It'll write social posts for you and even sets you up with a social media calendar get started at go daddy dot com slash arrow That's go daddy dot com slash airo It's hard to concentrate when you're worried about your health It can feel like there's a wall between you and the rest of the world Like you can't be fully present Hello aXa health, how can I help? At aXa health insurance we build our teams with people who care so when you need us we're here to support you For cover that cares search aXa health insurance Pre-existing conditions are not covered