Protecting kids in an online world where new dangers are rampant

Bella Bailey

Multimedia Correspondent

In an increasingly online world and with the proliferation of artificial intelligence (AI), it is not merely enough to know the technology, but to know how to use it safely, said Mandy Sanchez, director of programming, Culture Reframed. Dr. Sanchez spoke to Curia staff, Catholic schools’ staff, parish staff, law enforcement, social workers and parents, March 25, about the dangers of AI and social media, and how to keep kids safe from unsavory and dangerous content.

Dr. Sanchez works for renowned international organization Culture Reframed, which strives to change the culture of a “pornified” world, said Dr. Sanchez. With resources for parents and educators on how to protect young children and teens, Dr. Sanchez said, “we talk about the dangers and harms of excessive use of social media and the harms of pornography to young people.”

In her presentation, Dr. Sanchez highlighted that one in three children, approximately 25 million children in the United States, have “seen hardcore porn by age 12,” she said. “Those numbers are getting younger and younger and younger … much of this content is misleading, objectifying and degrading.”

The dangers of errant, unsupervised and unrestricted social media and technology use are on the rise, with 95 to 98 percent of 13–17-year-olds being on social media platforms, and 53 percent of children owning a smartphone by age 11, she said.

“Social media can be good for teens as a way to help expand their identity, to socialize … however, we have had numerous reports where we’re looking at depression, anxiety, sleep, stress, isolation,” said Dr. Sanchez.

“At Culture Reframed, we like to look at social media, not in terms of good and bad, but in terms of safety. What is safe and unsafe, healthy and unhealthy,” she said.

Many children, said Dr. Sanchez, do not seek out or go looking for pornographic content; rather, the content finds them on their social media accounts and games because “porn is everywhere,” she said. “What happens when we live in a pornified space is that if you can make porn of it, people will.”

The effects of pornography on developing brains are evident: “The overstimulation rewires the brain. It disrupts all of the processes that are happening in the frontal lobe. We know that the frontal lobe is responsible for things like decision making, empathy, emotional regulation.”

“Other risks include some mental health risks. Because of that frontal lobe rewiring, we see an undermining of self-awareness and regulation of impulse control, of course, poor body image. This is all research-based, lower self-esteem, depression and anxiety; we see higher engagement in risky and casual sex,” she said.

While social media is a breeding ground for explicit content, the rise of artificial intelligence is giving life to new vices and x-rated content. Today, children and teens have the ability to create “deep fakes,” which are “images and videos that are fake but appear to be real,” said Dr. Sanchez. Where, children and teens are able to create videos of anyone doing anything, including sexually explicit material.

Additionally, character AI allows children and teens to create their own AI characters, with personas and characteristics, that can then interact with other AI characters from other users. “These characters are programmed with natural language algorithms. They can generate human-like text responses. These platforms are not safe for kids, they do not have parental controls,” said Dr. Sanchez.

Research shows that children and teens are turning to character AI and other “chat bots” for friendship, in lieu of personal connection with peers.

“When kids are being bullied at school, we’re finding that their friendships are being severed online. So, we’re finding they’re pulling from their social media and in real life groups and moving into the world of AI chat bots for support,” she said.

“Kids see AI bots as human and that is because kids trust anything that resembles anything that has human features. So, it’s really important to get this digital literacy to children early, to let them know that AI isn’t human,” she said.

This, said Dr. Sanchez, is the key to keeping kids safe. Being present, watching out for warning signs, having age-appropriate conversations about online safety, “being able to point those things out, talking about AI, how they use it, encourage that critical thinking and reflection in your spaces, having them write about things. We invite everyone to the table because it is everyone’s responsibility,” she said.

“We want to reframe the conversation. If our kiddos are spending a good portion of their day online, then a lot of conversations are happening and there’s a lot being advertised to them. So, if we don’t have these conversations with kids, then I can tell you who will. We don’t want them to have those conversations with a multibillion-dollar industry; that is getting really dangerous, really unhealthy messages,” she said. “Everyone has to come to the table because this is an issue we all need help with.”