Parents Think They Control the Tech—They Don't #parenting #algorithm #reality

29 Apr 2026 · 1 min

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TJ Walker argues that algorithms and devices like iPads are designed to hijack children's attention for profit, making parental controls ineffective. Parents can't rely on tech to co-parent. They must recognize its limits and decide when to hand over devices.

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The biggest lie in all of this is that technology is helping parents. No, it's replacing them in key moments. Not completely, but enough to matter. The algorithm is not your co-parent. The iPad is not your babysitter, and YouTube is definitely not your child's developmental specialist. If these companies really cared about kids, parental controls would be simple and bulletproof, but they're not because your child's attention is the product. So yeah, these companies deserve blame. They built systems designed to capture attention at all costs. The phone manufacturers manufacturers deserve blame. They pretend to empower parents while making meaningful control nearly impossible. But parents have to take responsibility too, because at the end of the day, no algorithm walks into a restaurant and hands a toddler an iPad. A parent does. Ultimize.