Who's Raising the Kids?: Big Tech, Big Business, and the Lives of Children

by Susan Linn

Overview

From a world-renowned expert on creative play and the impact of commercial marketing on children, a timely investigation into how big tech is hijacking childhood—and what we can do about it

“Engrossing and insightful . . . rich with details that paint a full portrait of contemporary child-corporate relations.” —Zephyr Teachout, The New York Times Book Review

Even before COVID-19, digital technologies had become deeply embedded in children’s lives, despite a growing body of research detailing the harms of excessive immersion in the unregulated, powerfully seductive world of the “kid-tech” industry.

In the “must read” (Library Journal, starred review) Who’s Raising the Kids?, Susan Linn—one of the world’s leading experts on the impact of Big Tech and big business on children—weaves an “eye-opening and disturbing exploration of how marketing tech to children is creating a passive, dysfunctional generation” (Kirkus Reviews, starred review). From birth, kids have become lucrative fodder for tech, media, and toy companies, from producers of exploitative games and social media platforms to “educational” technology and branded school curricula of dubious efficacy.

Written with humor and compassion, Who’s Raising the Kids? is a unique and highly readable social critique and guide to protecting kids from exploitation by the tech, toy, and entertainment industries. Two hopeful chapters—“Resistance Parenting” and “Making a Difference for Everybody’s Kids”—chart a path to allowing kids to be the children they need to be.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781620978337
Publisher:	New Press, The
Publication date:	09/12/2023
Pages:	352
Sales rank:	272,038
Product dimensions:	5.70(w) x 8.70(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

Susan Linn is a psychologist, award-winning ventriloquist, and a world-renowned expert on creative play and the impact of media and commercial marketing on children. She was the Founding Director of Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood (now called Fairplay) and is currently research associate at Boston Children’s Hospital and lecturer on psychiatry at Harvard Medical School. The author of Consuming Kids, The Case for Make Believe, and Who’s Raising the Kids? (all published by The New Press), she lives in Brookline, Massachusetts.

Table of Contents

A Note to the Reader xiii

Introduction 1

1 What Children Need and Why Corporations Can't Provide It 11

2 Who Wins the Games Tech Plays? 33

3 And the Brand Plays On 57

4 Browse! Click! Buy! Repeat! 77

5 How Rewarding Are Rewards? 93

6 The Nagging Problem of Pester Power 109

7 Divisive Devices 125

8 Bias for Sale 145

9 Branded Learning 163

10 Big Tech Goes to School 181

11 Is That Hope? 197

12 Resistance Parenting: Suggestions for Keeping Big Tech and Big Business at Bay 207

13 Making a Difference for Everybody's Kids 229

Afterword 241

Acknowledgments 243

Appendix: Model Edtech Policy for School Districts 245

Suggested Reading, Viewing, and Listening 249

Resources 253

Notes 261

Index 317

Editorial Reviews

Praise for Who's Raising the Kids:
“Engrossing and insightful. . . . [Who's Raising the Kids?] is rich with details that paint a full portrait of contemporary child-corporate relations.”
—The New York Times Book Review

“An impassioned indictment of tech companies making big money off exploiting the minds of our children.”
—New York Post

“A guide on changing course both individually and as a society, by an experienced activist; a must-read.”
—Library Journal (starred review)

“A stunning examination of how marketing, technology, and consumer capitalism impact the well-being of children. . . . This is a must-read for parents and educators.”
—Publishers Weekly (starred review)

“A must-read for any parent.”
—Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

“Pioneer researcher and activist Susan Linn shows that we have been passive as our children were shaped into the selves that tech companies wanted them to be; adults have not met their duty of care. Who’s Raising the Kids? is a call to arms and a core text for a necessary national conversation.”
—Sherry Turkle, professor, MIT, and author of Alone Together, Reclaiming Conversation, and The Empathy Diaries

“An invaluable response for parents at an impossible moment—and for those of us whose kids are already grown, a great guide to resisting the platforms and apps that are constricting the life of our society in ever more painful ways.”
—Bill McKibben, author of The Flag, the Cross, and the Station Wagon: A Graying American Looks Back at His Suburban Boyhood and Wonders What the Hell Happened

“Who’s Raising the Kids? is a book about a dangerous divergence—between the profit-maximizing strategies of companies that market toys, apps, and social media to children, on the one hand, and the actual needs of children, on the other. Drawing from an impressive collection of studies and stories, Linn illuminates the harms of what she aptly calls ‘a corporate takeover of childhood’ and shows us what we can do to protect all our kids.”
—Alfie Kohn, author of The Schools Our Children Deserve and Punished by Rewards

“Every child needs an advocate like Susan Linn; every parent—a wise friend like her; every politician and corporate leader—a bold challenger like her. And every reader needs this book—a passionate and supremely practical reckoning with one of the great dilemmas of the age.”
—James Carroll, author of The Truth at the Heart of the Lie

“Brava to Susan Linn! This is a timely and profoundly important book. Children are being transformed into passive consumers by advertisers and social media companies who view them as easy targets for their attention and desires. More often than not, parents are allowing this to happen without thinking about the consequences to their children’s development. Who’s Raising the Kids? is a reminder to parents and all who care, that children are vulnerable and can be easily preyed upon by profiteering businesses who see them only as consumers. If we truly cherish and value our children we must heed Linn’s warning, not allow our kids to be exploited, and keep a close eye on how they grow, develop and are influenced on their way to adulthood.”
—Pedro Noguera, dean, Rossier School of Education, University of Southern California

“In this unsparing account of what it means to raise children in a commercial society, Susan Linn issues a clarion call to governments, schools, and parents to push back—against the relentless marketing, the false promises, the saturation of tech into our most intimate and private moments. With practical advice on how parents can navigate this morass, her expertise and research-backed conclusions also serve as a real source of comfort: children, she rightly insists, are born with all the skills they need to succeed in life—no toy, app, or flashy screen required.”
—Sophie Brickman, author of Baby, Unplugged

“Susan Linn is every parent’s hero. Her work calls out the manipulative marketing tactics that Big Tech and big business direct toward our children, strategies designed to exploit their vulnerabilities and ours as parents. Who’s Raising the Kids? explores the pervasive and often covert commercialism in digital child culture and the negative influences corporate profiteers have on our children’s values, learning, emotional health, and relationships. This is an eye-opening, at times unnerving read and a hopeful call to action with practical advice for weakening the forces of consumerist culture in our families and how we can advocate for a freer childhood for our kids.”
—Janet Lansbury, bestselling author of No Bad Kids and Elevating Child Care

“Today’s kids are tomorrow’s adults. If you love children and care about the future (and who doesn’t?), Susan Linn’s Who’s Raising the Kids? is a terrifying book. The digital conquest of our progeny’s hearts and minds is nearly complete, and if she’s right, it’s almost too late to take back what’s been surrendered. This book is a much-needed call to arms.”
—Russell Banks, author of Rule of the Bone, Continental Drift, and other works of fiction

From the Publisher

★ 07/11/2022

Psychologist Linn (The Case for Make Believe) delivers a stunning examination of how marketing, technology, and consumer capitalism impact the well-being of children. Arguing that children are “essential targets” for advertisers and technology companies, Linn cites evidence that “toddlers are more prone to tantrums when they transition off being on a screen than they when they transition from engaging with a book,” that virtual prizes won through video game education products undermine “the value of experience” while “promot the value of acquisition,” and that companies use online games to encourage children to nag their parents into purchasing a product. Linn also discusses campaigns to stop Disney from marketing Baby Einstein videos as educational for babies and Google from “collecting and monetizing children’s personal information on YouTube Kids.” Highlighting how cuts in public education funding exacerbate the issue, Linn notes that supplemental teaching materials donated or discounted by corporations often promote brand recognition or offer a slanted perspective on such issues as energy production and addiction. Throughout, Linn’s copious case studies and lucid explanations of the latest research into childhood development build a convincing argument. This is a must-read for parents and educators. (Sept.)

Publishers Weekly

★ 08/01/2022

In 2020, Linn (The Case for Make Believe), a ventriloquist, psychologist, and expert in creative play, was in the midst of writing this book when the pandemic took center stage, followed by the terror of the murder of George Floyd and others. It made her wonder if her concerns were still important. But her research found a very real connection between commercialized culture and systemic racism and its effects on children and the perpetuation of racial stereotypes. She also noted research was in abundance on the topics of chronic family stress, poverty, inadequate schools, and racism denying children a healthy childhood, but there was little acknowledgement of the effects of the continuous immersion in digital culture, a situation heightened by COVID. Linn argues that the goals of big business and big tech are to transform children into lifetime consumers and to play a major role in shaping their values, relationships, and even how they learn. VERDICT A guide on changing course both individually and as a society, by an experienced activist; a must-read.

Library Journal

A psychologist who’s spent her career protecting children from commercial marketing explains why parents should be vigilant about today’s digital toys and devices, which she says inhibit creative play and initiative. Author Susan Linn’s fragile-sounding timbre is not effective for this production. But her otherwise likable performance is easy to understand and conveys persuasive earnestness about her message. She says children’s learning styles, values, and relationships are at stake in the battle against today’s digital toys, which she repeatedly says are mainly designed to be addictive, disposable, and profitable. Her recommendations aim to help parents protect their children from the insidious power of these devices and show them more broadly how to be vigilant about what they allow into their children’s lives. T.W. © AudioFile 2023, Portland, Maine

FEBRUARY 2023 - AudioFile

★ 2022-06-22
An eye-opening and disturbing exploration of how marketing tech to children is creating a passive, dysfunctional generation.

In 2004, Linn, a psychologist specializing in childhood development, published Consuming Kids, a landmark study on how corporations develop marketing campaigns specifically aimed at young people. In the ensuing years, there has been a seismic shift in technology, with a flood of smartphones, tablets, and interactive apps, and children are connecting to the online world at younger ages. Some companies are even marketing screen-based games for babies. Lego, once seen as a toy that encouraged creativity and innovation, now comes with apps that direct what the child should do, and stuffed toys can now sing, dance, walk, or talk at the push of a button. “The more a toy can do, the less a child needs to do,” writes the author. “And the less a child does with a toy, the less useful that child’s play is to healthy development.” One of the book’s hardest-hitting chapters examines “pester power,” encouraged by marketers in order to place an emphasis on brands, which allows for the sale not just of individual toys, but entire product lines. Brand addiction is a sure path to profitability. The nadir of cynicism is when researchers profile teens to determine their psychological weaknesses so they can target advertising at them. Linn recounts numerous horror stories about manipulation, but she is proactive in her advice. “Postpone getting your child a smartphone until at least eighth grade,” she writes. “When it comes to raising children, smartphones are probably the most pernicious of all tech devices.” Read books with them, or go outside to play. Put down your own devices so you do not set a bad example. Set limits on screen time, and don’t yield to nagging for more stuff. In other words, be an active and involved parent.

Linn’s examination of how screens have taken over childhood is a must-read for any parent.

Kirkus Reviews