COVER STORY
WHO IS YOUR KID HANGING OUT WITH?
Every parent’s worry: What can I do to predator-proof my child? Image credit: TOWFIQU BARBHUIYA on Pexels.
By SHAGORIKA EASWAR
A freshly-minted 11-year-old stood in front of his grandparents, eyebrows scrunched in concentration, as he worked out a way to express his thoughts.
“I’m anxious about you two,” he said. “There’s this virus being developed in Country X that is coming to Canada. It is really dangerous. Older people whose immune systems may not be strong are dying.”
The last bit came out in a whisper.
His grandparents rushed to assuage his fears. They hadn’t heard of any such virus. “But I’ve seen videos!” he insisted.
They said they were up-to-date with all their shots and boosters and that they were careful in large indoor gatherings, wore masks, continued to scrub their hands as soon as they came home, and so on.
Somewhat reassured, he nodded. And then added this for his grandmother: “You know how you say you breathe through your mouth because of your allergies? You might want to start breathing through your nose because it traps more germs.”
Right there was a perfect example of misinformation mixed in with information with some basis in fact.
Dr Geeta Nayyar calls this the Misinformation Illness, and she wrote Dead Wrong to address the repercussions.
The globally-recognized technologist, best-selling author and former Chief Medical Officer of Salesforce and AT&T, is popular as Dr G – a particularly apt way of addressing a physician of South Asian descent. As in Dr ji!
She works to help leaders leverage a human approach to innovation, including rapid advances in AI, to achieve better health and business outcomes.
In today’s digital age, kids are learning everything from their skincare regime to sex education on social media, and it continues to be a primary source for people seeking health information – and unfortunately, misinformation. Amidst the sea of dubious products, practices, and falsehoods flooding their feeds, how can we ensure that the advice our kids follow is scientifically sound?
In Dead Wrong:Diagnosing and Treating Healthcare’s Misinformation Illness, Dr G delivers a first-hand account of the dangers posed by false narratives and snake oil in the face of deadly healthcare crises like the COVID pandemic.
She explores the challenges facing those who fight to restore truth to a place of primacy in the healthcare system in US – but really, anywhere in the world – the strategies they use and the lessons one can draw from real-world stories.
Through interviews with healthcare leaders and an intuitive discussion of contemporary academic research, she highlights issues of critical importance in the quest to bring accurate information to the public.
In the book, she shares experiences of physicians who have experienced pushback. The “you are in Big Pharma’s pocket, of course you would say vaccines are good for you,” response. She details her friend and ICU physician Dr Nidhi Nikhanj’s harrowing experience during the pandemic.
And yet, she doesn’t dismiss the deniers as a lost cause, she sees them as victims of misinformation.
“It requires an ecosystem to bring a person back from misinformation.” Dr Geeta Nayyar with her daughter Sonia.
There’s no denying the sheer volume of misinformation out there on social media. Not just kids, but adults, too, buy into conspiracy theories, dangerous “treatments” and the like.
“The connection between our mental health and social media is becoming more and more obvious as you look at research,” says Dr G. “Look at the algorithms encouraging addictions and distortion of reality. At all the images of the perfect body, face, hair.
“I’m a mom, and what’s most interesting for me as a parent is that every generation has been taught about stranger-danger by their parents. Don’t talk to a stranger, don’t get into the car of someone you don’t know... but we let them loose on social media. Our kids might be aware of the danger in being approached by a stranger in the park, but not so much about a ‘friend’ request from a stranger on social media. They’ve not been given any guidance on what lurks on social media. We have to make this part of the conversations we have with our children.”
The optimist in her believes that kids do know how to use technology and hopes they will use it for fact-checking.
“There’s an opportunity for the digitally savvy to share information. Hey, don’t follow this person, or that.”
But where are they getting their facts from? Aren’t they turning to the same sources they get misinformation from? Aren’t we letting them roam freely in the same corridors so to speak, unmonitored?
As Dr G writes in her book, “Research suggests that in our search for the truth, most of us turn to the same places we discover falsehoods: the internet and our friends.”
Many parents grumble that their children will approach all-knowing Google or Siri to fact-check what their parents are telling them – even while the conversation is taking place.
Dr G agrees with a chuckle, and says that this is where the conversations about sources of information need to happen.
“We have to specify that information available online – even the right information – is general information. I made an appointment with a dermatologist for my daughter Sonia. Because she can provide advice specific to you, to your family history, your skin. It’s so important to have your own physician before you get sick, before you actually need one. It helps build a relationship, trust. Ask your doctor who they read, who do they follow? I do!
“We can guide our children on fact vs falsehoods. Explain that perspective, which perhaps only a parent can provide, the point of view, is in their best interest. Information available on non-verified sources is mainly about selling you something, getting you to subscribe. There’s different motivation there, an agenda.”
She’s had that conversation with Sonia.
Is the website transparent?
If your question is about healthcare, is the person/organization using evidence-based science?
Is it replicated across the industry? Is it a standard?
Who is telling you this? Are they an actual doctor, dermatologist, dietician or nurse, etc.?
“Because if you have a licence, you have more at stake,” says Dr G. “If not, you can just delete your account and there are no repercussions. Someone with a licence could lose it for spreading falsehoods, there could be legal implications, damage to their reputation. They have skin in the game.”
She welcomes social media when used correctly.
Dead Wrong by Geeta ‘Dr G’ Nayyar is published by Wiley, $23.99.
“I tell my patients to look for info on legit sites and patient advocacy groups. We want them well-informed. Patients who are confused, when they don’t understand, they don’t come back. And they seek that information from iffy sources.
“Social media is our friend when used right. A friend of mine is a social media influencer and a doctor. I tell my daughter to follow her. I’ve given her a list of the top five trusted TikTok influencers and Instagrammers. Much like we’d help our kids make savvy purchases of physical goods, we have to have them literate about the virtual world.
“Deprogramming mis/disinformation on healthcare in the age of social media is vital – we have to teach our kids about what to look for and where.”
There are articles on how social media feeds can rewire the brain. Is that true or are we falling into the same traps we want to rescue our kids from – believing information from the ‘other’ side?
“There are algorithms that are absolutely meant to hook your brain, to make addicts out of users,” says Dr G, unequivocally.
“Click on one out of curiosity or in error and you can get trapped in an echo chamber in which inflammatory content keeps coming up. There’s a barrage of one-sided information. We need to understand the difference between facts and an opinion. Newspapers have an ‘opinion page’ for a reason – the rest is news, fact-based and objective. But when things are scary, people gravitate to extreme scenarios and predictions.”
One used to think of high school kids as being old enough “to know better”. Then came all those articles some 20-plus year ago that showed that parts of the brain that control impulses, etc., continue to develop into the early 20s. Asked if there’s new science that sheds light on how teenage brains can be affected by an onslaught of social media, Dr G says there’s so much data that shows how human behaviour, even that of adults, is affected.
“We adults struggle with our addiction with phones, for instance. Kids will reminds us, ‘We’re having dinner, guys, no phones on the table!’”
It’s also not just about misinformation – dangerous though that is. The RCMP is warning parents about groups targeting youth online to record or livestream acts of self harm, suicide, animal torture, or child sexual abuse.
How can parents prevent this, and if a child has been sucked into this horror, protect them?
This is not really her area of expertise, Dr G clarifies, but as a physician and as a parent, offers this guidance.
“Ultimately, everyone wants to belong. For children, particularly, there might be periods in which they are awkward, socially isolated. Know your child and think of what you can do to de-isolate them. Kids can be lonely, so become alert to symptoms of loneliness. If your child is exhibiting signs of being affected by these groups, seek professional help. Remove the stigma from seeking help around mental health issues. If you feel out of depth, lean on friends and family, certainly, but professional help is vital.”
The recent ban on cell phones in schools in Ontario has its proponents and opponents. A grade 6 student recently shared with me that she thinks cell phones should be allowed. The reason she provided would send chills down any parent’s spine.
“Kids need cell phones so parents can contact them in case of a lockdown due to a shoot-out. There was one that lasted 18 hours and parents and kids wouldn’t have been able to connect during that time if cell phones weren’t allowed.”
These were not things kids dealt with just a generation ago.
Some states in the US also have instituted cell phone bans, says Dr G. “Of course, you need it as a tool to communicate with your children. But it’s about balance and putting protocols for such contingencies in place. It requires creative strategies and is probably not an all-or-nothing solution.”
In Dead Wrong, Dr G writes that it requires an ecosystem to bring a person back from misinformation.
“When someone begins the descent into misinformation, they often do it alone while staring at their smartphone. They might have a friend or two who might reinforce the person’s developing belief system. To combat misinformation – to bring that person back from the edge – requires its own ecosystem, spanning healthcare and technology, the C-suite and developers’ desks, doctors’ appointments and digital conversations. Deprogramming at scale won’t happen by accident.”
But is everyone equally invested in finding solutions?
Dr G is frank in her response. “I don’t think so. That’s where the balance comes in, between innovation and regulation. The biggest protector of society has to be regulatory. As in every industry, social media, too, requires oversight.”
As Carole Cadwalladr says in a TED Talk: We don’t send children down coal mines any longer, but letting their data being harvested from birth will be seen as abuse.
KIDS ARE USING AI TOOLS TO KEEP THEM COMPANY
“We have to teach our kids what to look for and where.” Image credit: KAMPUS PRODUCTION on Pexels.
Among teens who use generative AI tools, 15 per cent use the technology to “keep them company” – a phenomenon that has attracted negative attention due to two lawsuits from parents alleging that chatbots encouraged their children to engage in violence and self-harm.
On the other hand, there are documented benefits of using AI-companion apps, generally pointing to increased well-being.
Dr. Jaime Banks of Syracuse University has conducted research on human relationships with virtual companions, including a study on the effects of the sudden shutdown of an AI companion app on its users; how researchers see AI companions’ potential benefits (such as mitigating loneliness) and harms (such as stunting users’ relationships with real people).
Without government regulation, parents are the strongest line of defence to protect children online.
The Canadian Centre for Child Protection (C3P) is making it easier for parents and caregivers to learn how to keep their kids safe online with its accessible resources.
C3P’s revamped ProtectKidsOnline.ca website, Parenting in the Online World booklet, and Online Risks and Trends video go into detail about relevant online harms such as sextortion, luring, and deepfakes so parents can know what to be aware of. These resources also offer ways to start conversations with kids about online personal safety.
“Ongoing safety conversations are necessary in today’s world,” Noni Classen, director of education at C3P said. “As the internet is an unregulated space that is constantly evolving, we are here to help make it easier for parents navigating online safety by providing a one-stop shop to find information and help.”
More resources on protectchildren.ca.