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

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.