“We have a culture that gets increasingly uncomfortable if we’re not getting this constant input from the screens. […] If we don’t teach them (kids) how to find pleasure, to find entertainment, to figure out how to work your way through boredom without somebody giving you that easy answer, we’re really handicapping them for the future.”
— Josh Golin
During this episode of The Art of Allowance Podcast, host John Lanza speaks with guest Josh Golin about the evolving landscape of children’s online safety, the importance of limiting kids’ screen time and the legislative efforts aimed at protecting children from harmful digital marketing practices. They discuss the challenges families face in managing screen time, the significance of early childhood education and the need for collective action among parents to advocate for change. Josh shares personal experiences raising his daughter commercial-free and emphasizes the importance of instilling values around money and media consumption in children. He also highlights the urgency of supporting legislation like the Children and Teens’ Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA 2.0) and the Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA) to create a safer digital environment for children.
Josh Golin is the Executive Director of Fairplay, an organization dedicated to protecting children from exploitative practices by marketers and Big Tech. Under his leadership, Fairplay has influenced major changes at platforms like YouTube, Instagram and Amazon. Josh has testified before Congress and regularly speaks to parents, policymakers and professionals about children’s media health. He also has appeared on Good Morning America and Fox News and in The New York Times and The Washington Post. He lives in Vermont with his wife, teenage daughter and dog.
Links (From the Show)
- Connecting with Fairplay
- Fairplay’s website
- Fairplay’s script to follow when contacting your representative about supporting KOSA
- Fairplay’s Screens in Schools Action Kit
- Media-Smart Mentions
- Jonathan Haidt’s book, The Anxious Generation
- John’s newsletter on Haidt’s four norms
- The “Wait Until 8th” pledge
- Consumer advocate Ralph Nader
- Susan Linn’s book, The Case for Make Believe
- The Scrolling 2 Death Podcast
Show Notes (Find what’s most interesting to you!)
- How Fairplay’s name change reflects larger societal shifts [2:49]
- Fairplay’s early childhood program focuses on screen time. [6:15]
- Helping parents navigate screen time [9:10]
- How beginning an allowance is akin to limiting a child’s screen time [14:21]
- Collective action progress regarding screen time and social media [18:25]
- Josh summarizes two bills working their way through Congress. [23:14]
- What you can do to help get both bills passed in the House [27:42]
- The arguments against both bills are centered around censorship. [28:25]
- Josh’s five-year update on raising a commercial-free child [30:52]
- Tackling branding issues with young children [36:34]
- Three tactics to help parents discover commercial-free communities [40:32]
- Josh shares his money-smart influences. [45:06]
- What you don’t know about Fairplay [47:35]
- Advice from Ralph Nader [48:44]
- A pitch for New Jersey pizza [49:31]
- Josh’s podcast recommendation (Note: This show does address instances of online harm.) [50:21]
- Keeping up with Fairplay online [51:29]
- Josh’s time-sensitive request to contact your representative about supporting KOSA [51:57]
If you liked this episode …
Want to help your kids protect themselves online? Author and digital literacy advocate Diana Graber reviews basic tactics for keeping personal information safe at the 21:14 mark of her Art of Allowance Podcast appearance. This short video on creating a good password might also be helpful.
Ready to start a conversation with your kids about media literacy? Media Literacy Now CEO and Founder Erin McNeill shares strategies for doing so during her time on the show. And just like Josh and John discuss, manipulation is a great starting point. Listen in at 37:32 for all the details, or watch the corresponding short.
Interested in hearing more from Josh? During his first podcast episode, he provides recommendations to protect children from both the obvious and the subtle pitfalls of materialism and social media. For a preview of his suggestions, stream this video.
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