AI, social media give children a dangerous digital mirror
AI, social media give children a dangerous digital mirror
Publish Date: 2026-06-07 06:03:00
Source Domain: www.usatoday.com
June 7, 2026, 6:03 a.m. ET
We used to worry about what children were seeing online. Now we have to worry about what answers they get back, sometimes in ways that can distort a child’s sense of self.
Children everywhere are asking questions and seeking advice. It’s dangerous.
A 10-year-old girl could beg for K-beauty products to achieve “glass skin.” A boy barely into puberty might follow “looksmaxxing” influencers. The college student who scrolls through internships, travel photos and smiling group shots and asks ChatGPT, “Is there something wrong with me?” The answer comes back: “You’re not crazy to think so,” reflecting a broader design problem in AI systems that too often err on the side of affirmation.
This is the fun-house mirror of social comparison in the age of AI.
People are increasingly asking AI as a digital mirror
Comparison is inevitable, even useful, as children learn about the world and themselves. But social media and now AI have turned comparison from a tool of self-understanding into the engine of an identity-distorting feedback loop.
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We’ve seen this firsthand over decades of work bringing RULER ‒ our systemic approach to teaching emotional intelligence ‒ to more than 5,000 schools around the world, reaching millions of children, youth, educators and families. We’ve seen it beyond schools as well, including in our work with social media companies such as Meta, where we have helped design systems aimed at reducing conflict, cruelty and bullying online.
Social media has spent years learning where your child’s attention catches: a “glow up” video, a flawless complexion, a party she isn’t at. These images invite the old questions ‒ Why am I not prettier? What’s wrong with me? Why wasn’t I invited? AI might then meet the child in the next vulnerable moment, ready to confirm what she already fears.
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