July 15: How Algorithms Shape the Way Children See the World
The Invisible Teacher: How Algorithms Shape the Way Children See the World
Many of us remember growing up with one or two television channels, a local library and whatever books happened to be on our shelves. If we wanted to learn about something new, we had to actively go looking for it. Today, children experience something very different. Every time they open a social media app, watch a video or search for information online, thousands of decisions are being made behind the scenes about what they should see next. These decisions are made by algorithms - recommendation systems designed to keep us engaged by showing us content that is most likely to capture our attention.
Although these systems are incredibly effective at predicting what we might enjoy watching, they are not designed to help children develop balanced, thoughtful or well-rounded views of the world. They are designed to keep us scrolling.
More of What We Already Watch
Algorithms work by looking for patterns. If a young person watches several football videos, they'll probably be shown more football content. If they enjoy cooking, they'll be recommended new recipes. In many ways, this can be helpful. The difficulty comes when the same system is applied to opinions, beliefs and worldviews. If a teenager watches videos expressing a particular opinion about immigration, gender, politics or body image, the platform may assume they want more of the same. Before long, their feed can become filled with increasingly similar content, creating the impression that everyone thinks the same way. Over time, this can make one perspective feel like the only perspective.
When Our World Gets Smaller
Although the internet gives us access to more information than any generation before us, algorithms can sometimes have the opposite effect. Rather than broadening our understanding, they often narrow it by repeatedly showing us content that reflects what we have already engaged with.
This is sometimes described as living in an "echo chamber", where the same ideas are repeated so often that they begin to feel like common sense rather than opinion. For children and teenagers, whose identities and beliefs are still developing, this can be particularly influential. Young people are naturally curious, they are also learning who they are and how the world works. When one viewpoint dominates everything they see online, it becomes much harder to recognise that other perspectives exist.
Why This Matters for Mental Health
The content children are shown doesn't just shape what they know, it shapes how they feel.
An algorithm that repeatedly recommends appearance-focused content may increase pressure to look a certain way. One that continually serves frightening news stories can leave young people feeling anxious about the future. A feed dominated by anger, outrage or conflict can make the world seem far more hostile than it really is. Similarly, if a child begins engaging with content that promotes prejudice or harmful stereotypes, those ideas can quickly become normalised simply because they are repeated again and again. Children are still developing the critical thinking skills needed to recognise that popularity is not the same as truth, and that repeated exposure does not make something accurate.
Helping Children Think Beyond Their Feed
The good news is that parents don't need to understand every app or algorithm to make a difference. We need to encourage our children to stay curious and help them recognise that their online experience is carefully personalised rather than completely objective. When they understand that someone else's feed may look entirely different from their own, they begin to appreciate that the internet is not one shared reality but millions of individual ones.
Teaching Digital Curiosity
Perhaps one of the most important digital skills we can give our children is how to question technology. Encouraging them to explore different sources of information, to recognise the difference between fact and opinion, and to understand that algorithms are designed to maximise engagement rather than provide balance helps them become thoughtful digital citizens.
This isn’t about encouraging distrust, it’s about helping them recognise that technology has influence, and that influence deserves to be questioned.
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