Parents Vs "Environment"
In the US, Meta found itself in court accused of designing and operating Facebook and Instagram in ways that keep children and teenagers (and obviously not only them) constantly connected, while being aware of the risks. Just days after the trial began, Meta agreed to pay around $18 billion to settle the case, WITHOUT, HOWEVER, ADMITTING ANY RESPONSIBILITY. At the same time, it has committed to implementing significant restrictions on use by minors. We’ll see how that goes.
And this is where the real discussion begins. Beyond the companies themselves, who bears the greatest responsibility for minors’ use of social media? In a recent LinkedIn poll, 8 out of 10 people say that parents bear the greatest responsibility. At first glance, I would probably have answered the same way. But the issue is neither that simple and multi-dimensional.
First of all, parents have the great responsibility (1) to set boundaries from a very young age and (2) to lead through their own example. They have always had these responsibilities, and they always will.
At the same time, our environment has always influenced our lives and always will.
But some things have changed dramatically in recent years:
Today, the environment is no longer the neighborhood. It is the global neighborhood (“environment”)
Children today are constantly connected to this “environment”. Even when they are at home, they are often with the “environment”, not with their parents.
Most parents are struggling to make ends meet and simply do not have, or cannot dedicate, as much time to their children as they would like.
Technology today, and social media in particular, awakens emotions and desires in children that they are not yet ready to manage.
Whether we like it or not, the environment has far greater influence today than it did in the past.
The platforms are private companies generating enormous profits, powered by insatiable algorithms designed to capture attention, influence behavior and serve their business interests.
As for the school environment, teachers lost much of their authority and influence long time ago. What do we expect when a teacher allows a student to speak to him as if they were buddies and call him “bro”? Parents obviously bear responsibility here as well. They often do not give teachers the space to do their job, and at the slightest strict warning given to their child, they march down to the school ready to attack. Someone, of course, gave them the right to behave this way.
Parents have less influence today than they did in the past because the reality around them has changed. Of course, parental responsibility and a parent’s actual ability to influence their child are two different things. And there will always be things parents can do to guide their children towards developing self-control, discipline, a strong work ethic and respect. In other words, qualities of substance and excellence.
But parents today are facing a beast far bigger than the one previous generations had to face. The beast, the “environment”, today:
never leaves them alone. It bombards them every day with an enormous volume of information, to the point that even when the phone is no longer in their hands, their minds struggle to switch off
teaches them to measure their worth by their number of followers
teaches them how to become “good” consumers
pushes them towards degradation. Young girls wearing thongs and exposing themselves without even understanding what they are doing. And yes, someone will say, “Why do their parents allow it?” I agree. But the problem is not simply that some parents allow it. The problem is that these young girls want to do it in the first place
trains them, more than ever, to follow the crowd, the masses, without thinking for themselves
poisons their brains, exploiting reward and attention mechanisms in a brain that is still developing
Today, what parents build, the “environment” tears down.
I am in no way removing responsibility from parents. I am simply recognizing that today parents are trying to exercise that responsibility within a far more difficult and aggressive environment.
Given today’s reality, if we expect parents alone, many of whom have themselves been heavily influenced or even addicted to the same technology, to solve this problem, then, as one of my mentors used to say, WE ARE WAITING FOR OUR CAT TO BARK.
Parents have the primary responsibility for raising their children.
But the state has the primary responsibility for regulating the environment in which private companies are allowed to influence millions of children every single day.
The greatest responsibility for protecting children ultimately belongs to the state, precisely because the state is the highest authority. If it cannot introduce and enforce laws immediately, then quite simply it is not the highest authority. And if it is not the highest authority, then it is not really a state. And I think that last sentence captures much of the reality we are living in today, particularly in the Western world.
Nakis Theocharides
01/09/2026
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