A panel discussion held on September 8 at UC Irvine addressed the challenges of parenting in an increasingly digital world, emphasizing strategic engagement over fear. The event, titled “Raising the Next Generation in the Age of AI,” was the third installment in a series co-presented by UCI’s School of Social Ecology, the Donald Bren School of Information and Computer Sciences, the Office of Research, the Connected Learning Lab, and CERES (Connecting the EdTech Research EcoSystem).
Moderated by Candice Odgers, UCI Chancellor’s Professor of psychology and informatics, the panel included Yalda Uhls, founder and CEO of the Center for Scholars and Storytellers at UCLA; Melissa Mazmanian, UCI professor of informatics and organization and management; Vani Henderson, head of UX Research, Youth, Trust and Safety at YouTube; and Larz May, founder of #HalfTheStory and co-founder and CEO of Ginko. The discussion centered on empowering parents with actionable strategies for their families.
Yalda Uhls highlighted that parental concern about new media is not a recent phenomenon. Historically, parents worried about novels in the 1800s and video games like Pac-Man in the 1980s. Research, Uhls noted, often reveals a more complex reality than initial anxieties suggest. Uhls observed that while mediums change, "What hasn’t changed is parental fear," and stressed the enduring value of a child's unique brain and thinking in contrast to technology. She also drew on decades of parenting research to affirm that effective offline parenting strategies—combining reasonable rules with genuine warmth—also prove successful online. Uhls advised parents to trust their instincts and teach media literacy, helping children evaluate what they consume, recognize misinformation, and understand content production, even if young people are more adept with digital tools.
Melissa Mazmanian shared insights from her research, which involved spending many hours inside family homes. She found that the most effective media rules originated from parents’ specific understanding of their own children, rather than from schools or external parenting groups. Mazmanian encouraged parents to consider the true source of their anxieties, distinguishing between fears driven by news reports or school advice versus those arising from concrete observations of their own child’s behavior. Her study involving parent-teen pairs also indicated that teenagers are considerably more understanding of their parents’ screen time habits than parents are of theirs. Conflict, Mazmanian explained, often arose when teenagers felt their parents did not truly grasp what they were doing online, whether socializing, creating, or pursuing hobbies.
Vani Henderson from YouTube pointed out that many parents are unaware of the existing controls and safety features embedded within platforms like YouTube. She emphasized her responsibility in building products for children globally.
The panelists generally agreed that outright bans on technologies like phones or AI tools serve only as a starting point, not a comprehensive solution. Larz May, who works directly with students, stated that regardless of parental preference, children are already utilizing AI outside of school settings. May cautioned that fear-driven approaches risk fostering apathy in teens, which she identified as a greater danger than any single technology. She cited an instance where a student, anxious about his school’s ambiguous AI policy, now records his homework sessions to preemptively prove academic integrity.
May advocated for using technology to amplify a child's strengths, describing it as unlocking a "child’s superpower." She argued that genuine engagement, rather than increased restrictions, is the antidote to excessive screen time, suggesting that "the opposite of AI is social connection." May encouraged parents to invest in real-world interests and relationships to offer meaningful alternatives to device usage. She also urged adults to examine whether their own discomfort with unfamiliar technologies contributes to their fears about their children. May proposed using technology as a tool to explore a child's interests, such as employing AI to help a reluctant writer shape a spoken narrative into a written draft, allowing the child's authentic voice to lead with technology in a supportive role.
Before asking the panel for actionable advice, Odgers noted that existing bans and cell phone policies in many places are not consistently delivering on their intended promises. The discussion aimed to help families find practical solutions. The conversation focused on empowering parents to navigate the digital landscape with strategy and understanding. The panelists sought to offer practical solutions for residents to fostering healthy digital habits rather than relying solely on restriction. The collective advice centered on understanding, engagement, and leveraging technology thoughtfully.
