The Personal Writings of Ace Vee

Digital Addiction and Predatory Marketing on Young Children

Ace Vee
Tide PODS Challenge

In the past ten or so years, chances are you have witnessed more children absorbed in electronics than playing outside or engaging in educational content. According to GITNUX [A data analysis company] “…95% of U.S. teens owning smartphones, nearly half saying they are online almost constantly, tweens averaging five hours and thirty-three minutes and teens eight hours and thirty-nine minutes a day on screens for entertainment…” Digital addiction refers to compulsive use of devices that negatively interfere with someone’s life. This manifests in many different forms, including online gaming, impulse shopping and gambling. According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, kids as young as 18–24 months could potentially have problematic screen habits (AAP, 2016). With this constant exposure, technology dependency poses a serious threat to a child’s suggestible nature, development and overall well-being. Parents need to take preventative measures to protect their kids from harmful digital environments. Considering not only the digital addiction aspect but also how these digital platforms can be a territory for predatory and inflammatory marketing.

Predatory marketing is when a company or business uses misleading or aggressive tactics to target a vulnerable population. Think children, low-income communities, the elderly, others etc. these tactics can be social media content, influencers, gambling, deceptive online gaming ads, online challenges, etc. A lot of these tactics can be used to target children and their parents in order to get them to buy a certain product, have certain beliefs, or try a certain thing. Children’s limited impulse control and suggestible nature can lead to unnecessary spending on products, questionable adopted beliefs and even lead children to participate in hazardous online challenges.

 If you go online specifically some of the content you will see is geared towards young kids. Like some online game ads are just targeting kids through blatantly encouraging gambling through betting on gamer skins and loot boxes. Using their or their parents’ money to buy a virtual in-game item. These skins are costume, designs, items, etc. For the skin gambling sites there are often third parties, sometimes often no age verification. And a lot of kids participate in these websites using their or their parents’ money thinking they will get these items and sometimes that does not happen because of the fraud influencers behind these sites (Zone, 2025). For instance, the Paul brothers mainly Logan Paul having extreme challenge videos and his tone and demeanor tuned in a specific way to target kids. Some of his risky behavior was marketing a blockchain game called CryptoZoo scamming people out of their money. Or Jake Paul a known influencer who currently does boxing but used to post very prank heavy and outrageous content encouraging minors to engage in gambling or advertising fake courses on being a “famous” influencer like him. 

And with some of these youtubers they can hold quite questionable beliefs that could rub off on their audience that could very well affect their lives. For example, the wretched world of Elsagate if you do not know their used to be a series on YouTube about Elsa from Frozen and Spidermen being together in a relationship, most of the videos would be the two of them in very inappropriate situations like violence, sexual innuendos, childbirth and more which kind of goes to show how finicky YouTube really monitors their content. Like they will monetize a YouTuber for a single cuss word, but incredibly violent or sexual videos are just completely fine to be on there. And that’s why parents need to heavily observe the content kids are consuming because some videos might appear harmless but they’re the complete opposite.

Another factor is these “online challenges” that could cause an immense amount of harm or irreversible damage. For children behaving impulsively is quite common in addition to natural quick reactions and response times. According to UPMC Children’s Community Pediatrics, “Children’s brains are still under construction, especially in the areas that control self-regulation, planning, and decision-making. The prefrontal cortex, often referred to as the brain’s ‘thinking cap,’ doesn’t fully develop until well into the mid-20s.” (UPMC, n.d.) So, attempting an online trend without thinking of repercussions is a common theme amongst children. 

An infamous example is the 2018 Tide Pod challenge where college students, teens, and even kids as young as five were consuming laundry pods. There were so many people participating in this trend that poison control was receiving reports of more than 10,500 children five or younger being exposed to the toxins within laundry detergent. Or another online trend harming children is the 2020 Benadryl challenge, this TikTok trend was enabling kids to undergo substance abuse. Taking a dangerously high dosage to feel hallucinogenic effects. To no surprise multiple teenagers ended up hospitalized or have died. Even as far as getting the Food and Drug Administration involved making a statement towards guardians and consumers about storing and locking drugs in general out of sight (Wolters, 2023). 

These challenges affect children’s families, their livelihoods, and some people’s perception about themselves or others. Like, hey if I do not go ahead with this challenge people might deem me as uncool etc. These dangerous trends are a sliver of the larger issue at hand, additionally technology can affect children’s development and health.

Digital dependency poses prominent risks to a child’s early-stage development and overall health. Particularly during their former years in developing motor skills, language skills, communication skills and emotional regulation. According to Psychology Today, kids as young as two and four can develop delays in communication and problem-solving skills. Additionally, high screen time can affect motor and social skills at these young ages, as well. Executive function is also a factor being affected especially in preschoolers scoring lower on their ability to suppress impulsiveness, flexible thinking, and emotional regulation (Bredehoft, 2025).

The American Psychological Association reported that kids under ten years old engage in media like video games, social media, online homework and TV. The study highlights how kids using online media are more likely to adopt it as a coping mechanism turning to screens instead of family and more likely to develop socioemotional issues such as hyperactivity, aggression, anxiety and depression (APA, 2025). Not to mention if kids are out here watching “Skibidi rizz” unironically maybe that’s reason to believe we are going downhill as a generation.

I mean anything but that or ai videos keep it classy and just rewatch old vines for entertainment. Despite the growing danger of technology addiction there are ways to combat this dilemma protecting children and promoting healthier alternatives. According to Mayo Clinic Health System there are many ways to get children to be less on screens. Having clear screen time limits every week allowing children one hour of non-educational content to watch. Or having device free zones allowing kids to engage in offline activities like playing outside, drawing, writing etc. Or explaining and modeling the purpose of electronics so kids are not mindlessly engaging in mentally deteriorating content (Scherger, 2013). Even with these tactics, early screen exposure is still rising and continuing research is key to fully comprehending how technology addiction affects young children.

References

Ace Vee

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