<div class="subscriber-preview"> <p>Today's technology has redefined childhood and adolescence. </p> </div> <div class="subscriber-preview"> <p>In a virtual conversation on Thursday, January 22 editor <strong>Ceri Marsh</strong> was joined by <strong>Ava Smithing</strong>, host of this podcast Left to Their Own Devices, and <strong>Dr. Michele Locke,</strong> psychologist and co-founder of the Toronto chapter of Unplugged Canada, to discuss youth and technology.</p> </div> <div class="subscriber-only"> <p>They discussed how devices influence children's relationships, development and mental health – with actionable, family-friendly strategies to navigate screen time – and ways to encourage healthy digital habits and foster meaningful offline connections.</p> <p>We gave children the most powerful tools in human history. Then, we left them to their own devices.</p> </div>

In conversation with Jonathan Haidt, author of The Anxious Generation

We gave children the most powerful tools in human history. Then, we left them to their own devices.

When she was 12 years old, Ava Smithing spiraled down a social media rabbit hole that nearly cost her life. A decade later, she discovered she wasn't alone: Big Tech had rewritten childhood and adolescence for her entire generation. Armed with questions and a year to find answers, Ava embarked on a cross-continent investigation into a hidden digital world. She met teens in 12-step programs for social media addiction, young girls wrestling with compulsive porn use, and boys who had been blackmailed by international cybercriminals. 

This isn't a self-help guide to digital wellness. It's a survival story from the front lines of 21st century childhood: where young people are re-writing the playbook for what it means to be human in a hyperconnected world.