Creating Sustainable Futures for Children – Beyond the Screen
If your child asked you if they could go to a place where they were going to learn how to harm themselves, for example learn how to cut, buy deadly drugs, be extorted sexually, meet pedophiles, choke themselves, suicide, bully others, kill people with guns and run over them with cars, give away their private data and in the process, become addicted to this place…would you let them go there? No! Yet we expose children daily to harm and danger every time they pick up a phone or open a tablet or laptop. Parents and teachers actively encourage unsafe internet use by allowing unsupervised and unregulated access in homes, schools and community settings. Home and school used to be places where children feel safe and protected, not attacked or exploited. What is simply astonishing is that children are saying they want to go outside and play, unsupervised, yet we keep them inside on screens under the false assumption that the internet is “safe”. When something is rotten to its core, broken beyond repair, we throw it out. When something is wrong, deeply bad from the very start, we try and try and try to make it right, make it good. But after numerous attempts, over a long period of time, we have all failed miserably to “fix” the internet and make it safe for children. We need to now face up to the fact the internet truly is irreparably “broken”. We need to now act in the best interests of humanity and take immediate measures to create sustainable futures for children.
In addition to prolific research showing profound negative impact of screen technology on 5 developmental domains including physical, social, mental, cognitive and emotional, a recent 2025 study of 10 and 18-year-old children showed increased cardiometabolic disease with increased screentime use, resulting in not only increased incidence of obesity and diabetes, but also increased incidence of heart attack and stroke. Children’s very future is in peril. France just banned all screens from childcare facilities 0-3 years. It’s beyond time for global governments to step in and regulate the technology industry. I know how we can work together to make this happen.
I’m an occupational therapist passionate about changing the ways in which humans interact with technology. Persuasive design and corrosive content have resulted in pervasive screen addictions, even in our most young and vulnerable. The technology industry is unregulated and monetarily driven, and designers are unqualified and unmotivated to make tech safe. As a result, humans have never been sicker, less productive or more unhappy than they are today, yet screen usage rates continue to climb, unchecked by those authorities who are designated to protect. We are in a health care crisis that will facilitate the demise of our health care systems. Our governments need to impose regulatory action which will protect children from the technology industry, and implement immediate measures to address rising screen addiction. The internet is currently not safe, not factual, and is illegal (data harvesting, no age verification, copyright infringement etc.). The ways in which we are presently raising and educating children with unsupervised screen use is clearly not sustainable. If we don’t act now to protect children from the technology industry, their very future as a sustainable species on this earth is in peril.
I’m presently launching Creating Sustainable Futures for Children – Beyond the Screen initiatives for 7 industry, government and public sectors. It would be in the best interests of children to immediately stop all current use of harmful technology, as well as mandate the technology industry halt all production of new technology, until such time as non-industry, long-term research evidence proves that internet and screen device use is safe. Infiltration by the technology industry into homes, schools, government, health, research and media sectors constitutes gross conflict of interest and should be illegal. Urgent measures must be taken to protect children over maintaining questionable, monetarily driven, bureaucratic alliances with the technology industry. Government actions to litigate and regulate technology industry products could be akin to what was required to reign in the tobacco industry. Instead of costly litigation, technology industry reparation funds for initiatives designed to reverse damage caused by screens, could be effectively managed and distributed through the health sector. When technology is proven to be safe, factual and legal, the technology industry can then proceed with new technological developments in accordance with newly set government standards and ethics.
Technology Industry
- Products proven safe
- Independent research
- No addictive design
- No harmful content
- No data harvesting
- Qualified designers
- No conflict of interest
- 5% tech industry profit reparation tax
Government
- Legislate and regulate safe tech products
- Impose research standards
- Impose tech designer and content standards
- Data harvesting illegal
- Conflict of interest illegal
- Enforce factual news
- Mandate screen usage guidelines
- Mandate nature, playground, movement and sleep guidelines
- Administer 5% tech industry profits toward reparation
Educators
- No funding from or affiliations with tech industry
- Dissolve tech contracts citing harm to students
- Ban ALL screen technology in classrooms
- Establish one computer lab/school
- Follow screen usage guidelines
- Buy books, encyclopedias, paper, pencils
- Train teachers for literacy attainment
Health
- Policy and education for screen usage guidelines (age, duration, content)
- Policy and education for nature, playgrounds, movement and sleep
- Prohibit screens from community settings
- Distribute 5% tech industry reparation:
- Provide parent education and support
- Ensure schools comply with screen, nature, playground and movement guidelines
- Provide funding for playgrounds, books etc.
- Subsidize community recreation
- Support long-term research
Parents
- No cell phones < 16 years
- Follow screen, nature, movement and sleep guidelines
- Prohibit use of AI < 18 years
- Prioritize human connection over screentime
- Apply for family coach funds with 5% tech reparation tax
- Liaise with health for community recreation
Researchers
- No funding from or affiliations with tech industry
- Long-term studies should include:
- cardiovascular impact
- early screen addiction
- minimum requirements for human sustainability
- Research cited directly by media
Media
- No funding from or affiliations with tech industry
- Apply for media outlet funds from 5% tech reparation tax
- Cite only valid research evidence, not industry produced fraud
- Cite only credible sources; no fake news
Working together as a team, we can create strategic alliances between these 7 sectors to move humanity in the right direction, toward health, well being and sustainability. I’ve worked over the past 35 years in all 7 of these sectors and believe I am the visionary leader who can build needed structures and alliances to create a safe, informative and legal technology framework. If you are a sector leader and would like to participate in this ‘system of solutions’ to the technology caused health crisis, or know of someone who is passionate about creating sustainable futures for our children, please contact me Cris Rowan at crowan@reconnectwebinars.com indicating how you might help.
