APX-V-0059
“I held the line on screens for my kids while every other parent folded.”
Thousands of engineers built those feeds to defeat a child's self-control, and most parents have quietly surrendered to the friction. You drew the line and kept it. That is protection against an enemy most people can't even see. The fights are worth it. You're guarding their attention, which is to say, guarding their minds.
Your Practice
- Name the design you're up against — these tools were built to capture them.
- Hold one hard line this week even when it causes friction.
- Give them something better to do with the freed time — real, physical, together.
- Model it. Put your own phone down where they can see you do it.
The Architects
“The most dangerous phrase a DP manager can use is 'We've always done it that way.'”
— Grace Hopper, Quoted in Computerworld, January 26, 1976 (interview by Esther Surden)