Digital Spaces Fulfill Childhood Autonomy Needs Curtailed Elsewhere

Key Quotes

"Well to your point I think many people remember that prior to the 1970s or so there was much less supervision of childhood in physical space than there is now but I think an important point to keep in mind is that that difference is not just between you know the early part of the 20th century and now but between now and as far as we can tell pretty much the whole course of human history when you look at the record of childhood across human societies you find that kids are generally afforded a really high degree of independence and autonomy one of my colleagues dorso amir has a good term for this that they spend much of their time in independent peer cultures so with other kids forming their own separate little groups away from the adults and in the early 1970s or so the ability for kids to develop these kinds of independent peer cultures drops really precipitously and that has not changed to the present day"

Eli Stark-Elster explains that the current era of highly supervised childhood is a recent phenomenon, contrasting it with the historical norm of greater independence and peer-group interaction for children across human societies. This historical perspective suggests that children have a natural inclination towards forming their own social groups away from adult oversight.

"I think one big factor underlying this shift is the urbanization of the United States more and more people have moved into cities becoming increasingly dependent on cars and so you now have physical environments where one it is arguably just a little less safe for kids to roam around due to traffic concerns but parents also have a lot more fear of their kids being unsafe for that reason and even if parents didn't feel those concerns often kids are just not all that close to other kids physically if they want to hang out with their friends their parents need to drive them somewhere so that's a crucial factor another I think underlying concern here is just the fear of not just traffic but stranger danger"

Eli Stark-Elster identifies urbanization and increased reliance on cars as key drivers behind the reduction in unsupervised outdoor play for children. He notes that traffic concerns and a heightened fear of "stranger danger" have made physical environments less conducive to independent exploration, often requiring parental transportation for children to socialize.

"On one hand the safeguards don't exist the author Jonathan Haidt has a I think good analogy that in some sense putting kids on social media platforms is a little bit like sending them to Mars you know this is a very recent innovation and so we understand very little about how these kinds of environments actually work and how they're affecting our children"

Eli Stark-Elster, referencing Jonathan Haidt's analogy, suggests that the digital spaces children now inhabit are akin to an unexplored frontier like Mars. He emphasizes that these platforms are recent innovations, and consequently, there is a significant lack of understanding regarding their actual workings and their impact on children's development.

"But I think when you look at the trend in human evolution and this desire kids clearly have to build their you know sort of secret worlds away from us I think a different picture kind of arises and I think the picture that arises is kids are using digital space as sort of the last frontier to get away from us"

Eli Stark-Elster proposes that children's engagement with digital spaces can be understood as a continuation of an evolutionary drive to create independent worlds away from adults. He views this digital engagement not solely as a result of technological influence but as a natural outlet for children seeking autonomy and peer interaction.

"I think they love it for a different reason than Fortnite which is that it's a very open ended exploratory game where you can collaborate with your friends and they have pretty much total control over what you choose to do so when you zoom out it can look like these are two instances of a similar thing if kids are addicted to video games but when you zoom in on what they're actually doing and how those games are built you get a very different picture I think of what's actually happening in those worlds"

Eli Stark-Elster differentiates the appeal of Minecraft from Fortnite by highlighting Minecraft's open-ended, collaborative, and exploratory nature, which offers children significant control. He argues that while both are video games, a closer examination of their design reveals distinct reasons for children's engagement, moving beyond a simple categorization of "addiction."

"The key thing to look for here when kids are playing in a physical or a virtual spaces do they have the freedom to make their own decisions in this space are they exploring are they spending time with other kids if the answer to all those questions is yes my sense is that the play is probably just as good regardless of the domain"

Eli Stark-Elster suggests that the quality of play, whether in physical or virtual spaces, hinges on children's freedom to make decisions, explore, and interact with peers. He posits that if these conditions are met, the play experience is likely to be equally beneficial, irrespective of the environment.