Choice architecture and child development in the digital world

The article analyzes the digitalization of childhood as a giant natural experiment in which the algorithmic environment becomes an element of ontogeny. The author emphasizes that technologies are not merely tools but shape the child's psychic apparatus during key developmental phases. The text confronts theories of brain degradation with current scientific data, including reviews from JAMA Pediatrics and ABCD studies. It points to statistical correlations between excessive screen exposure and lower academic performance and emotional problems, while warning against drawing causal conclusions too hastily. The entire piece places the problem within the broader context of choice architecture and the infrastructural power of digital platforms, analyzing Big Tech's influence on future generations.