Childhood 2.0 is required viewing for anyone who wants to better understand the world their children are navigating as they grow up in the digital age. Featuring actual parents and kids as well as industry-leading experts in child safety and development, this documentary dives into the real-life issues facing kids today — including cyberbullying, online predators, suicidal ideation, and more.
CHILDHOOD 2.0 is a documentary that explores the ways kids and teens grew up before the introduction and impact of the internet, smartphones, and social media. Researchers, doctors, specialists, and teachers talk about the problems this new technological era has caused in kids and teens. Primarily, the film worries about the rise of cyberbullying behavior being able to impact the lives of kids and teens at all hours of the day and night (over social media) and the rise of kid and teen suicide over the last 10 years and after the introduction and widespread adoption of smartphones. A lot of the film covers the rise of pornography and the ease with which kids and teens can and do access it, the dominance of social media and getting “likes” (and how girls need to show skin to get likes), and how it is now very common for boys to expect “nudes” (through text or apps like Snapchat) from girls.
Parents need to know that Childhood 2.0 is a documentary about how the impact of technology, smartphones, and social media have greatly changed, and for the worse, how kids and teens live. Lots of the film is devoted to pornography and kids’ and teens’ access to it. Blurred-out images of pornography are shown, as are brief clips of performers undressing or already in underwear. Another large portion of the film features an organization that works to catch child predators. During this part, lots of texts and communication are displayed verbatim, and many comments are lewd, sexual, and some have strong language. Some horror stories of kids being abducted, raped, and killed are also told. Kids and teens themselves also talk about how smartphones and social media dominate their lives. They talk about how technology has changed the way they live compared to the way their parents lived as kids. The film worries about the increase of cyberbullying behavior and rise of teen suicide (the latter being now the #2 cause of death for 10-24-year-olds) and argues that these rises are due to widespread smartphone and social media adoption. However, the film also admits that kids and teens can’t avoid using smartphones or social media; beyond talking with your kids more and trying to limit screen time, the film doesn’t have any answers to all the negative consequences of smartphones and social media.