“Between candy and cocaine, it’s closer to cocaine.”

Chris, former editor-in-chief of the famous American magazine Wired, commented on the flood of screens in life.

Now, such a view is no longer a reflection of a few Silicon Valley elites. Many countries have begun to issue corresponding regulations or bills to provide guidance on the safe Internet access of teenagers.

Before the Children's Day on June 1st, the Cyberspace Administration of China requested 14 short video platforms including Xigua Video, Bilibili, Miaopai, Meipai, and 4 companies including Tencent Video, iQiyi, Youku, and PP Video. Online video platform, unified launch of the "Youth Anti-Addiction System" for "Youth" Before this, Douyin, Kuaishou and Volcano Video have all started pilot projects.

In fact, the launch of this resistance movement against screens is Silicon Valley, which is known as the front line of technological innovation.

A top-down "-Free" campaign

In Silicon Valley, it is no longer a secret that parents limit the number of screens and use time in their families to create a "-Free" (no technology, no screen) growth environment.

Outside Chris, Apple founder Steve Jobs, Microsoft founder Bill Gates, and founder Jack did not allow children to get premature contact with electronic devices such as screens, and strictly control the frequency and time they use electronic devices.

Such parenting concepts have spread in Silicon Valley, and more and more ordinary Silicon Valley families have joined in it, and most of their parents are engineers of Silicon Valley technology companies. Although their daily job is to turn on the screen, process code or other things, some of them are very steadfast supporters in this "Screen Resistance" campaign for children.

These parents will deliberately reduce the number of screens in their homes, and some people don’t even buy a TV. At the same time, they will try to avoid using their phones in front of their children. Every day, they will only return to their room after they go to bed and turn on their iPad to watch an episode of their favorite drama. In addition to themselves, they will even ask the nanny or other relatives at home to not use electronic devices such as mobile phones. When choosing a school for children, they will also deliberately avoid schools that seem very high-tech and choose schools that are more "primitive" or value communication with people more.

Behind these seemingly crazy behaviors is actually people’s concerns about their own network security and Internet addiction. In a screen survey of 11,000 children, the National Health Center found that children's brains may change when looking at the screen for a long time. If you face the screen for more than 2 hours a day, you may get a lower score in your mind and language. Even for adults who are already mentally sound, facing the screen for a long time can cause depression.

After several recent scandals have been exposed, public concerns about online privacy, data and security have been pushed to a new peak. In the eyes of big companies, any data generated by users' Internet access is just a product, or a data fertilizer for feeding algorithms. These engineers on the front line of Silicon Valley know more than anyone else: "In the cloud data stored by big companies, you There is nothing to hide."

Rather than worrying about the screen, for these parents, it is more important to worry that their children are manipulated by the algorithm behind the screen and become addicted to it. Many current cases have proved that people cannot resist in the face of some algorithms. The average daily usage time of a short video app is more than 2 hours, and the number of openings is as many as 8.4 times.

In the latest report by The New York Times, such parenting concepts have begun to become a symbol of class division. Unlike in the past, having more advanced technology products was once the identity standard for the rich, but now this standard has become who can choose a more "healthy" lifestyle, namely "technology diet" (- diet, strictly control the intake of food like weight loss, and parents are also strictly controlling the time and content of their children surfing online).

Many electronic products are cheap enough nowadays, and most of the services and products provided are free (email, social network, entertainment, etc.). Refusing to become their "slaves" is a decent way of life. , especially for those rich and new middle-class people.

"It's already here, why do we pretend to be out of sight?"

When parents of elite families face the screen with great anxiety and even avoid it like snakes and scorpions, their children still know nothing about it and sometimes feel confused.

It is a channel with 100,000 followers. Its operator is a 6-year-old child. He will pay special attention to the messages given to him by fans in front of the screen and will also actively interact with them. When someone asks you if you know what it is, he will think you are having some jokes and wonder why someone asks such a question. He glanced at his phone and said, "People look at things that are happy and beautiful on it."

When I was born, I had been operating for a while. During his growth process, it was like a natural part of this modern society, and its existence brought happiness and happiness.

However, these positive words are rarely used to describe now. They are replaced by negative words such as "devil" and "racism". People increasingly distrust the content recommended by the algorithm and start to be on various videos Put more labels and give more restrictions. For some parents, even products like Kids are difficult to recognize, because occasionally there are some children's product advertisements that are considered appropriate but not recognized by parents.

In addition to being restricted to entertainment, the kids are also experiencing more.

In Silicon Valley and even the world, schools like Waldorf that basically do not use electronic devices and attach great importance to contact and communication between people are a few after all, and most schools still use electronic devices as part of classroom equipment. In the classroom, teachers use a wider range of resources as part of classroom materials. STEAM education (note: a multi-disciplinary education method that integrates science, technology, engineering, art, mathematics, etc.) is listed as a subject that must be mastered in the 21st century, and has also prompted a large number of screens to be brought into the classroom, extending the use of children's electronic devices.

Encouraged in class and banned from getting home, for some students, their attitude towards electronic devices becomes chaotic and ultimately fails to establish a benign interaction with the screen.

In addition, many children who are "technology dieting" will find themselves rejected by their peers in school. Children also need to socialize, and outside the classroom they will gather together to discuss new things in daily life. When technology becomes daily, it also becomes the content for children to discuss. They will communicate with each other through software such as , and share the electronic games they played together recently. Children whose electronic products are restricted by parents cannot find common language, are difficult to integrate into, and are difficult to make friends on campus.

For children, the Internet is full of unknowns and risks, but it also represents a broader and richer world. This huge movement to reject screens seemed like a bell-blind to them: "It's already here, why should we pretend not to see it?"

Learn how to live with the "screen"

Wang Xin (pseudonym) and his wife, who have been living in Silicon Valley for ten years, are not supporters of this wave of Silicon Valley's "-Free" movement. "I don't know why you will be regarded as an alien when you support your child to use the screen," said Wang Xin.

They equipped their children with a computer that allowed them to watch Kids videos and planned to apply for Khan Lab. In that school, there were no textbooks, and the kids used electronic devices to watch videos on the Khan Academy platform to learn, and of course there were some other online learning products.

Wang Xin expressed his confusion about the fact that the Silicon Valley elite parents rejected the screen: "What's the difference between this and when we were young, we had to watch TV, but parents said they didn't allow it?" In his opinion, those who watched it in childhood were watched in childhood Cartoons, movies and variety shows are the most important memories in the process of growth, giving him a lot of motivation and inspiration to grow.

"What we should do should be guidance, not stifling." Wang Xin emphasized.

Paul Ford, a well-known tech blogger, published an article in the latest Wired magazine about his love for technology, even if it has a lot of problems now. He has experienced this information technology revolution almost completely for more than 30 years. He is not unfamiliar with those dirty and despicable behaviors hidden behind the Internet, and has even experienced them personally. But over the past 30 years, he has also experienced the convenience brought by technology and more important fun, including enjoying the process of creation and bringing value to society.

How scary the screen is depends on how we use it. The challenge facing humans is not just screens. Many Silicon Valley celebrities such as Elon Musk are also calling on people to be careful of artificial intelligence, which may accidentally destroy our existing civilization. The way to not be afraid is perhaps to understand it deeply, just like humans’ earliest relationship with fire, to understand all its secrets, and finally to know how to view and use it reasonably.

"We need to understand the screen in a realistic way, and not be choking because of fear," said Wang Xin.

Recently, Wang Xin's child is preparing to participate in a youth programming competition. He shared the news on social networks. His friend who once questioned him pursed his lips and replied, "Congratulations."

(Author Limin, media person, former 36kr, Mustard pile reporter, based in Silicon Valley, observing global education)