Are The Algorithms Becoming Children's Unofficial Teachers?

If someone spent six hours a day with your child, helping shape what they noticed, what they laughed at, what they feared, what they wanted and even how they saw themselves... wouldn't you want to know who they were?

Most parents would say yes....

We'd ask socio-emotional questions like:

What are their values? Can they be trusted? What are they teaching? Do they have my child's best interests at heart?

As a former teacher, Critical Thinking Coach and founder of Master Crafters Network Hub CIC, I've spent years thinking about how children learn. Traditionally, we have understood learning as something that happens primarily at home, in school or through trusted relationships. Parents shaped values. Teachers guided learning. Communities reinforced culture, right? Today, however, another educator has quietly entered the classroom.

It doesn't wear a lanyard. Nor, does it stand at the front of the room.

It certainly doesn't follow the National Curriculum - Which is probably the best thing about it.

This is your algorithm..

Many children today spend hours each day interacting with digital platforms that are constantly learning from them, responding to them and influencing what they see next.

Not because someone is sitting behind a screen deciding what your child should watch.

But because algorithms are.

It's also one of the reasons I can't stop asking a question that's slowly become the foundation of my work:

Who is shaping our children's thinking when we're not in the room?

Notice I didn't ask who is shaping their behaviour or who is shaping their grades. This is intentional because that is the aftermath and we need to practice working the root.

I purposefully asked about their thinking because before a child can make a decision...

Before they develop confidence...

Before they build friendships...

Before they discover who they are...

They think.

Or at least, they begin making sense of the world around them.

I've spent years watching children learn and one thing became increasingly obvious to me.

Children don't only learn from lessons. They learn from environments more.

Every environment teaches. This is why your child can struggle with one teacher and thrive with another.

Schools teach.

Homes teach.

Friendships teach.

Communities teach.

The question is whether we've recognised that digital environments teach too?

Not in the traditional sense.

Algorithms don't sit children down and explain fractions or punctuation but they do quietly reward certain behaviours, repeat certain messages, amplify certain voices.

Algorithms influence what becomes familiar for your child

And familiarity has always been one of the most powerful teachers we have.

This isn't a blog about blaming technology. Nor is it about blaming parents.

In fact, if you're reading this while wondering whether you're "doing enough", I want to say something that I genuinely hope lands with you.

You're parenting through something no generation has ever experienced before.

Parents never had to think about recommendation systems. They never had to wonder why one child becomes obsessed with one type of content while another disappears into a completely different online world. They didn't have to compete with platforms employing thousands of engineers whose job is to make digital experiences as engaging as possible.

Of course parenting feels different because childhood is different...

When I speak with parents, I rarely hear them worrying about technology itself.

They talk about confidence.

Attention.

Friendships.

Mood swings.

Comparison.

Identity.

They tell me things like:

"I don't know why they can't switch off anymore."

"They seem so much older than they are."

"Everything feels like an argument."

"They don't seem interested in the things they used to love."

These conversations stay with me because they point towards something worth paying attention to. They make me wonder whether we've been asking the wrong questions.

We've become very good at asking,

"How much screen time?" Perhaps we also need to ask, "What kind of thinking is this environment encouraging?" Those are very different questions.

One measures time. The other explores development which is what we are about at Master Crafters Network Hub - development has always interested us more than compliance.

That's why we recently launched The Algorithmic Childhood Initiative.

Not because we believe we have all the answers. Quite the opposite.

We believe we're only just beginning to understand what it means to grow up in an age where attention has become one of the world's most valuable commodities.

Before we rush to solutions, we need something we as a society have become surprisingly uncomfortable with.

Listening.

Listening to parents.

Listening to teachers.

Listening to young people.

Listening without judgement.

Listening before assumption and that's the purpose of this initiative, the best ideas rarely begin with certainty. They begin with curiosity. We lead with what we aim to teach your children with our non-traditional tuition and experiential learning days.

If there's one thing I'd love every parent to take away from this article, it's this:

1. You don't need to become an expert in algorithms.

2. You don't need to understand artificial intelligence.

3. You don't need to monitor every app your child uses.

   
   

But perhaps we can all become a little more curious.

Curious about what captures our children's attention.

Curious about the conversations they're having online.

Curious about how they're learning to decide what is true.

Curious enough to ask one more question at the dinner table