Toronto Star
Left To Their Own Devices
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We gave children the most powerful tools in human history. Then, we left them to their own devices. When she was 12 years old, Ava Smithing spiraled down a social media rabbit hole that nearly cost her life. A decade later, she discovered she wasn’t alone: Big Tech had rewritten childhood and adolescence for her entire generation. Armed with questions and a year to find answers, Ava embarked on a cross-continent investigation into a hidden digital world. She met teens in 12-step programs for social media addiction, young girls wrestling with compulsive porn use, and boys who had been blackmailed by international cybercriminals. This isn’t a self-help guide to digital wellness. It’s a survival story from the front lines of 21st century childhood: where young people are re-writing the playbook for what it means to be human in a hyperconnected world.
2025
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