Author: James Chin
At first, I was on board.
Tung tung sahur and ballerina cappucina were fun and cute. However, the onslaught of random fake Italian words mashed together to create characters was too much to keep track of.
While talking to a student aged around 9 or 10, I distinctly remember every word coming out of that child’s mouth to be a phrase of brain rot. When it is to that extent, all I can think is that the brain rot has infected the child’s mind in irreparable ways. That degree and magnitude of brain rot is simply astonishing.
In my era of youth, we also had brain rot. But I could only access brainrot at age 14+, not the formative early years of my life, and even at that time, I can not remember an instance where brain rot consumed me to that point.
I constantly see children aged 6 or 7 holding iPads watching YouTube shorts, and they’re called “iPad kids” for a reason. The advent of short form content and it being packaged in the form of Italian brainrot characters performing skits for toddlers is mind boggling to me, someone who grew up on TV with PBS Kids.
If you are a parent, I would honestly strongly advise against giving your young children the access to a device that has nonstop short form content pouring into their brains. As someone who grew up with PBS kids, I would definitely strongly recommend this TV channel for you to show to your children. Instead of brainrot being packaged into content, it’s fun and educational TV show episodes that gives your child a love of learning from an early age.
Finally, I believe that exposing children to AI art from a young age is damaging, and creates a condoning of AI to enter artistic and creative spaces in our upcoming generations.
The Megaphone 