THE MACSPARKY DISPATCH

Hi Friend,

I recently saw the new Toy Story 5 movie, and I want to suggest you consider seeing it with any kids in your life. Let me explain.

I'll keep the spoilers light, because you should see it. The setup is that a kid gets a new device, and that device becomes the thing the whole story turns on. The movie portrays technology with a subtlety I wasn't expecting. By the end, the device isn't the villain. It has a place. It just has limits, and the story is honest about both.

We spend a lot of energy worrying about screens and our kids, and most of that worry is fair. But the goal was never zero technology. The goal is a kid who can handle it. The device in the movie isn't good or bad. It's a tool the kid has to learn to live with, which is the same job sitting in front of the rest of us.

So if you've got a kid in your life, this movie is a gift. It hands you a way to talk about all of this without turning it into a lecture. You watched the same story in the same room. You can ask what they thought, and you're already having the conversation you've been meaning to have.

As parents, our job is to get a kid ready for the world. (The toys conclude they have the same job.) You love them, and you show up, and if you do it right, you slowly make yourself unnecessary. When it comes to finding balance with technology, the kids need help from the grown-ups right now.

Your pal,
David
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This week’s newsletter is sponsored by Shortform.

Today’s issue was about kids and the tech they’re growing up with, and it turns out some very smart people have written whole books on exactly that. Shortform has guides for most of them, so you can get the argument in about fifteen minutes instead of a weekend.

A few I’d start with.

​The Anxious Generation, by Jonathan Haidt, is the one everyone’s arguing about right now. It makes the case that kids’ mental health fell off a cliff when the smartphone showed up, and the charts are hard to unsee.

​How to Raise an Adult, by Julie Lythcott-Haims, is the one that stuck with me. The whole job was always to work yourself out of a job.

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