Letter to Gopnik

Prompt

Write a letter (\(\frac{1}{2}\) DS page minimum) to Alison Gopnik in the voice of Mark Bauerlein. Being careful to keep the tone respectful, explain specifically what aspects of her article you – as Bauerlein – disagree with, and why. Be sure to match Bauerlein's style, word choice, and voice as you write.

Response

Dear Mrs. Gopnik,

In your article, “Is ‘Screen Time’ Dangerous for Children?”, which I read on the *New Yorker* magazine, I enjoyed reading about your grandson and his curiosity towards bees. I understand and respect your stance on screen time for children, but I would like to share my thoughts on some of the conclusions that were drawn from that anecdote. While the internet has massive amounts of knowledge that can be gained - it becomes especially simple for anyone, especially children, to become victim gravitate towards content that offers little to no value and is purely for entertainment purposes. Take the rise of short-scrollable videos: YouTube Shorts, Instagram Reels, TikTok - often times these videos offer minimal value to put towards cultivating one’s knowledge. Additionally, when comparing your own childhood’s obsession with reading books, there is a fundamental difference with how these books are recommended to you. With the rise of machine learning, artificial intelligence, and data science, it becomes much easier for our future generations minds to become consumed by these services - these sites only seek keep their audience retention as high as possible. Therefore, it becomes clear that there should be more caution when introducing content towards children.

Best Regards,

Mark Bauerlein