As a mom of four—ages 11, 13, 19, and 31—I’ve watched the evolution of parenting shift dramatically over the decades. When my oldest was growing up, the internet was just beginning to shape our lives. Social media wasn’t even a phrase we used. But now, with my youngest two right in the thick of it, I’m raising kids in a world where being a YouTuber is considered a legitimate career goal. And not just legitimate—lucrative, high-status, and, for many kids, aspirational.

It’s not hard to see why. Today’s youth are growing up watching people their age (or younger!) earn millions of dollars by dancing, unboxing toys, doing makeup, or just filming their daily lives. Social media influencers are the new celebrities, and many of them are children. They get brand deals, fans, free products, and a lifestyle most adults can’t dream of. But the cost? That’s something we, as parents, need to look at—really look at.

I recently watched the new Netflix documentary Bad Influence with my 13-year-old. I wasn’t sure how he would take it. The film dives deep into the dark, unspoken corners of the influencer world—specifically the world of kidfluencers. It exposes how some children are being sexualized, exploited, and pushed into online fame before they’re even old enough to understand what consent means. It highlights how predators can access videos and photos of these children far too easily. And it doesn’t shy away from the unsettling truth that some of the most dangerous exploitation is happening at the hands of the people these children trust most—their own parents.

Watching it together was devastating. My son was disturbed and quite frankly, stunned. He asked, “How can parents do that to their own kids?” That question sparked one of the hardest conversations we’ve ever had. We talked about sexual abuse. We talked about trust. We talked about what’s safe to share online—and what isn’t. We talked about how some parents are not protecting their kids, and instead, are using them to chase fame and money.

Cases like Ruby Franke and the mother of Piper Rockelle show us just how far some parents will go. Franke, a former “momfluencer,” is now serving jail time for abusing and exploiting her children off-camera while earning likes and monetizing them online. Piper Rockelle’s mother was sued and settled for seven figures with former friends, parents of her daughter’s child collaborators ;The Squad’,  who raised serious red flags about the environment these children are being raised in from unpaid labour, lack or fair treatment and verbal and sexual abuse—all under the guise of content creation.

The truth is, laws haven’t caught up. Platforms profit from this content so asking them to police what makes them money is absurd. Views equal dollars, and there’s very little oversight or protection for the children whose faces and lives are being monetized. These are real kids. These are our kids. When adults are using filters, showing too much skin or filming themselves doing humiliating tasks all for likes, shares and a taste of fame, when adults are being seduced by the social media influencer life, how can we expect our kids to know better?

As parents, we cannot afford to be passive. We can’t rely on YouTube, TikTok, or Instagram to do the parenting for us. We cannot pretend that this is “just the way the world is now” and wash our hands of responsibility. The online world is here to stay—but so are we. We need to show up. We need to be involved.

That means watching what our kids are watching. Setting boundaries. Saying no, even when it’s hard or unpopular. Most importantly, it means having hard, honest conversations—about safety, about exploitation, about mental health, and about the reality behind the perfect filters and curated feeds.

My 13-year-old won’t forget Bad Influence. Neither will I. It gave us both a window into a world that, while seductive and shiny on the outside, is often disturbing and damaging underneath. Watching it together was a wake-up call—not just for him, but for me too.

We owe it to our children to stay informed, to stay engaged, and to protect them—not just from strangers online, but from the systems, and yes, even the parents, who would harm them in the name of likes and views.

Hard conversations are never easy. But they’re the ones that matter most.

~Michelle Budiwski

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