Watching a Kid Dissolve Into The Abyss

Proudly written by Callan Hansen

03/07/2025

The other day I watched in horror as a kid faded in front of me. Eyes locked to a screen, scrolling like a machine, bouncing like something possessed. He wasn't playing. He wasn't talking. He wasn't even here. Just gone. Lost in the algorithm. Fully absorbed in some synthetic dopamine loop that replaced actual presence.

This is what we've done to children. We've numbed them before they ever had a chance to feel. And the worst part is, no one gives a shit because it's easier this way. It's easier to hand them a device than to raise them with awareness. Easier to give them comfort than to guide them through discomfort. Easier to suppress emotion than to sit with it. Easier to silence the child than to face yourself.

You don't want to deal with tantrums. You don't want to deal with boredom. You'd rather avoid it all. And then you justify it with ego-driven bullshit like “this is just how kids are now.” or "blame his dad" No, it's not. This is how disconnection looks when it becomes normal. This is what happens when ego and convenience take the wheel.

I'm not saying this to shame parents. I get how hard it is. I just wish we weren't sleepwalking into this kind of disconnection.

I called it out, asked why a kid needs 24/7 access to a device, and I was told to stop being a dick. She said, "Just mind your own business, he's not your kid." Because how dare I question the system that keeps you comfortable. How dare I poke at the thing you use to avoid your own reality.

But that's all this is. Avoidance. Addiction to distraction. You can't sit still. You can't look at your own reflection. You can't handle silence. So you numb your kids with the same shit that's numbing you.

This is why people fear psychedelics, because they strip all of that away. They force you to face what you've spent your whole life avoiding. They rip down the filters, your ego, your illusion of control, the stories we tell ourselves everyday. And most people would rather live in a comfortable lie than to feel what's actually real. That's the real sickness. Not the phone itself, but what it represents. A world so disconnected from its own spirit that even children are being conditioned to escape themselves.

You can call me a dick all you want. I'll keep speaking the truth. Because someone has to. It's a devastating realization, really. But there's nothing we can do but watch them completely dissociate. "this is just the way the world works". I'll do everything to make sure this doesn't happen to my future children.