I am a parent of two young children. Like many families, they live with a quiet fear that has become a part of everyday life. We are raising our children in a digital world that did not exist when we were young. Screens promise connection, learning and fun. What they often offer in return is isolation, risk and exploitation.
As parents, we tell ourselves that supervision and honest conversations are enough. I no longer believe that honest conversations can compete with systems supported by billions of dollars and designed to capture attention. Hailey Buzbee’s death made it clear that parenting today is nothing like parenting in the 1990s.
Hailey Buzbee, 17, is believed to have left her Enclave home in the Vermillion neighborhood in the early hours of January 6, 2026.
My children are 7 and 9 years old. They are still sitting next to me on the sofa. They ask for help with passwords. They show me the games they like. Even now, they can see how quickly their digital world is growing beyond what they can see or fully control. What feels innocent today won’t stay that way. Early access becomes early exposure long before children can recognize danger.
Hailey was a 17-year-old junior at Hamilton Southeastern High School in Fishers. Authorities said she was contacted online by an elderly adult prior to her disappearance. That contact began in digital spaces designed for private and seamless interaction. These spaces allow adults and minors to connect anonymously and at scale.
Tech companies built the playground
Meta rules this digital landscape. Through Instagram and Facebook, it has aggressively targeted young users and teenagers, integrating social validation, private messaging and constant engagement into everyday life.
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Gaming networks operated by Microsoft, Sony, Nintendo and Epic Games are expanding into social gaming. Discord normalizes private conversations beyond adult view. Google’s YouTube shapes attention and behavior at scale. Roblox invites kids into immersive worlds built around interaction and spending.
Indianapolis FBI Special Agent in Charge Tim O’Malley (right) listens as Fishers Police Chief Ed Gebhart speaks during a news conference about Hailey Buzbee, Sunday, Feb. 1, 2026, in Fishers. Officials believe Buzbee, a 17-year-old student at Hamilton Southeastern High School, left her home in the early hours of Jan. 6. Officials now believe Buzbee is dead.
These companies have designed environments where children gather, communicate and trust. They have built a modern digital playground where engagement often trumps safety by design.
Algorithms reward time spent. Recommender systems suggest connections. Private messaging breaks down barriers. Voice chat creates familiarity. These characteristics pose a particular risk to adolescents who are still developing judgment and impulse control.
When systems make it easy for adults to form covert relationships with minors, evil becomes predictable.
Parents remain in competition with trillion-dollar companies whose profits depend on keeping children engaged and accessible. Families are told to monitor devices and set limits. No parent can compete with always-on algorithms, cross-state coverage, or digital trails that disappear faster than the local police can respond. Parents are expected to protect children who are still learning what trust even means.
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Public health teaches that foreseeable risk requires prevention. Seat belts exist because vehicles create a foreseeable hazard. The same principle applies to digital environments that expose children to adults at scale.
Hailey’s Law offers a way forward
Online care now takes place in game lobbies, private messages and voice channels. Exceeds state boundaries and delays response. Parents bear the brunt. Public systems are struggling to keep up. Missing teenagers are often labeled as runaways in the early hours.
Alert systems do not always reflect digital risk. Platforms point to reporting tools and terms and conditions as safeguards, even though these measures only respond after harm has already occurred.
Tim O’Malley, special agent in charge of the FBI’s Indianapolis office, speaks during a news conference about Hailey Buzbee, Sunday, Feb. 1, 2026, in Fishers. Officials believe Buzbee, a 17-year-old student at Hamilton Southeastern High School, left her home in the early hours of Jan. 6. Officials now believe Buzbee is dead.
Hailey’s family and this community are responding with intention. Pink ribbons appeared in Fishers. Thousands of people have signed a petition supporting Hailey’s Law. The proposal calls for a pink alert when online grooming or suspicious digital contact is suspected. It also calls for annual education in Indiana schools about online predators, grooming tactics and digital safety.
Her death demands that we confront the systems that shaped her vulnerability. High technology didn’t kill Hailey, but it helped create an environment where tragedies like this became easier.
I am writing this as a concerned parent and I know I am not alone. Our children deserve better.
Dr. Raja Ramaswamy is an Indianapolis physician and author of “You Are the New Prescription.”
This article originally appeared on the Indianapolis Star: Raising children in a digital world designed for profit | Opinion