Diogenes Club | E29 - Parent Talk on Bullying and AI with Ashleigh

Diogenes in ReviewWith Dr. Eric Lullove sidelined by a hearing, Nick Paro handed the second chair to Ashleigh Alauren for an hour on the thing neither of them has solved: raising kids inside AI and online bullying. Nick talks about family pulling Roblox off both kids’ devices — his are 13 and 10 — because the platform has repeatedly been used to lure children, and because its open world-builder lets users push white nationalist content and subtle grooming with almost no monitoring. He and his wife told the kids why, rather than just deleting the app. Ashleigh, whose daughter is starting fifth grade and whose son is on the spectrum, came in from the opposite position: chats off, tablets allowed, and an honest admission that she didn’t know Roblox was that bad. That asymmetry is the engine for the discussion — one parent who has done the research, one who is asking the questions most parents are too busy to ask.Both hosts hold what Nick calls “dueling views” on AI, and neither pretends otherwise. Ashleigh uses it to while researching the Epstein Files to map financial records and assemble fraud timelines she has submitted to Senator Wyden’s office; she also describes the same capability pointed the other way, at people who can be targeted by anyone willing to ask the machine. Nick’s framing is the tool argument — a hammer drives nails and has also been used to kill, and we don’t call it a murder weapon — which puts the burden on the user and, for children, on the parent setting the guardrails. He says his daughter uses a creativity-focused chatbot and that she has told him it sometimes steers more explicit than she is comfortable with; the point he draws is not that she should lose the app but that she told him at all, because the family built the trust for it. Nick’s sharpest line lands on training: “AI is like a toddler with access to all the information in the world. And if we don’t take the time to train it and teach it like we would a child, it’s going to turn out to be an asshole.” His conclusion follows directly — don’t bully the AI, because that behavior bleeds back into the model, and into your kids’ assistant. The two of them go looking for a parent resource that ranks platforms by safety, find that neither knows of one, and openly ask the audience to help build it. That gap is the honest takeaway of the episode, and it is left standing.“But my job isn’t to be your friend right now. It’s to make sure that you can go out into the world and not be a complete asshole.” — Nick ParoNick’s practical throughline is boundaries you model rather than announce. He takes “anything but yes means no” out of the physical-consent context and applies it to toys, food, and screen time, and he stops tickling his son at the parts of the body his son has ruled off-limits — a small demonstration that a stated boundary gets honored. Consequences are natural, not arbitrary: miss the bus, and the consequence is an alarm and a ride, not a confiscated tablet. He and his wife also refuse to let their older child be adultized into a caregiver role for her brother, a pressure Ashleigh describes her own daughter carrying at another household. Leilani, in the chat, supplied the compression: children want healthy boundaries, and so do adults. Nick also checks himself on “touch grass” — he names it as ableist, since for some people online community is the social interaction available, and he credits Substack with some of his closest friendships. The episode closes on two instructions worth keeping: Ashleigh’s borrowed Ted Lasso rule to be more curious and less judgmental before you join a pile-on, and Nick’s blunt version of the same advice — talk to your kids, treat them like people, and just suck less.Actions You Can TakeGet your Sick of this Shit merch!* Check out the Sick of this Shop!Join the efforts to unmask law enforcement and de-flock the States:* deflock.meService members can get un-biased information on legal vs illegal orders:* Orders Project* Reach out on Signal: @TheOrdersProject.76Learn empathy forward, human centered, experiment based Leadership & Growth Courses for Higher Ed & Non-Profit Professionals:* B. Cognition LabsNick’s NotesI’m Nick Paro, and I’m sick of the shit going on. So, I’m using poetry, podcasting, and lives to discuss the intersections of chronic illness and mental wellbeing, masculinity, veteran’s issues, politics, and so much more. I am only able to have these conversations, bring visibility to my communities, and fill the void through your support — this is a publication where engagement is encouraged, creativity is a cornerstone, and transparency is key — please consider becoming a paid subscriber today and grow the community!Join the uncensored media at the 1A CollectiveSupport as a paid subscriber however you can — to help get you started, here are a few discounted options for you* Forever at 50% off* Forever at 60% offFor support, contact us at: [email protected] you Stacey carney, Bluesin’ Bob, Leilani, StandUp12, kathiallyson, and many others for tuning into my live video with Ashleigh Alauren! Join me for my next live video in the app. This is a public episode. 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