What 'Toy Story 5' gets right about kids, screens, and the fight over technology
“Toy Story 5” is not just about toys. It is how technology and screens are permanently shaping our kids, their childhood, and our future for better or worse.
The film’s toys-versus-tech storyline should make parents uncomfortable enough to think long and hard about screen time, AI, cyberbullying and the example we are setting at home.
I remember the first time my son and daughter watched “Toy Story.” I remember the way the toys sparked an imagination that could turn a bedroom floor into an entire world. Now I think about that story through my granddaughters’ eyes, and how “Toy Story 5” feels different. The premise of the movie is that the toys now face Lilypad, a tablet that challenges playtime in Bonnie’s room. The studio called it “Toy meets Tech,” and every parent knows exactly what that means.
Technology is not evil by itself. Odds are you are reading this on your phone, tablet or computer. We know the benefits of screens and technology. They can help kids learn, create and connect in positive ways. But you cannot hand kids a device, walk away and act like nothing is happening to their attention, emotions, friendships or ability to be quiet.
The numbers should get our attention. A 2025 Common Sense Media report found that children ages 0 to 8 spend about two and a half hours a day with screens, and nearly half have watched short-form videos like TikToks, Reels or YouTube Shorts. Common Sense also reported that tweens average more than five hours a day of entertainment screen media, while teens average more than eight hours, not counting schoolwork. Jonathan Haidt warned about this in The Anxious Generation, where he described how childhood has shifted from a play-based childhood to a phone-based childhood, and the results are devastating for our kids.
I regularly hear from parents and families who are worried about what screens are doing to their kids, and I believe them. But we also have to be honest about what our kids see us doing. We tell them to get off their devices while we constantly check ours and keep them at arm’s length. We complain that they are not listening while our eyes are locked on a phone, TV, or digital device. Sometimes we get irritated when they interrupt our scrolling, as if their need for us is the interruption and the phone is where our attention belongs.
Think about the last time you ate a meal or spent time together with loved ones or friends without someone checking their phone. It hits home. Your children learn from the rules you set, and, more importantly, they learn from the life you model before them. If they see you run to a screen every time you are bored, tired or stressed, they will learn that screens deserve our constant attention. Before you ask them to put the phone down, have the humility to put yours down first.
This is more complex than just limiting usage or complaining about cartoons, gaming or YouTube. You are now trying to guide your children through emerging AI, chatbots, filters, algorithms, feeds, group chats and online cruelty that does not stop when the school day ends. A child can walk through the front door, close the bedroom door and still feel the pressure of what was posted or shared online.
Another 2025 Common Sense Media survey found that 72% of U.S. teens have used AI companions, and 34% of teen users said something an AI companion said or did made them uncomfortable. Behind those numbers are real kids who may be lonely, anxious, embarrassed or hurting, and many are trying to process it without an adult close enough to know what is going on.
Your child needs and deserves something more than access to an entire world they don’t and shouldn’t understand yet. Your child needs the loving attachment, guidance, correction, protection and presence of a parent who notices when something feels off. Parents often feel this deeply because our kids are entrusted to us by God to be stewarded, not handed over to whatever device or algorithm can hold their attention the longest.
This is a reminder not to panic or parent out of fear, but also not to drift. You can start with a few simple steps: be careful with access to AI, put fair and manageable limits around social media, and ask what your kids are watching and who they are talking to online. Being present is the best gift you can give them. To step into a child’s world means taking the time to understand it, not from a distance, but with a willingness to listen and an attempt to understand.
Pay attention to what their mood is like during, or how it changes after they come off a screen. Offer to replace screen time with something better for the whole family: dinner together, time outside, worship, laughter, chores, prayer, meaningful conversation and ordinary moments where your child knows you really are there.
“Toy Story 5” may be about toys versus tech, but the real battle is bigger. The question is not whether your kids will use technology. They will. The question is whether technology will use them.
Mom and Dad, step up to the plate. Take back the room and help your child remember that no screen can replace being seen, known and loved.
Tim Clinton, Ed.D., LPC, LMFT, is president of the American Association of Christian Counselors (AACC), Executive Director of the Global Center for Human Flourishing, Professor Emeritus at Liberty University, Founder of Light University, and president of Light Counseling. A licensed counselor and marriage and family therapist, he is a world leader on mental health, relationships, Christian leadership, and professional athletes. He hosts “Life, Love, Faith, & Family” with Dr. Zach Clinton, previously co-hosted Dr. James Dobson’s Family Talk, hosts “Sunday the Road Forward,” and has authored or edited over 30 books.
