Netflix’s wildly popular preschool series CoComelon may be doing far more than teaching letters and numbers—it might be rewiring young minds in dangerous ways. That’s the chilling warning from Clare Morell, a fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center, who joined Allie Beth Stuckey on BlazeTV’s Relatable to break down what’s really happening behind the screen.
CoComelon, with its sing-song nursery rhymes and bright animations, is marketed as a tool to promote kindness, sharing, and learning. But according to Morell, its creators have engineered the show to be neurologically addictive. Drawing from a New York Times exposé, Morell explains how the show’s developers use lab testing with toddlers to identify moments of boredom—then turbocharge them with louder music, brighter colors, and faster pacing to keep kids hooked.
“They’re literally testing episodes on kids and when the kids look away, they go back and add more flashing colors and music,” Morell said. “It’s immersive by design—and intentionally addictive.”
The process involves a disturbing apparatus called the “Distractatron,” where researchers show side-by-side screens: one with CoComelon, the other with boring real-life scenes like a mom cooking dinner. Whenever children divert their attention from the animated content to the mundane footage, developers identify that exact timestamp and alter the episode to reclaim the child’s gaze.
This Frankenstein-style media design, Morell argues, overstimulates young nervous systems during crucial developmental windows. While many parents lean on digital content for a moment of peace or meal prep time, she warns that the long-term consequences are anything but harmless.
“The developing brain in those early years is incredibly sensitive,” Morell said. “And screens are so stimulating, they rob children of essential skills like emotional regulation. Instead of learning to tolerate frustration or develop patience, they just become dependent on the screen to soothe them.”
Worse yet, she says the conventional wisdom of imposing screen time limits doesn’t solve the problem. “Even if the screen time is short, it’s still habit-forming,” Morell explained. “Devices are designed to trigger dopamine release. Kids don’t stop thinking about them once the screen turns off. Their brains keep craving the stimulation.”
Morell argues that most children—even toddlers—are already displaying signs of digital addiction. And while parents may think a show like CoComelon is relatively safe, the way it’s produced makes it more like junk food for the brain: flashy, fast, and formulated to override the child’s natural sense of curiosity and calm.
The broader takeaway, she says, isn’t just about CoComelon. It’s about digital media as a whole, especially when it comes to young children whose self-regulation skills are still forming. “Screens don’t teach calm,” Morell said. “They suppress natural development and dysregulate behavior.”
For parents wondering what content is safe, Morell’s answer may come as a surprise: “None.” Her advice is to take a screen-free approach in the early years and focus on building real-world experiences that help children develop essential cognitive and emotional skills.
“The most important thing a parent can do,” she said, “is protect those early years from screens entirely. Because the damage they can cause is often invisible—until it’s too late.”
To hear the full conversation, including Morell’s advice for teenagers struggling with tech overuse, Allie Beth Stuckey’s episode is available now on BlazeTV.
