Giving young children screens all the time

[Anonymous]

We know a family whose child is constantly wanting an iPad, tv, video game, iPhone. The kid can’t eat without watching a video. As soon as we sit down, the kid says he is bored and is asking for a screen. When they have play dates, kids all play on their iPads. When we go to their home, my child is the only one not on a screen. Kids are age 8. My kid is age 9.

Is this just lazy parenting to just allow kids to be on screens all the time???

[Anonymous]

I grew up watching TV all the time in the late 90s - early 2000s and I turned out fine as an adult.

[Anonymous]

OP why are you pretending to ask a question at the end of your post.

[Anonymous]

8- and 9-year-olds are definitely capable of entertaining themselves without constant parental involvement, so that alone doesn’t equal lazy parenting. The bigger issue is that, like adults, kids today are addicted to screens. It’s just become the norm—given the choice, most kids will pick an iPad over a book or playing outside. That’s simply the reality now.

[Anonymous]

No bueno, why do parents do this? My kids once had a play date with the kids of an acquaintance and the mother plopped tablets in front of her kids at a restaurant table and my kids were expecting to have conversation. It was the ditziest thing I have ever seen in my life, it’s almost like she felt superior that she had tech for her kids and my kids didn’t. There are potential friends for your kid that can detach from devices and engage. You or child will find them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I grew up watching TV all the time in the late 90s - early 2000s and I turned out fine as an adult.

Not the same. At all.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:No bueno, why do parents do this? My kids once had a play date with the kids of an acquaintance and the mother plopped tablets in front of her kids at a restaurant table and my kids were expecting to have conversation. It was the ditziest thing I have ever seen in my life, it’s almost like she felt superior that she had tech for her kids and my kids didn’t. There are potential friends for your kid that can detach from devices and engage. You or child will find them.

There are families that think that the tech is good for kids. I honestly can't blame them that much given the example our school systems are setting and the lack of meaningful regulation of tech companies. These devices are intentionally made to be addictive. Yeah I wish more parents were cognizant of the harms of making screens available constantly, but I think there are systemic societal forces that are driving this and chastising individual parents is not going to move the needle.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I grew up watching TV all the time in the late 90s - early 2000s and I turned out fine as an adult.

Not the same. At all.

+1 agree

I watched too much tv and still do. But when screens are available in every setting, not just a couple of rooms in your house, it really impacts social interactions quite dramatically.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We know a family whose child is constantly wanting an iPad, tv, video game, iPhone. The kid can’t eat without watching a video. As soon as we sit down, the kid says he is bored and is asking for a screen. When they have play dates, kids all play on their iPads. When we go to their home, my child is the only one not on a screen. Kids are age 8. My kid is age 9.

Is this just lazy parenting to just allow kids to be on screens all the time???

Do you need a 🍪 for your awesome parenting skills

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No bueno, why do parents do this? My kids once had a play date with the kids of an acquaintance and the mother plopped tablets in front of her kids at a restaurant table and my kids were expecting to have conversation. It was the ditziest thing I have ever seen in my life, it’s almost like she felt superior that she had tech for her kids and my kids didn’t. There are potential friends for your kid that can detach from devices and engage. You or child will find them.

There are families that think that the tech is good for kids. I honestly can't blame them that much given the example our school systems are setting and the lack of meaningful regulation of tech companies. These devices are intentionally made to be addictive. Yeah I wish more parents were cognizant of the harms of making screens available constantly, but I think there are systemic societal forces that are driving this and chastising individual parents is not going to move the needle.

Those kids are going to be so prepared for the 21st century, though!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No bueno, why do parents do this? My kids once had a play date with the kids of an acquaintance and the mother plopped tablets in front of her kids at a restaurant table and my kids were expecting to have conversation. It was the ditziest thing I have ever seen in my life, it’s almost like she felt superior that she had tech for her kids and my kids didn’t. There are potential friends for your kid that can detach from devices and engage. You or child will find them.

There are families that think that the tech is good for kids. I honestly can't blame them that much given the example our school systems are setting and the lack of meaningful regulation of tech companies. These devices are intentionally made to be addictive. Yeah I wish more parents were cognizant of the harms of making screens available constantly, but I think there are systemic societal forces that are driving this and chastising individual parents is not going to move the needle.

Those kids are going to be so prepared for the 21st century, though!

Honestly, though, I don't see a widespread revolt against devices happening. I'd bet we ultimately see some reduction in usage in the schools, but the majority of kids will probably still have their own phones and the level of social media/tech use will remain high. There will be some families (like mine) that opt out and send our kids to (mostly very conservative) private/religious schools with zero EdTech and a no-phones-and-social-media pledge. But that'll probably be a small minority on the left and right ideological fringes where it's easier to find groups of parents that are willing to make the collective commitment to swim against the tide (I'm not saying that there aren't moderate parents who also object to the level of social media/tech use, but I think it's harder to unify all the parents in a school against tech use--including at home--unless you've got a pretty strong shared ideology that unites the community).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No bueno, why do parents do this? My kids once had a play date with the kids of an acquaintance and the mother plopped tablets in front of her kids at a restaurant table and my kids were expecting to have conversation. It was the ditziest thing I have ever seen in my life, it’s almost like she felt superior that she had tech for her kids and my kids didn’t. There are potential friends for your kid that can detach from devices and engage. You or child will find them.

There are families that think that the tech is good for kids. I honestly can't blame them that much given the example our school systems are setting and the lack of meaningful regulation of tech companies. These devices are intentionally made to be addictive. Yeah I wish more parents were cognizant of the harms of making screens available constantly, but I think there are systemic societal forces that are driving this and chastising individual parents is not going to move the needle.

Those kids are going to be so prepared for the 21st century, though!

Almost all data shows that they arent prepared and struggle to be employed (regardless of the macro economics occurring globally). Anxiety, depression, addiction etc. Inability to converse. Now with the inclusion of AI, I am just flabbergasted at how intrusive it is and how most people are just like ItS GReat with their blue-tinged faces.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I grew up watching TV all the time in the late 90s - early 2000s and I turned out fine as an adult.

I watched a lot of TV too but we went out to restaurants and didnt' have screens. The screens didn't move.

[Anonymous]

Of course it's not great parenting, but it's also hard to fight that tide. We did no screens before 3 for my oldest, but then she got to school and it was screens screens screens!

My oldest we gave an etch a sketch as her "tablet" and it worked a charm, she didn't even realize that other kids' tablets were something different. My youngest knows wtf a tablet is and has a keen sense that he's being disenfranchised with the etch a sketch while big sis gets moving pictures.

And then there are 7 year olds bringing iPhones to 1st grade so my oldest, who I think gets PLENTY of screen time between school and weekends, thinks she's being raised in a gulag because she doesn't have a phone and has to have approval to touch her tablet.

Just do the best you can for your own kids and keep pushing.

[Anonymous]

You are clearly a troll, but yes, absolutely lazy parenting. My kids don't have their own iPads. They share a family iPad and they can really only use it on weekends. They do watch 30 or so minutes of TV every day and my older child is constantly on their laptop doing schoolwork, but most of the time they read books, make art, play games, and go outside.