Do parents realize they are rotting their own and their children’s minds with screens?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I agree with the OP and think this is a huge, societal problem. And the defensiveness on this thread is huge and telling. Unfortunately, there are no easy solutions. Raising kids and teaching kids are both incredibly hard. Screens can provide some relief. So this needs to be a bigger solution than just “do better.”

Personally, I struggle with this immensely. I’m doing okay with my kids so far (they’re in preschool, which makes it easier): screens on long plane or train rides, screens when they’re sick, and if we’re in a social situation at another family’s house and they turn on the TV, we don’t love it but whatever. Plus I know they get some screens at school. But beyond that, there’s no screens at home. So they routinely go weeks with zero screens on our watch. But I really struggle with screen time for myself. It’s just SO easy to pull your phone out when you have some downtime. It’s such a time waster, it’s bad for my attention and my mental health. I’ve recently installed the app “Opal” which blocks most apps and all websites on my phone after a cumulative hour of use each day. That’s helping, I’d recommend it for other folks who struggle with this.

Societal wide, I’d like to see:

-Way less screens in school. Get the smart boards out of preschool classrooms! No videos for recess when it’s raining - just let the kids play inside.

-More support for parents generally. Our society sucks at this. The more we can support families with paid leave, flexible work schedules, free PK, etc, the easier it is for parents and the less they’ll need to rely on screens.

-More tolerance in public spaces for kids. Sometimes kids cry, tantrum, misbehave, are loud. If this is “unacceptable” then the only answer is screens. My kids are very well behaved. But - sometimes these things happen, it’s part of learning. I address it immediately, but it’s still part of life.

-More acceptance of very small physical risks to kids. What does that mean? More independence. Kids walking to the park and playing unsupervised at younger ages. Kids taking public transit by themselves. Kids bike riding to each other’s houses. Kids using real saws and hammers to build stuff. Kids going to the store themselves. These risks are comically small, and yet we are scared so we limit them, and that leads to more nice, “safe,” screen time inside.

I’d be interested in other ideas from folks, particularly from parents of older kids.

Your attitude is an even bigger societal problem: “I have a very strong opinion on a topic about which I know absolutely nothing, and I feel the need to broadcast that ill-informed opinion to the entire world.”

DP. Everyone can, and should, have an opinion about children, who are our children's peers and our future.

Phone zombies and blob children who cannot interact socially or read (https://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/1253729.page and https://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/1246273.page) are an issue for all of us, even parents of preschool kids.

Come back and give us your deep thoughts on mitigating screen use in the 21st century when you have middle and high school aged kids.

Until then, keep your opinions to yourself. And maybe model good behavior and get off your own damn phone.

I agree with them and I have multiple kids, including one in high school and one in college. You aren’t the moderator, so zip it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kid gets more screen time than I anticipated pre-kids. However, he also started reading at 3, adds, subtracts, and multiplies at 5. We monitor what he watches and spend lots of daily one-on-one time; travel often; and enroll him in activities and experiences. All of this to say, balance and spending time with a kid helps, but there is no clear cut way to parent. Do as you see fit with your child. It’s not one size fits all.

Reading early is not an indicator of good parenting. It's just your kid's brain (and you may want to watch out for reading deficits as kids that learn to read early are often memorizing whole words instead of sounding out letters)

They aren’t memorizing. There’s a name for it and it involves being on the spectrum. I wrote before that my niece could read at age 3 and I mean she could read anything. Complete news articles with words she had never seen before so no memorizing. If the three year old is reading Dr Seuss books or something similar that would be memorizing.

There was no need for her to be taught phonics or anything and eventually the other kids caught up. It has nothing to do with screens.

[Anonymous]

Screens definitely can be very problematic and addictive. But please just understand that all kids are different and some kids will not just play by themselves or sit still for long periods of time.

You don’t have my kids and my life and don’t know the particular reasons we may or may not be on screens at a given time.

You are free to judge because that’s your prerogative and also because I don’t think most people care what you think of them. But it would be kinder of you to remember that you haven’t walked in the shoes of the people you are judging.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Screens definitely can be very problematic and addictive. But please just understand that all kids are different and some kids will not just play by themselves or sit still for long periods of time.

You don’t have my kids and my life and don’t know the particular reasons we may or may not be on screens at a given time.

You are free to judge because that’s your prerogative and also because I don’t think most people care what you think of them. But it would be kinder of you to remember that you haven’t walked in the shoes of the people you are judging.

That describes most kids and in extreme form describes a few kids, including mine (really, I know what you are living because I live it too). Phones are not the solution. They just aren't. It looks good in the moment but you already know that they make things worse soon after the moment - and long-term, they make things much worse.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kid gets more screen time than I anticipated pre-kids. However, he also started reading at 3, adds, subtracts, and multiplies at 5. We monitor what he watches and spend lots of daily one-on-one time; travel often; and enroll him in activities and experiences. All of this to say, balance and spending time with a kid helps, but there is no clear cut way to parent. Do as you see fit with your child. It’s not one size fits all.

Reading early is not an indicator of good parenting. It's just your kid's brain (and you may want to watch out for reading deficits as kids that learn to read early are often memorizing whole words instead of sounding out letters)

They aren’t memorizing. There’s a name for it and it involves being on the spectrum. I wrote before that my niece could read at age 3 and I mean she could read anything. Complete news articles with words she had never seen before so no memorizing. If the three year old is reading Dr Seuss books or something similar that would be memorizing.

There was no need for her to be taught phonics or anything and eventually the other kids caught up. It has nothing to do with screens.

Some are. My friend is brilliant and tells me she has trouble reading though she was a very early reader. Because she just memorized words, she doesn't naturally sound them out..
But agree this is irrelevant to this thread's discussion about the impact of screens on brains.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The defensiveness of so many PPs speaks volumes. I work at a public school and can assure you that our society is INDEED circling the drain based on what I see day in and day out. Kids have NO attention span and scores keep dropping — yet multiple teachers have taught the content in multiple modalities, key concepts are posted on the wall, and in some cases the tests are open notebook! Their school laptops absolutely need to go, too! What a problem we have on our hands. I realize correlation does not prove causation, but I’m sure it’s an “all of the above” situation, where both parents AND kids are on screens while brains are developing and none of what kids actually need is happening.

Even if you feel you or your kids overuse screens, you can start somewhere. Enforce time limits by age as recommended by experts. Read to your children daily. Do screen free activities or days together…increase these over time. Designate screen-free spaces like the dinner table. Delay phone ownership for kids as long as possible. Limit social media use. No screens in kids’ bedrooms. How I wish everyone realized the education landscape. It’s bad!

And some experts are finding symptoms of ADHD in some kids can lessen/disappear if ALL screens are removed. Wow. Definitely worthy of so much more research. Rather than getting defensive, we could all benefit from greater self-reflection on this front.

Our kid's teachers use massive screens in the classroom, and have the kids play computer games during the school day. In kindergarten. It sounds like you are more interested in judging than in self reflection. Be the change you want to see!

PP here. I do try to be that change — in how I work with your kids and with my own kids. That is my entire point. Another defensive post trying to blame someone else. There are some bad teachers, but most really care and work tirelessly. They certainly know the curriculum and they try to reduce screentime as much as possible. But tech use is encouraged in our district. We need to rethink who we elect to the school board and their priorities. But it can’t all happen at school. Building an attention span starts at home. I’m not judging; I’m pointing out my perspective based on my job. Computer games are blocked (other than educational things like quizlet and kahoot), so if your kid is playing them, they are getting links and codes from other students to get around the wall.

Of course most teachers really care. Most are still using screens a lot in the classroom. And asking kids to use screens to complete and turn in assignments. Maybe focus on that instead of sh&t posting about parents. I don't know why teachers insist on bashing parents online. I don't think it makes you more effective - on the contrary, I think it serves as an excuse.

Let's all focus on working on ourselves instead of attacking each other.

Oh, that’s funny. In reality, it’s the parents desperately deflecting responsibility and making endless excuses.

So you're not going to make an effort to stop demanding students use screens. Thanks for sharing.

How would I do that, when I’m a parent and not a teacher? Fool.

Then why the F did you respond to post directed to the teacher ya dumbass?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I agree with the OP and think this is a huge, societal problem. And the defensiveness on this thread is huge and telling. Unfortunately, there are no easy solutions. Raising kids and teaching kids are both incredibly hard. Screens can provide some relief. So this needs to be a bigger solution than just “do better.”

Personally, I struggle with this immensely. I’m doing okay with my kids so far (they’re in preschool, which makes it easier): screens on long plane or train rides, screens when they’re sick, and if we’re in a social situation at another family’s house and they turn on the TV, we don’t love it but whatever. Plus I know they get some screens at school. But beyond that, there’s no screens at home. So they routinely go weeks with zero screens on our watch. But I really struggle with screen time for myself. It’s just SO easy to pull your phone out when you have some downtime. It’s such a time waster, it’s bad for my attention and my mental health. I’ve recently installed the app “Opal” which blocks most apps and all websites on my phone after a cumulative hour of use each day. That’s helping, I’d recommend it for other folks who struggle with this.

Societal wide, I’d like to see:

-Way less screens in school. Get the smart boards out of preschool classrooms! No videos for recess when it’s raining - just let the kids play inside.

-More support for parents generally. Our society sucks at this. The more we can support families with paid leave, flexible work schedules, free PK, etc, the easier it is for parents and the less they’ll need to rely on screens.

-More tolerance in public spaces for kids. Sometimes kids cry, tantrum, misbehave, are loud. If this is “unacceptable” then the only answer is screens. My kids are very well behaved. But - sometimes these things happen, it’s part of learning. I address it immediately, but it’s still part of life.

-More acceptance of very small physical risks to kids. What does that mean? More independence. Kids walking to the park and playing unsupervised at younger ages. Kids taking public transit by themselves. Kids bike riding to each other’s houses. Kids using real saws and hammers to build stuff. Kids going to the store themselves. These risks are comically small, and yet we are scared so we limit them, and that leads to more nice, “safe,” screen time inside.

I’d be interested in other ideas from folks, particularly from parents of older kids.

Your attitude is an even bigger societal problem: “I have a very strong opinion on a topic about which I know absolutely nothing, and I feel the need to broadcast that ill-informed opinion to the entire world.”

DP. Everyone can, and should, have an opinion about children, who are our children's peers and our future.

Phone zombies and blob children who cannot interact socially or read (https://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/1253729.page and https://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/1246273.page) are an issue for all of us, even parents of preschool kids.

Come back and give us your deep thoughts on mitigating screen use in the 21st century when you have middle and high school aged kids.

Until then, keep your opinions to yourself. And maybe model good behavior and get off your own damn phone.

I agree with them and I have multiple kids, including one in high school and one in college. You aren’t the moderator, so zip it.

Get off your own phone, Grandma. Nobody cares what you think.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The defensiveness of so many PPs speaks volumes. I work at a public school and can assure you that our society is INDEED circling the drain based on what I see day in and day out. Kids have NO attention span and scores keep dropping — yet multiple teachers have taught the content in multiple modalities, key concepts are posted on the wall, and in some cases the tests are open notebook! Their school laptops absolutely need to go, too! What a problem we have on our hands. I realize correlation does not prove causation, but I’m sure it’s an “all of the above” situation, where both parents AND kids are on screens while brains are developing and none of what kids actually need is happening.

Even if you feel you or your kids overuse screens, you can start somewhere. Enforce time limits by age as recommended by experts. Read to your children daily. Do screen free activities or days together…increase these over time. Designate screen-free spaces like the dinner table. Delay phone ownership for kids as long as possible. Limit social media use. No screens in kids’ bedrooms. How I wish everyone realized the education landscape. It’s bad!

And some experts are finding symptoms of ADHD in some kids can lessen/disappear if ALL screens are removed. Wow. Definitely worthy of so much more research. Rather than getting defensive, we could all benefit from greater self-reflection on this front.

Our kid's teachers use massive screens in the classroom, and have the kids play computer games during the school day. In kindergarten. It sounds like you are more interested in judging than in self reflection. Be the change you want to see!

PP here. I do try to be that change — in how I work with your kids and with my own kids. That is my entire point. Another defensive post trying to blame someone else. There are some bad teachers, but most really care and work tirelessly. They certainly know the curriculum and they try to reduce screentime as much as possible. But tech use is encouraged in our district. We need to rethink who we elect to the school board and their priorities. But it can’t all happen at school. Building an attention span starts at home. I’m not judging; I’m pointing out my perspective based on my job. Computer games are blocked (other than educational things like quizlet and kahoot), so if your kid is playing them, they are getting links and codes from other students to get around the wall.

Screens are *completely unnecessary* in schools. You’re a judgmental hag and YOU are responsible for “rottings kids’ brains” every single time you fire up a screen in class or tell the students to do so. But you are too lazy and incompetent to change, so you try to blame parents for their kids using screens when you REQUIRE their kids to use screens.

Idiot.

^^^ The same type of disrespectful attitude we get from many kids at school, too (speaking of being the change…). Funny that you think teachers have the choice to not use screens. I happen to agree they are unnecessary, but all standardized tests are now online. How would you have students complete these?

Maybe teachers should get a freaking backbone and stand up to these idiotic rules instead of abdicating all of their responsibility and pointing fingers at the parents? Just a thought.

(I am not surprised your students don’t respect you. Kids have extremely well calibrated hypocrisy meters.)

It's effectively impossible for teachers to go against the Department of Education or local school boards. Many teachers would love to go back to textbooks and get rid of all screens. Unfortunately, that's not possible. And it's parents that vote for the school boards and the Department of Education officials that are mandating screens. If you don't want screens in schools, vote differently. But you won't. You will always vote for progressives and more tech and then complain when the results are predictably catastrophic.

+100 This.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kid gets more screen time than I anticipated pre-kids. However, he also started reading at 3, adds, subtracts, and multiplies at 5. We monitor what he watches and spend lots of daily one-on-one time; travel often; and enroll him in activities and experiences. All of this to say, balance and spending time with a kid helps, but there is no clear cut way to parent. Do as you see fit with your child. It’s not one size fits all.

Reading early is not an indicator of good parenting. It's just your kid's brain (and you may want to watch out for reading deficits as kids that learn to read early are often memorizing whole words instead of sounding out letters)

They aren’t memorizing. There’s a name for it and it involves being on the spectrum. I wrote before that my niece could read at age 3 and I mean she could read anything. Complete news articles with words she had never seen before so no memorizing. If the three year old is reading Dr Seuss books or something similar that would be memorizing.

There was no need for her to be taught phonics or anything and eventually the other kids caught up. It has nothing to do with screens.

Some are. My friend is brilliant and tells me she has trouble reading though she was a very early reader. Because she just memorized words, she doesn't naturally sound them out..
But agree this is irrelevant to this thread's discussion about the impact of screens on brains.

This is what I was talking about -

“If a child is reading at three years old, it's likely a sign of a condition called "hyperlexia," which means they have an unusually advanced reading ability for their age can be a characteristic of autism spectrum disorder “

If a child can pick up a novel like War and Peace and read it fluently they did not memorize those words. That’s what my three year old niece was able to do. She actually has two siblings with severe autism. One is unable to speak. Her being on the spectrum wasn’t seen until college age because she didn’t have any unusual behaviors or problems.

I think it’s relevant because some think if you only keep your child off “screens” they will be early readers and so gifted. That’s not it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kid gets more screen time than I anticipated pre-kids. However, he also started reading at 3, adds, subtracts, and multiplies at 5. We monitor what he watches and spend lots of daily one-on-one time; travel often; and enroll him in activities and experiences. All of this to say, balance and spending time with a kid helps, but there is no clear cut way to parent. Do as you see fit with your child. It’s not one size fits all.

Reading early is not an indicator of good parenting. It's just your kid's brain (and you may want to watch out for reading deficits as kids that learn to read early are often memorizing whole words instead of sounding out letters)

They aren’t memorizing. There’s a name for it and it involves being on the spectrum. I wrote before that my niece could read at age 3 and I mean she could read anything. Complete news articles with words she had never seen before so no memorizing. If the three year old is reading Dr Seuss books or something similar that would be memorizing.

There was no need for her to be taught phonics or anything and eventually the other kids caught up. It has nothing to do with screens.

Some are. My friend is brilliant and tells me she has trouble reading though she was a very early reader. Because she just memorized words, she doesn't naturally sound them out..
But agree this is irrelevant to this thread's discussion about the impact of screens on brains.

This is what I was talking about -

“If a child is reading at three years old, it's likely a sign of a condition called "hyperlexia," which means they have an unusually advanced reading ability for their age can be a characteristic of autism spectrum disorder “

If a child can pick up a novel like War and Peace and read it fluently they did not memorize those words. That’s what my three year old niece was able to do. She actually has two siblings with severe autism. One is unable to speak. Her being on the spectrum wasn’t seen until college age because she didn’t have any unusual behaviors or problems.

I think it’s relevant because some think if you only keep your child off “screens” they will be early readers and so gifted. That’s not it.

Where are the stats on this? How do you know that it's "likely" that an early reader has hyperlexia? It sounds like you're biased towards your own experience. Many early readers are good readers, however, can decode with phonics and normal comprehension.

I disagree that this is relevant. It seems completely off-topic and derailing the thread. I don't think anyone thinks their child will be an early reader and gifted if they are off-screens. No one here has said this. The poster with the 3 year old who reads even went so far as to say that they *do* use screens.

The concern in this thread isn't about kids being early readers. The concern is about kids not being good readers at any age. Kids are not reading as well as in past generations, and that is very concerning.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Screens themselves aren't the problem. Problem is the amount of time kids/teens spend in front of them. They're wasting their childhoods.

And yet here you are on screens.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kid gets more screen time than I anticipated pre-kids. However, he also started reading at 3, adds, subtracts, and multiplies at 5. We monitor what he watches and spend lots of daily one-on-one time; travel often; and enroll him in activities and experiences. All of this to say, balance and spending time with a kid helps, but there is no clear cut way to parent. Do as you see fit with your child. It’s not one size fits all.

Reading early is not an indicator of good parenting. It's just your kid's brain (and you may want to watch out for reading deficits as kids that learn to read early are often memorizing whole words instead of sounding out letters)

They aren’t memorizing. There’s a name for it and it involves being on the spectrum. I wrote before that my niece could read at age 3 and I mean she could read anything. Complete news articles with words she had never seen before so no memorizing. If the three year old is reading Dr Seuss books or something similar that would be memorizing.

There was no need for her to be taught phonics or anything and eventually the other kids caught up. It has nothing to do with screens.

Some are. My friend is brilliant and tells me she has trouble reading though she was a very early reader. Because she just memorized words, she doesn't naturally sound them out..
But agree this is irrelevant to this thread's discussion about the impact of screens on brains.

This is what I was talking about -

“If a child is reading at three years old, it's likely a sign of a condition called "hyperlexia," which means they have an unusually advanced reading ability for their age can be a characteristic of autism spectrum disorder “

If a child can pick up a novel like War and Peace and read it fluently they did not memorize those words. That’s what my three year old niece was able to do. She actually has two siblings with severe autism. One is unable to speak. Her being on the spectrum wasn’t seen until college age because she didn’t have any unusual behaviors or problems.

I think it’s relevant because some think if you only keep your child off “screens” they will be early readers and so gifted. That’s not it.

Actually it’s not. Mine read at three. We worked with them in reading.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The defensiveness of so many PPs speaks volumes. I work at a public school and can assure you that our society is INDEED circling the drain based on what I see day in and day out. Kids have NO attention span and scores keep dropping — yet multiple teachers have taught the content in multiple modalities, key concepts are posted on the wall, and in some cases the tests are open notebook! Their school laptops absolutely need to go, too! What a problem we have on our hands. I realize correlation does not prove causation, but I’m sure it’s an “all of the above” situation, where both parents AND kids are on screens while brains are developing and none of what kids actually need is happening.

Even if you feel you or your kids overuse screens, you can start somewhere. Enforce time limits by age as recommended by experts. Read to your children daily. Do screen free activities or days together…increase these over time. Designate screen-free spaces like the dinner table. Delay phone ownership for kids as long as possible. Limit social media use. No screens in kids’ bedrooms. How I wish everyone realized the education landscape. It’s bad!

And some experts are finding symptoms of ADHD in some kids can lessen/disappear if ALL screens are removed. Wow. Definitely worthy of so much more research. Rather than getting defensive, we could all benefit from greater self-reflection on this front.

Our kid's teachers use massive screens in the classroom, and have the kids play computer games during the school day. In kindergarten. It sounds like you are more interested in judging than in self reflection. Be the change you want to see!

PP here. I do try to be that change — in how I work with your kids and with my own kids. That is my entire point. Another defensive post trying to blame someone else. There are some bad teachers, but most really care and work tirelessly. They certainly know the curriculum and they try to reduce screentime as much as possible. But tech use is encouraged in our district. We need to rethink who we elect to the school board and their priorities. But it can’t all happen at school. Building an attention span starts at home. I’m not judging; I’m pointing out my perspective based on my job. Computer games are blocked (other than educational things like quizlet and kahoot), so if your kid is playing them, they are getting links and codes from other students to get around the wall.

Screens are *completely unnecessary* in schools. You’re a judgmental hag and YOU are responsible for “rottings kids’ brains” every single time you fire up a screen in class or tell the students to do so. But you are too lazy and incompetent to change, so you try to blame parents for their kids using screens when you REQUIRE their kids to use screens.

Idiot.

^^^ The same type of disrespectful attitude we get from many kids at school, too (speaking of being the change…). Funny that you think teachers have the choice to not use screens. I happen to agree they are unnecessary, but all standardized tests are now online. How would you have students complete these?

Maybe teachers should get a freaking backbone and stand up to these idiotic rules instead of abdicating all of their responsibility and pointing fingers at the parents? Just a thought.

(I am not surprised your students don’t respect you. Kids have extremely well calibrated hypocrisy meters.)

It's effectively impossible for teachers to go against the Department of Education or local school boards. Many teachers would love to go back to textbooks and get rid of all screens. Unfortunately, that's not possible. And it's parents that vote for the school boards and the Department of Education officials that are mandating screens. If you don't want screens in schools, vote differently. But you won't. You will always vote for progressives and more tech and then complain when the results are predictably catastrophic.

+100 This.

Wow, you really have something against parents. Please feel free to share which MCPS BOE candidates campaigned on removing edtech from schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The defensiveness of so many PPs speaks volumes. I work at a public school and can assure you that our society is INDEED circling the drain based on what I see day in and day out. Kids have NO attention span and scores keep dropping — yet multiple teachers have taught the content in multiple modalities, key concepts are posted on the wall, and in some cases the tests are open notebook! Their school laptops absolutely need to go, too! What a problem we have on our hands. I realize correlation does not prove causation, but I’m sure it’s an “all of the above” situation, where both parents AND kids are on screens while brains are developing and none of what kids actually need is happening.

Even if you feel you or your kids overuse screens, you can start somewhere. Enforce time limits by age as recommended by experts. Read to your children daily. Do screen free activities or days together…increase these over time. Designate screen-free spaces like the dinner table. Delay phone ownership for kids as long as possible. Limit social media use. No screens in kids’ bedrooms. How I wish everyone realized the education landscape. It’s bad!

And some experts are finding symptoms of ADHD in some kids can lessen/disappear if ALL screens are removed. Wow. Definitely worthy of so much more research. Rather than getting defensive, we could all benefit from greater self-reflection on this front.

Our kid's teachers use massive screens in the classroom, and have the kids play computer games during the school day. In kindergarten. It sounds like you are more interested in judging than in self reflection. Be the change you want to see!

PP here. I do try to be that change — in how I work with your kids and with my own kids. That is my entire point. Another defensive post trying to blame someone else. There are some bad teachers, but most really care and work tirelessly. They certainly know the curriculum and they try to reduce screentime as much as possible. But tech use is encouraged in our district. We need to rethink who we elect to the school board and their priorities. But it can’t all happen at school. Building an attention span starts at home. I’m not judging; I’m pointing out my perspective based on my job. Computer games are blocked (other than educational things like quizlet and kahoot), so if your kid is playing them, they are getting links and codes from other students to get around the wall.

Screens are *completely unnecessary* in schools. You’re a judgmental hag and YOU are responsible for “rottings kids’ brains” every single time you fire up a screen in class or tell the students to do so. But you are too lazy and incompetent to change, so you try to blame parents for their kids using screens when you REQUIRE their kids to use screens.

Idiot.

^^^ The same type of disrespectful attitude we get from many kids at school, too (speaking of being the change…). Funny that you think teachers have the choice to not use screens. I happen to agree they are unnecessary, but all standardized tests are now online. How would you have students complete these?

Maybe teachers should get a freaking backbone and stand up to these idiotic rules instead of abdicating all of their responsibility and pointing fingers at the parents? Just a thought.

(I am not surprised your students don’t respect you. Kids have extremely well calibrated hypocrisy meters.)

It's effectively impossible for teachers to go against the Department of Education or local school boards. Many teachers would love to go back to textbooks and get rid of all screens. Unfortunately, that's not possible. And it's parents that vote for the school boards and the Department of Education officials that are mandating screens. If you don't want screens in schools, vote differently. But you won't. You will always vote for progressives and more tech and then complain when the results are predictably catastrophic.

+100 This.

You're blaming parents for voting for teachers' union endorsed candidates? I have to admit, I am impressed by your determination to blame parents for everything that schools are doing wrong.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Screens themselves aren't the problem. Problem is the amount of time kids/teens spend in front of them. They're wasting their childhoods.

And yet here you are on screens.

So you assume I'm on screens all the time because I participated in this thread?