Asian Kids and Screentime

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Still not clearly what this has to do with Asians.

It was my first encounter since having a child where someone didn't act weird about iPhones/screentime (that it was bad). Didn't know if it was a cultural difference.

I don't think the vast majority of people are hung up about screen time and children. I think this is a rather unique attribute of the overly anxious helicopter parent set. It's fairly common in these parts, but in the rest of the country, where parents are more laid back and don't think every decision/action has long-term ramifications for their children's well-being, it's not a thing.

Caring parents the world over tend to think through decisions. It's not a weird, DC only helicopter trend.

First, don't you roll your eyes at me. What are you, 13?

Second, people in DC do tend to be a lot more overly anxious about parenting. It's a byproduct of where we live. So, yes, parents in this are do tend to overthink every little decision in terms of the long-term ramifications for their children. Things like the right preschool won't lead to Harvard, scheming to get into AAP in Fairfax, trying to find language immersion school, etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I let my DS watch TV and use an iPhone to play. Though he doesn't watch a lot, he enjoys the noise and the maneuvering on the device. I had a woman at a Chinese restaurant say to me that kids in her community (she may have just said Asian kids) are really adept at electronics. It made me wonder, are just Americans hung up on screentime/electronics? It seemed to be a point of fact, if not pride, when she said it.

Are there any Asian parents that can weigh in on this? I'm not looking for any stereotypes or to get into any nonsense, just curious, though.

1) Americans are crazy hung up on screen time and electronics. They don't seem to grasp this is the first native user generation. This is the new reality. Trying to prevent their use is an exercise in futility at best, puts kids at a disadvantage at minimum, and is just really stupid.

2) Stop comparing ourselves to Asian kids. Last time I checked, Asians weren't exactly ruling the world. What a strange thing to worry about. Name one Asian country that's going to dominate in the future? It's not going to be Japan or China. Taiwan, maybe. Not Mongolia or Bangladesh. Or any of the 'stans. Why worry about this?

The bolded part alone disqualify you from commenting anything related to East Asia.

You're going to have to do better than that. Japan has faded as an economic power. China may become a regional power, but it's not going to be what people think it is. For one thing, both countries (like the US) have massive demographic pressures coming. They're aging, fast.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Still not clearly what this has to do with Asians.

It was my first encounter since having a child where someone didn't act weird about iPhones/screentime (that it was bad). Didn't know if it was a cultural difference.

NP here -- but defending OP, I think it's a legit question. We all know that different cultures have different ideas about child-rearing (cosleeping, no bed times, food that they feed them, etc.), so I think it is a fair question. FWIW, my husband is Asian (I'm white), and he doesn't care about screen time. The several Asian families we know are all less concerned about screen time than the white families I know (this is, of course, purely anecdotal. But, I do wonder if there is a cultural aspect at play here?). Everything asked about a culture isn't racist, people, give it up.

But the implication that "Asian" is a "culture" (implied at least somewhat monolithic) has nothing to do with racism, even subtle, historic or institutional?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I let my DS watch TV and use an iPhone to play. Though he doesn't watch a lot, he enjoys the noise and the maneuvering on the device. I had a woman at a Chinese restaurant say to me that kids in her community (she may have just said Asian kids) are really adept at electronics. It made me wonder, are just Americans hung up on screentime/electronics? It seemed to be a point of fact, if not pride, when she said it.

Are there any Asian parents that can weigh in on this? I'm not looking for any stereotypes or to get into any nonsense, just curious, though.

1) Americans are crazy hung up on screen time and electronics. They don't seem to grasp this is the first native user generation. This is the new reality. Trying to prevent their use is an exercise in futility at best, puts kids at a disadvantage at minimum, and is just really stupid.

2) Stop comparing ourselves to Asian kids. Last time I checked, Asians weren't exactly ruling the world. What a strange thing to worry about. Name one Asian country that's going to dominate in the future? It's not going to be Japan or China. Taiwan, maybe. Not Mongolia or Bangladesh. Or any of the 'stans. Why worry about this?

The bolded part alone disqualify you from commenting anything related to East Asia.

You're going to have to do better than that. Japan has faded as an economic power. China may become a regional power, but it's not going to be what people think it is. For one thing, both countries (like the US) have massive demographic pressures coming. They're aging, fast.

You do know that Taiwan is a very small island and had no chance to dominate mainland China let alone the world, right?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Still not clearly what this has to do with Asians.

It was my first encounter since having a child where someone didn't act weird about iPhones/screentime (that it was bad). Didn't know if it was a cultural difference.

I don't think the vast majority of people are hung up about screen time and children. I think this is a rather unique attribute of the overly anxious helicopter parent set. It's fairly common in these parts, but in the rest of the country, where parents are more laid back and don't think every decision/action has long-term ramifications for their children's well-being, it's not a thing.

Not wanting a very young child to stare at a dumb screen for hours a day is "an attribute" of the educated set. The set who 1) reads beyond the 140-characther tweet and finishes the whole medical journal article and 2) possesses critical thinking skills to assess the validity of the brain research.

Many such people in the District, Bethesda, Arlington.

[Anonymous]

I have a family member (African American) who is married to a Vietnamese woman. They do not restrict Tv at all for their children. They are definitely into gadgets also. She does push her kids really hard in school though. Two of her kids have been skipped to higher grade levels.