So..what do your kids do at home?

[Anonymous]

Yesterday DS, 7, asked to play OSMO Newton when he got home from camp. I said fine. Puzzles, geometry, and physics on the iPad. It allowed me to make dinner and relax after work. So DS played baseball from 9-3, with a lunch break and probably some water breaks, and the played wiffle ball during after care. Call it 4-5 hours of outdoor activity, an hour of indoor activity. I am willing to give him an hour of iPad time playing a game that engages his brain.

I don't think I would be fine with more then an hour of screen time at this point. I am not sure what I will do when he is a bit older and wants to play video games for hours on end. But right now, at 7, I am fine with an hour of OSMO after a full day of camp.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:If they are at camp all day, I don't see what the big deal is letting them play electronics until dinner. After dinner, you can take a walk or bike ride.

+1

Yeah, not seeing the big deal. 8 year old has some camps that end at 3-4. Get home, snack, and let him chill with a couple shows or iPad. All day he's active and doing stuff. It's Summer.

I feel like it’s easy to think this as adults who probably sit on our butts all day looking at a screen. Relative to us, our kids seem super active and engaged. But that doesn’t mean hours of screen time are “okay”— for any of us, really.

They'll live.

That’s a low bar.

I don’t understand. Human beings enjoy downtime. When we were growing up it was television. Kids are more scheduled and busier than ever! Let them have some quite iPad/screen time.

My daughters do a lot of stuff in their downtime. They do pretend play, make crafts, create fake towns, play outside, etc.
They also like to lounge on the couch with their phones. It’s ok!

Screen time is not a synonym for downtime. I agree that humans need downtime, and disagree that screen time is the way for children to do that.