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

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Does this rotting of the minds apply to forums like this one?

No, of course not. OP and her buddies are allowed to bash parents online, that doesn't count

DP. OP specifically said that adults are also rotting their brains (which is definitely true of myself and most of the adults I know). Y'all couldn't be bothered to read the entire OP.

SMH

I go through phases of saying exactly what OP is posting about. I used to watch a ton of tv as a child. I also read a lot of magazines. In college, I read newspapers and journals. I went to the movies often. I yapped on the phone for hours and hours. Times have just changed. Now kids text. Instagram is like the magazines. No one reads paper newspapers anymore. It is what it is.

The part I’m not used to is AI and chat Gpt. I remember I used to look at memos and papers in attempts to write similarly. Now AI does it for you.

[Anonymous]

The people voted for Trump. Their brains and souls are already rotted.

[Anonymous]

No. The short answer is no.

On a related note I struggled with screen addiction (doomscrolling) after being on mat leave with my baby. Lots of free time sitting and nursing or rocking.

I highly suggest the AppBlock app for kids and adults alike.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What makes me sad is seeing a toddler pushed in a stroller holding a phone or iPad rather than looking at the world around them. I take a bus to work and there is often a nanny with a 2 yr old and 3 yr old waiting for the same bus. If we have more than a minute wait, she gives the older one her phone. Once we're on the bus, the kids are on the phone together. Why they can't play I Spy or practice counting, I don't know.

I waited in a 20 minute line Sunday with a 5 yr old, and we practiced days of the week, talked about rain and puddles and clouds, steps to making a pie, the types of things people go to the post office for, etc. I think he can do this because he's always done it - he's never had a phone or iPad in the stroller or car or highchair.

What makes me sad is all the judgements people like you give to everyone. We are such a polarized society of perfect people - "if-only-everyone-can-be-like-me people". Since you are perfect, there is no room for growth and introspection. Your kids, I'm sure, are perfect too. Did you flashcard how to be perfect while you were in line at the post office? It might be on that kindergarten readiness assessment.

Imagine a world where we empathize with people and understand events from multiple perspectives, like maybe other people's perspectives..... the world would be a different place.

I don’t disagree with the stay in your lane idea here, but I do think a big reason our culture lacks empathy is because of screens. Many teenagers and young adults raised on screens do not know how to talk to others - they are so used to talking from behind a keyboard.

They actually do. Its just different and has nothign to do with empathy. My kids were reading by age 3. Was yours? And, yes they had screens in moderation. We never ever used a babysitter and so yes, sometimes we'd go out and had the kids iPads so we could get a break and talk. They were with me 24-7. If you are working and only have an hour or two a day with them, yes, that makes sense but some of our kids get our full attention all day every day.

My kid was translating Sanskrit at age 2.5 and calculating differential equations by 6. But this came so easy to her that we allowed some screen time too. Sorry your kid is so dumb.

DP
...and this type of hyperbole/insulting is helpful because???? It make you feel good to insult strangers? Weird.

[Anonymous]

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.

Some people blame:
Vaccines
Pollution
Food dye
Chemicals in water
Fluoride
Older parental birth age
Sugar
Salt
Two working parents
Lack of SAHM
Etc

You choose to blame screens. The truth is there could be one casue or many that attribute to your observations.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I agree 100%. But of course you’ve offended the hoards of parents that are too lazy to parent their kids. Teachers see it too. I mentioned to my kids seconds grade teacher during the course of the parent teacher conference in the fall that my kid doesn’t have a tablet and isn’t allowed video games and the teacher said “well there you go, that’s why he’s so well behaved and doing so well.”

Hahaha... that's not why "he's behaved and doing so well".

My kids have screens and I get the same comments. I attribute it to responsive parenting and my kids' nature. Perhaps you are a terrible parent and it's all about screens for you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I agree 100%. But of course you’ve offended the hoards of parents that are too lazy to parent their kids. Teachers see it too. I mentioned to my kids seconds grade teacher during the course of the parent teacher conference in the fall that my kid doesn’t have a tablet and isn’t allowed video games and the teacher said “well there you go, that’s why he’s so well behaved and doing so well.”

Hahaha... that's not why "he's behaved and doing so well".

My kids have screens and I get the same comments. I attribute it to responsive parenting and my kids' nature. Perhaps you are a terrible parent and it's all about screens for you.

+1 My kid is very well-behaved in school and has ASD. We are not screen-free at all. Our kid is just a rigid rule follower.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The people voted for Trump. Their brains and souls are already rotted.

My Trump voting parents don't have ipads or screens beyond TV. I have all the above and abhor Trump. Politics are not to blame for this one. Kinda like DEI is not to blame for a plane crash. A grip on reality might do you well.

As PP said - the same thing was said about TV. I binged it in the 80s and 90s. I'm fine. I was a National Merit finalist and Summa Cum Laude. It's ok. The kids will be ok.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I agree 100%. But of course you’ve offended the hoards of parents that are too lazy to parent their kids. Teachers see it too. I mentioned to my kids seconds grade teacher during the course of the parent teacher conference in the fall that my kid doesn’t have a tablet and isn’t allowed video games and the teacher said “well there you go, that’s why he’s so well behaved and doing so well.”

Hahaha... that's not why "he's behaved and doing so well".

My kids have screens and I get the same comments. I attribute it to responsive parenting and my kids' nature. Perhaps you are a terrible parent and it's all about screens for you.

Wait, what you got from that is that I'm an awful parent, but since I don't do screens my kid is somehow great? Please work on your critical thinking skills

[Anonymous]

Eh. Old people used to say this to us about watching tv as kids. It’s fine.

[Anonymous]

When it became an issue with my middle schooler because grades were noticeably worse this semester, I took away his phone and Xbox and now sit next to him when he was on a computer doing homework. It caused a lot of drama in our house. It's a huge problem for him and me as a parent. I don't know what happens when he leaves for college and can't self-regulate.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I agree 100%. But of course you’ve offended the hoards of parents that are too lazy to parent their kids. Teachers see it too. I mentioned to my kids seconds grade teacher during the course of the parent teacher conference in the fall that my kid doesn’t have a tablet and isn’t allowed video games and the teacher said “well there you go, that’s why he’s so well behaved and doing so well.”

Hahaha... that's not why "he's behaved and doing so well".

My kids have screens and I get the same comments. I attribute it to responsive parenting and my kids' nature. Perhaps you are a terrible parent and it's all about screens for you.

Wait, what you got from that is that I'm an awful parent, but since I don't do screens my kid is somehow great? Please work on your critical thinking skills

No, I will be more direct and use small words for you.

I am illustrating you draw the wrong conclusions from the teacher's comments. Perhaps YOU are the one that lacks reasoning skills. Did you get that? Apologies, my vocabulary of short words is limited unless I use longer sentence structures, which will confuse you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I agree 100%. But of course you’ve offended the hoards of parents that are too lazy to parent their kids. Teachers see it too. I mentioned to my kids seconds grade teacher during the course of the parent teacher conference in the fall that my kid doesn’t have a tablet and isn’t allowed video games and the teacher said “well there you go, that’s why he’s so well behaved and doing so well.”

Hahaha... that's not why "he's behaved and doing so well".

My kids have screens and I get the same comments. I attribute it to responsive parenting and my kids' nature. Perhaps you are a terrible parent and it's all about screens for you.

Wait, what you got from that is that I'm an awful parent, but since I don't do screens my kid is somehow great? Please work on your critical thinking skills

No, I will be more direct and use small words for you.

I am illustrating you draw the wrong conclusions from the teacher's comments. Perhaps YOU are the one that lacks reasoning skills. Did you get that? Apologies, my vocabulary of short words is limited unless I use longer sentence structures, which will confuse you.

DP. This site used to be intelligent and the snark was well done. Now posters are just mean. For meanness' sake.

Do better. Be better.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I agree 100%. But of course you’ve offended the hoards of parents that are too lazy to parent their kids. Teachers see it too. I mentioned to my kids seconds grade teacher during the course of the parent teacher conference in the fall that my kid doesn’t have a tablet and isn’t allowed video games and the teacher said “well there you go, that’s why he’s so well behaved and doing so well.”

Hahaha... that's not why "he's behaved and doing so well".

My kids have screens and I get the same comments. I attribute it to responsive parenting and my kids' nature. Perhaps you are a terrible parent and it's all about screens for you.

Wait, what you got from that is that I'm an awful parent, but since I don't do screens my kid is somehow great? Please work on your critical thinking skills

No, I will be more direct and use small words for you.

I am illustrating you draw the wrong conclusions from the teacher's comments. Perhaps YOU are the one that lacks reasoning skills. Did you get that? Apologies, my vocabulary of short words is limited unless I use longer sentence structures, which will confuse you.

DP. This site used to be intelligent and the snark was well done. Now posters are just mean. For meanness' sake.

Do better. Be better.

What's happening is that when people post mean things, some of us push back.

PSA - if you post here that parents are "rotting their kids' brains" someone is going to say something mean to you. You can stand by your dumb, self-serving generalization, or you can apologize for being a dumbass.

[Anonymous]

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.