Am I out of touch? Is this what 7 year olds are doing now?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No, that’s what kids with lazy parents do.

Disagree

?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No, that’s what kids with lazy parents do.

Disagree

It’s absolutely lazy parenting. But all parents create shortcuts and have different things they give up on. For me, it was breastfeeding.

Establishing a consistent bedtime routine for a 2 or 3-year-old is really tough. If a parent works late or is single or does shift work, I can see bedtime routine not being a priority. It’s much easier to let a toddler fall asleep watching tv than fighting them on staying in bed or not getting another drink or whatever. If a parent needs that time for laundry or a shower or eating, I can see it being worth it.

The problem is that at 7 the kid has never learned how to fall asleep any other way. That could be a problem going forward but who knows.

My 7-year-old just got an iPad and doesn’t watch any tv on it. She does fall asleep listening to an annoying CD of lullabies that I regret giving to her.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It depends on the family. When we grew up, some parents allowed kids to fall asleep with the tv. We don't allow it.

I was. I outgrew it by ~10 because of the noise and light. The horror!

The internet is a completely different animal compared to tv. Few kids will find their way to porn and other mind-bending material on tv. Leave a kid alone on the internet night after night, and you’re almost assured of that happening.

[Anonymous]

My 7 yr old watches tik tok. I’m not too happy about it but she’s right that a lot of other kids do watch these videos. However, we are against taking the iPad to bed. We watch a family show after dinner then no media. She can read, play, etc. I’m her room until bedtime. She watched WAY to much tv/tablet during the day since this covid stuff. She can wind down without it before bed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Just curious, for the people who don't let their teens keep their phones in their rooms, what do they do for alarms? I teach HS and at least 95% of my students say they use phone alarms. Please don't tell me you are still waking your kids up at their ages!

I bet a surprising number of your students are actually still getting awakened by their parents. There was just a long thread about this on the teens and tweens board a few months ago. Teens have so much homework that the one thing that is almost universal is sleep deprivation.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My seven year old niece goes to bed with an iPad and watches tik tok until she falls asleep/until the late hours. My sister insists it is what kids do and it is harmless.

My boys are only 3 and 4, so perhaps I’m out of touch? Does social media and free reign tablet use start this young? What am I in for?

Thanks.

Quite common in the European country in which I live.

My kid is a bit older than seven and most of her friends have tiktok, IG, Snapchat, Facebook, and YouTube; all social media platforms are banned in our house.

[Anonymous]

7 year old DS isn't allowed to watch TikTok. But he does go to bed and read a book for 30 min and then watch YouTube (Odd ones out, this youtube channel that talks about the Universe, a channel where they build things with Magnetic balls, Preston, and there is one other that I'm forgetting). He falls asleep within 15 min of listening to it (I've watched him, he normally doesn't even watch it for more than 5 min but listens to it).

DH and I fall asleep while watching something on the ipad, so I am sure it is just learned behavior from us.

To us, the most important thing is that he doesn't NEED it to fall asleep. he can still go to sleep with no Kindle. He just prefers to have it if he can.

[Anonymous]

I have 7 year old twins. This is not the norm in our circle. In our home we have parental controls on all devices and all social media (even YouTube) is blocked. They have time limits and everything shuts down either when they reach the limit or 90 minutes before bedtime. Today's world works hard to take away childhood and unlimited access to the internet at 7 does not work for me.

I have sleep issues so I encourage good sleeping habits and routines for them. I know my kids would stay up all night if I allowed devices in bed. They already stay up past their bedtime because they are talking and giggling, but I'm okay with that as long as it doesn't impact their ability to get up and function.

[Anonymous]

Tik Tok may be banned in Australia due to Chinese monitoring of movements.

https://www.news.com.au/technology/online/social/tiktok-facing-pressure-over-potential-china-data-gathering/news-story/d57a70fb2e18a5bd76f4c8337a9726e6

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just curious, for the people who don't let their teens keep their phones in their rooms, what do they do for alarms? I teach HS and at least 95% of my students say they use phone alarms. Please don't tell me you are still waking your kids up at their ages!

I bet a surprising number of your students are actually still getting awakened by their parents. There was just a long thread about this on the teens and tweens board a few months ago. Teens have so much homework that the one thing that is almost universal is sleep deprivation.

Thankfully I refused to put my kids in any school/program that I felt compromised their health or ability to learn life skills.

[Anonymous]

DCUM is a bubble, and especially in threads like this. I don't think things like this are terribly uncommon in the US as a whole. Probably like 20%, not the 0.1% this thread implies. That doesn't make it healthy or right or "fine," but I don't think it's shockingly rare, either.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DCUM is a bubble, and especially in threads like this. I don't think things like this are terribly uncommon in the US as a whole. Probably like 20%, not the 0.1% this thread implies. That doesn't make it healthy or right or "fine," but I don't think it's shockingly rare, either.

+1

[Anonymous]

Our 9 yo does not do that, and we're pretty lenient with screens. we just banned tik tok too.

[Anonymous]

My kids are 15 and 18 and don't go to bed with screens of any sort. 15 YO is allowed to use phone as an alarm as long as it sits on the desk a few steps away from bed and not in the bed. Laptop gets charged in my room overnight.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My kids are 15 and 18 and don't go to bed with screens of any sort. 15 YO is allowed to use phone as an alarm as long as it sits on the desk a few steps away from bed and not in the bed. Laptop gets charged in my room overnight.

18? Are you planning to go to college with them and patrol?