A Dark Consensus About Screens and Kids Begins to Emerge in Silicon Valley

[Anonymous]

Have you seen this nytimes article? https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/26/style/phones-children-silicon-valley.html?action=click&module=Top%20Stories&pgtype=Homepage

"Technologists building these products and writers observing the tech revolution were naïve, he said.

“We thought we could control it,” Mr. Anderson said. “And this is beyond our power to control. This is going straight to the pleasure centers of the developing brain. This is beyond our capacity as regular parents to understand.”

He has five children and 12 tech rules. They include: no phones until the summer before high school, no screens in bedrooms, network-level content blocking, no social media until age 13, no iPads at all and screen time schedules enforced by Google Wifi that he controls from his phone. Bad behavior? The child goes offline for 24 hours."

Wondering if you all severely restrict screen time? Kinda scary that the makers of this tech are afraid of it for their own children

[Anonymous]

I saw this article and it was really lacking in any proof.

However, we have always limited screen time.

[Anonymous]

this is kind of what we do already.

[Anonymous]

Why social media at 13? My oldest is only 11, but I plan to restrict social media as long as he is in my house.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why social media at 13? My oldest is only 11, but I plan to restrict social media as long as he is in my house.

Many parents allow it younger. Even though the terms of service make it really clear, asking for date of birth. The parents or kids lie.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why social media at 13? My oldest is only 11, but I plan to restrict social media as long as he is in my house.

Because of COPPA

[Anonymous]

I have seen this in tech communities in Boston. They preschoolers go to playbased schools with zero screens and the less well resourced private next door has a lot of iPads and tech. The difference? The kids in the less well resourced school aren't rude and are better behaved. There is a training to be a proletariat joke in there but it hits too close to home.

[Anonymous]

Yep. I work at a tech company and our kids have VERY little tv or screens. None at all before 2. Maybe one baby animal video a week going forward.

Now at 7 and almost 6, they still get very little screen time. Sometimes a movie on a long flight, or a tv show when they're sick (generally a cooking show or something like XFactor).

[Anonymous]

The trouble for us started when our private school announced each child going forward would have their own iPad - from grade 2. It was awful. We had to change schools after a few years because the kids wouldn't want to do anything else after school. It was like detox every night.

My sister's kids - who go to public schools in Cupertino - definitely have very little computer time at school and homework is still done by hand. In high school, essays and what not are typed but all other subjects are handwritten. Not sure what the rush is to make kids "tech literate" when Bill Gates and Steve Jobs didn't have the internet in school.

[Anonymous]

Our private required laptops starting in 6th grade and it’s been hell ever since. Constant battle to monitor and take away.

[Anonymous]

No screens at home and smart boards, computers and coding, as well as iPads at school and only school sounds like the way to go.

DD is only 3 and we limit screen time. We have seen it becoming addictive to her.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I saw this article and it was really lacking in any proof.

However, we have always limited screen time.

+1

This is just an opinion, backed by nothing.

[Anonymous]

Several generations have grown up watching TV and playing video games. Is it really so different? Sure, I would prefer my kids do activities that don’t involve screens most of the time. But they have also learned a lot from watching shows about history, nature, etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Our private required laptops starting in 6th grade and it’s been hell ever since. Constant battle to monitor and take away.

Then it's lucky they provided it so you can use this time to figure out how to teach your kid to self regulate. Better now than in college.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Several generations have grown up watching TV and playing video games. Is it really so different? Sure, I would prefer my kids do activities that don’t involve screens most of the time. But they have also learned a lot from watching shows about history, nature, etc.

Its not. TV watching has changed to tablets and internet.

My 8 year old has a Gizmo for my needs, not his.

You need to teach your kids balance and not either extreme.