All the screens

[Anonymous]

So my kids wander around the house watching netflix on their ipad, reading the news and books from the library, and listening to nonstop audiobooks.

On top of that we have a nightly routine of the whole family watching some movie or HGTV or cooking show.

I know they said "let loose of the screens" but I feel like we may be lilting too far off kilter.

But at same token, they aren't watching terrible youtube or tiktok videos, and even the shows run more on the spectrum of Pinkalicious, Property Brothers, and Madame Secretary, so maybe I should be patient with this weird phase.

We don't have a real playable backyard, just a small patio, so they will take their ipads out there and read/watch outside which is nice though I wish they would take a real book or magazine, or just play catch with a baseball.

But I want to cut them off, I want to give them the gift of boredom to spur creativity, but they do all their schoolwork and chores, and I worry taking this away won't spur creativity but instead a general strike and resentment.

How are people managing now that screens are our lives (I mean, I'm working all day on my computer, or grocery shopping, or bill paying, so hard to lead by example).

[Anonymous]

How old?

[Anonymous]

Get your spouse on board or it won’t work.

Tell them you’re having different rules for the school year. Maybe things like no screens at meal times, no recreational screens in bedroom.

Replace the tv show with reading stories aloud, board games, puzzles.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Get your spouse on board or it won’t work.

Tell them you’re having different rules for the school year. Maybe things like no screens at meal times, no recreational screens in bedroom.

Replace the tv show with reading stories aloud, board games, puzzles.

We have no screens at dinner time, but when they are making their own lunch in between camps we let them read the news or an ebook.

We have tons of things to do, such as puzzles, legos, kiwi kits, etc but board games are rough b/c the age range 13 and 9 means they don’t like same games or skill level.

School year will make it somewhat easier I think, b/c they will have more structure.

[Anonymous]

My kid does not have excessive screen time but we dont have set limits either.
Starting next week we are homeschooling and I have told DD (8) no screens at all between 9-2 on weekdays.

Assuming u are doing DL you could do something similar where they can watch zoom or school stuff but no other screen time during the school day, or whatever hours you set.

[Anonymous]

Many of us grew up watching TV from the minute we got home until bedtime, with a break for dinner. Looking back, it wasn't great, but we turned out OK. (I mean, we watched Popeye and Roadrunner, and a lot of violent and stupid stuff.) Our kids will be fine if they have attentive parents.

Even a year (or two) of this craziness shouldn't make profound differences in their development. PBS Kids is teaching my boos so much!!!!!

Let's all breath.

[Anonymous]

OP, I probably wouldn't choose to make this a battle right now. But if you want them watching less screens, maybe do that by adding in other types of family time as opposed to putting a ban on screen time.

It's like a diet where instead of eating less sugar, you decide to eat more leafy greens, and you naturally eat less sugar as a result.

So, maybe do a family board game night once a week instead of the TV / movie thing.

And add a hike or family bike ride or something in there too.

[Anonymous]

Most of this sounds fine. It's really better to think about the actual activity they are doing/thing they are accessing (audio books, news, cooking show) rather than dismissing it all because it's "screens". Why would the same activity be better because it's coming from a "real book" rather than an audiobook? It's just a different method of access. As you said it's not the same as awful Tiktok, or YouTube.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Many of us grew up watching TV from the minute we got home until bedtime, with a break for dinner. Looking back, it wasn't great, but we turned out OK. (I mean, we watched Popeye and Roadrunner, and a lot of violent and stupid stuff.) Our kids will be fine if they have attentive parents.

Even a year (or two) of this craziness shouldn't make profound differences in their development. PBS Kids is teaching my boos so much!!!!!

Let's all breath.

When I was about 4, I started watching tv from 3:30 when I got home from school, to about 6 -6:30 when my dad got home from work and dinner was ready. Then after dinner we'd all watch sitcoms together. Eh. I have friends, love to read, volunteer, explore neighborhoods in my city and work full time now..

[Anonymous]

I think the big loss of this is your children's ability to be bored. When they're glued to their screens outside or in the car, they're missing just staring into space. Their nervous systems are being stimulated constantly. Each kid reacts differently to this... some are okay when the battery dies or it's time to turn off. Most have meltdowns.

Heck I remember the meltdowns my brother and I had over the 1992 era gameboy or whose turn it was to play Sim City. Today's content is 1000x more stimulating. The argument that me as a child watching Days of our Lives, Saturday morning cartoons, Gilligan's Island reruns and (shhh) the early episodes of Real World or MTV Beach House is no different from my children being plugged into the constantly available stream of stimulation is disingenuous.


Can the wireless router pw be secretly changed so only your devices connect to wifi and theirs mysteriously don't work for a week or so?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Most of this sounds fine. It's really better to think about the actual activity they are doing/thing they are accessing (audio books, news, cooking show) rather than dismissing it all because it's "screens". Why would the same activity be better because it's coming from a "real book" rather than an audiobook? It's just a different method of access. As you said it's not the same as awful Tiktok, or YouTube.

I like audiobooks, and my kids use them regularly. However neurological data shows that the most areas of the brain are challenged by reading print. Audiobooks are less challenging to the brain. Watching something on the screen is when the brain is most passive. Whether or not challenging the brain is good is probably highly situationally dependent. Still audiobooks are different than physical books. Books on a screen are different too (not sure about Kindle, but more talking about those digital books by apps like Hoopla).

[Anonymous]

Its hard OP, but you can do it. Cut them off the screens. Put out games and toys. Give them time and they will figure it out. Childhood is too fleeting to waste on stupid shows and screens. Take charge. You can do this!

Anonymous wrote:So my kids wander around the house watching netflix on their ipad, reading the news and books from the library, and listening to nonstop audiobooks.

On top of that we have a nightly routine of the whole family watching some movie or HGTV or cooking show.

I know they said "let loose of the screens" but I feel like we may be lilting too far off kilter.

But at same token, they aren't watching terrible youtube or tiktok videos, and even the shows run more on the spectrum of Pinkalicious, Property Brothers, and Madame Secretary, so maybe I should be patient with this weird phase.

We don't have a real playable backyard, just a small patio, so they will take their ipads out there and read/watch outside which is nice though I wish they would take a real book or magazine, or just play catch with a baseball.

But I want to cut them off, I want to give them the gift of boredom to spur creativity, but they do all their schoolwork and chores, and I worry taking this away won't spur creativity but instead a general strike and resentment.

How are people managing now that screens are our lives (I mean, I'm working all day on my computer, or grocery shopping, or bill paying, so hard to lead by example).

[Anonymous]

I would definitely set limits OP. This is definitely too much. We do real books from the library and only use ebooks on rare occasions. We also limit other screen time as well. Do your kids even know what to do without their screens? Mine would never just play if they were always allowed screens.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Many of us grew up watching TV from the minute we got home until bedtime, with a break for dinner. Looking back, it wasn't great, but we turned out OK. (I mean, we watched Popeye and Roadrunner, and a lot of violent and stupid stuff.) Our kids will be fine if they have attentive parents.

Even a year (or two) of this craziness shouldn't make profound differences in their development. PBS Kids is teaching my boos so much!!!!!

Let's all breath.

I don't know you, but I love you. I also watched Dallas every Friday night while eating Jiffypop....

[Anonymous]

I’m struggling with this also. I think older kids are tricky. Mine are 12 and 14 and different genders and past playing with toys really. I want them to find things off screens to do but frankly after spending so much time at home for the last 6 Months there isn’t that much they want to do.