Reply to Could you please keep your kids off the screens when family is visiting?

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]i think everyone here is agreeing that for a few hours, yes, there should be no screens. But for all day or extended day visits, I don't think kids should have to be social for that entire time. Some kids need down time from people whether that is [b]reading, playing solitair, watching a show or playing a game on the ipad[/b]. 
Not everyone LOVES to be around people for extended periods of time, I know i sure don't so why would i expect my kid. 
We are kind, welcoming, social, but to a point. I don't need to be tethered to you 24/7 to have a bonding experience. [/quote]

Of those options, I would love to see more of the first two. I’d be completely sympathetic if an introverted and/or cranky child needed some time to themselves away from cousins and noise to read, play Legos, etc. in their room. But I view screens as different. As PPs have mentioned, screens are addictive, so I perceive a child who chooses to spend hours on his iPad at a time (when there are cousins around) as suffering from that addiction. I don’t even mind about manners, etc. I only have pity for those children because of all the valuable time they missed interacting with books or toys or people while their nose was buried in a screen.

Also, even for the truly introverted kids, it would be great if, for the sake of civility and being a good host, their parents strongly encouraged them to spend some time with their cousins before retreating into a room, and thought up some parallel play type games (or even a group movie).[/quote]

You’re still not getting it though.

There are plenty of kids that are overwhelmed just being in the large group area, and if the parent prioritizes the kid being visible, a screen is a better distraction from that discomfort than a book.  Books allow for some escapism, but not in the same multi-sensory way that devices do.  And a card game is asking to be interrupted!

Do you view reading on a tablet or using one of the many read-to-me or read-along apps the same way?  What about apps like khan academy, prodigy, ixl?  If you don’t know precisely what they’re doing, how do you know how worthwhile it is?

Please stop imposing your views on children who aren’t yours.  You don’t know why they’re allowed to be on screens.[/quote]

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