Reply to Raising your kids screen-free (or minimal screens) -- experience from parents with older kids?

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]My boys play a fair amount of video games, but they always prefer going outside to play. They play a good amount of board games and nerf wars & dodgeball in the basement when the weather is bad.

We never put strict limits on screens or made a big deal out of it. We don't harp on healthy eating nor count grams of sugar. Somehow they know not to sit around eating pop tarts & chips all day.

It's harder to parent & raise children who can recognize & live an overall healthy lifestyle of moderation than to siply say No, we don't allow screen time or sugar in our house. Those parents are the ones who have children stuffing their faces with candy & pop at friends' houses. [/quote]

I think it is largely temperament, but habits play a role. We didn’t give our oldest sugar until he was 2 or 3. But by that point he decided he didn’t have a sweet tooth. Trying to give him candy was hilarious — he acted like we were trying to poison him. To this day he won’t touch candy, chocolate, ice cream, etc. He gets excited about vegetables and fruits. Is that due to parenting or temperament? Not sure, TBH.

It is all just anecdata, anyway. For every family like yours there is another one whose kids are addicted to sugar and screentime. Personally, knowing that processed food and certain kinds of platforms/games are deliberately designed to be addictive, I think that if you aren’t somewhat disciplined about instilling good habits and your kids have an addictive personality or other issues you may run into trouble. Addictions don’t surface when things are going well. They are insidious. I worked closely with college kids in a residential setting for almost a decade, and the rate of people who struggled with their work due to screen addiction was alarmingly high. When kids confront a situation of stress unlike what they have known before they go looking for familiar coping mechanisms.

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