Reply to I would like to hear from professionals about screen use

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I'm a child psychologist. DH is a (non-child) psychologist who works in tech. Our kids are not allowed any screens except for Facetiming distant relatives, unless we're on an airplane, until they need screens for school. We purposely picked a school that's very low screen. [/quote]

Can you explain your rationale?[/quote]

I'm not going to link to all the studies but we've read them on how detrimental screen use is to kids (heck, and to adults) and their developing minds/sense of self but they exist, and have been published for years.  Yes, we live in a technological world, but it's not hard to learn and "catching up" won't take much time at all. There are no legit studies out there concluding that kids should view more screens. When you combine that with the growing number of screen addictions it's a very simple conclusion.[/quote]

Really? So, the studies showing positive outcomes from Sesame Street (over 50 years) are just all full o' crap (in your opinion)? I'm in education research, technology specifically, and I most certainly would not say there are "no legit studies" concluding that all screens are always terrible under all circumstances. That's a wild overstatement and not the way actual scientists conceptualize scientific findings.

As with many things in life, screens are complicated. Dosage matters. Opportunity costs matter. Quality matters. A kid who watches YouTube junk eight hours a day and gets little attention (especially talk and read time) with their caregivers and little gross/fine motor exercise may well suffer. However, even that depends on what the alternatives are. If the kid might otherwise be out on the street where they may potentially get shot or jumped into gangs, then I'll take eight hours of YouTube junk and consider it a win for that family in those circumstances.

OTOH, if the family can provide it, a kid who watches an hour of Sesame Street or the Wild Kratts with their caregiver, during which they discuss what they are seeing, and then follow it up with a walk to the library to get a book to read together about what they just saw, is in no danger from the screen itself. In fact, that child may gain and grow from the experience.

I realize for many parents it's much harder to do the second scenario than it is to simply say "no screens." And if "no screens" works for your family, then you do you. But it's also not right to terrify parents into thinking screens are always bad for everyone. They're not. [/quote]

Can you please link those studies on the benefit of a child watching Sesame Street if not under-privileged?

And for our MC and UMC kids, are there no better ways to learn what those shows teach or a better use of that time?

Look, I let my kids watch one show every day but I’m not going to pretend it’s good for them at 3 and 5.  [/quote]

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