Anonymous wrote:A child does not need any screen time. Neither does an adult actually.

Hmm….

Re: Adults, I must beg to differ.

I NEED screen time (or at least it feels this way anyway.) 😂

No iPhones or iPads. Kid has a portable story teller. Gets about 40 minutes of TV 2-3 times per week in target language (FaceTiming with family on laptop/cartoons. Allegedly minimal screens in immersion preK. Kid is 4.5. Because multilingualism is our primary family goal at this point, we feel this is a reasonable midway approach.

There are no upsides to screen time for the child's development. Educational TV is not really valuable, it's just less harmful than total garbage.

I let my child have screen time sometimes but that is for ME as a parent.

Anonymous wrote:Surely if you have a 4 yo with no screen time than you are already familiar with the research that supports this decision…

OP here. I am familiar with the research. I’m also confident it’s the right thing to do. Still, I do I like hearing other peoples input because it further helps to reinforce. Especially hearing from other parents going through the same things. I appreciate the feedback I’ve gotten from everyone - including the one that called me a troll!

Surely if you have a 4 yo with no screen time than you are already familiar with the research that supports this decision…

Troll.

A child does not need any screen time. Neither does an adult actually.

Everything in moderation

Your kid can get eye hand coordination by stringing beads, by playing at throwing beanbags to knock things down, by coloring, a thousand things that are better than screens.

PPs are right, your kid is missing out on nothing. My kid learned what she needed to know about tablets in about 30 minutes in K when she had to learn to navigate one for a school assessment. They are designed to be intuitive. Meanwhile, teaching your kid to enjoy life without looking at screens is hard. They are so addictive. Keep restricting. It gets harder every year but it's so worth it.

Zero zero zero zero
Do not give your toddler or preschooler an iPhone. We are now seeing a generation of kids who have zilch attention span, no empathy, and an inability to muster through hard tasks. I believe a lot of that is due to dependence on screens at a young age.

He will learn typing in a week when he is older. If we are even typing on phones in ten years.

The other kid will never learn to entertain himself, wait, talk to adults, etc.

I let my 3 yr old watch some shows, but he never has access to a screen where he could type or engage with it like that. I don’t worry about him missing out on anything. There is lots of time for your kid to learn how to use screens. Before you know it they’ll be on screens all day at school and at home.

Oh my gosh no, definitely not missing ANYTHING in terms of hand eye coordination. No one who studies this stuff would ever tell you to worry about that. A little is fine, less is better but a little isn’t going to cause any problems but you absolutely don’t need them to be watching on an iPhone (and it’s fine if some parents are! Everyone does what works for them but no, your child isn’t missing anything)

My 4 year old currently has (and always has) had near zero screen time. I recently saw another child at a restaurant using an iPhone and he was typing incredibly well. I never really thought about the fact that my child might be missing out on hand eye opportunities. What are everyone's thoughts on screen time?