Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

My kids are 9 and 12 (so JUUUUUUST outside your age range). They each get an hour a week. During the school year they get none.

Sometimes they want to watch different things and I pretend not to notice if the 12 yr old is watching during the 9 yr old's hour and thus getting two hours.

Wow. So if your 12 year old wanted to watch a movie, she would have to watch it over a two-week period? Sounds fun!

The kids don't watch movies at home. We're a very low-screen household.

What do they do all day?

They come over to our house and beg to play video games instead of playing outside. At least, that's what the no- and low-screen household kids in our neighborhood do. My DS hates when those kids come over and don't really want to play, but are just looking for a long screen fix, unbeknownst to their low-screen parents.

This! My daughter stopped inviting certain friends over because they are glued to electronics at our house due to not having internet at home or being limited in their electronics. To the point they won't do anything else.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kids are 9 and 12 (so JUUUUUUST outside your age range). They each get an hour a week. During the school year they get none.

Sometimes they want to watch different things and I pretend not to notice if the 12 yr old is watching during the 9 yr old's hour and thus getting two hours.

During the school year they get NONE????

You've seen how Amish kids rebel because they know that living so extreme for kids their age is antiquated... well, your 12 year old is JUUUUUUST on the cusp of that.

You may pride yourself on low screen time, but kids who feel stifled or "less than" their friends will start to rebel & eventually end up hating their parents.

Why so extreme to not have ANY screen time during the school year?

+1000, wow!
No screen time during the school year tells me that you want your family to be the Brady Bunch. What 12 year old has a lemonade stand in the winter???

Anonymous wrote:My kids are 9 and 12 (so JUUUUUUST outside your age range). They each get an hour a week. During the school year they get none.

Sometimes they want to watch different things and I pretend not to notice if the 12 yr old is watching during the 9 yr old's hour and thus getting two hours.

During the school year they get NONE????

You've seen how Amish kids rebel because they know that living so extreme for kids their age is antiquated... well, your 12 year old is JUUUUUUST on the cusp of that.

You may pride yourself on low screen time, but kids who feel stifled or "less than" their friends will start to rebel & eventually end up hating their parents.

Why so extreme to not have ANY screen time during the school year?

This is a great topic. There's also a connection between too much screen-time for our kids (I have 5) and their lack of outdoor play. I work with a vision health group in DC-area and this recent blog post from their site talks about the correlation between to many screens, too little outdoor play and resulting eye health issues. Google Treehouse Eyes and check our blog.
thx
Thom

So if my kid is running and biking around the neighborhood with his buddies, chasing Pokemon -- does that count as screen time or physical/social play? Or do they cancel each other out? Kinda confused here.

Need to know how to put it on the timesheet.

Dang phone - meant DS and DD

DS and DH the same age. We don't have limits either and their time is filled with other stuff - weeding the yard, waking the dog, playing basketball, making some parts of dinner, swinging in the neighbors hammock, reading, playing magic together. They watched one cartoon this morning and had about an hour on the computer this afternoon emailing some friends from camp, playing a game and doing some math summer assignments. Last night we watched two hours of the pBS show the Greeks. So far so good.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

My kids are 9 and 12 (so JUUUUUUST outside your age range). They each get an hour a week. During the school year they get none.

Sometimes they want to watch different things and I pretend not to notice if the 12 yr old is watching during the 9 yr old's hour and thus getting two hours.

Wow. So if your 12 year old wanted to watch a movie, she would have to watch it over a two-week period? Sounds fun!

The kids don't watch movies at home. We're a very low-screen household.

What do they do all day?

They go to camp, they make jewelry, they walk and play with the dog, they go to the nearby park and play on playground equipment or bring a basketball, they make homemade body scrubs (mostly the older one), do nail art, play in the driveway (chalk, ball, etc), play on the trampoline, go swimming, read, write stories, cook, go to the library/book stores, have friends over, etc.

That sounds awesome. Good for you because these are the things they'll remember fondly. I can honestly say that I never get excited and say "wow yeah watching TV was so fun growing up!"'I look back on the days I would write stories, play school with my friends, play ball and swim with my brother. You're doing it right.

My son plays in the morning before we go to the pool and after we come home. I don't let him play during the school year except on weekends. He also had summer math and reading to do. Plus, we take the dog for a walk every evening. He probably plays for hours a day. He goes to camp a few states away for a month so it isn't like this is all summer long.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

My kids are 9 and 12 (so JUUUUUUST outside your age range). They each get an hour a week. During the school year they get none.

Sometimes they want to watch different things and I pretend not to notice if the 12 yr old is watching during the 9 yr old's hour and thus getting two hours.

Wow. So if your 12 year old wanted to watch a movie, she would have to watch it over a two-week period? Sounds fun!

The kids don't watch movies at home. We're a very low-screen household.

What do they do all day?

What did kids do before the age of electronics? How about using their imaginations, being creative and playing? How about going to the pool, doing arts and crafts, reading, having a lemonade stand etc - are these really such archaic activities?

When I tell my patients to limit their screen time, ALL the parents nod their heads and tell their kids "See, I told you - even your Doctor says so."

For me, it would sound way more impressive if your kids could actually self regulate. Instead you give a 12 year old a time slot. I wouldn't be surprised if these kids go overboard the first chance they get. We don't have TV, only internet and I don't like too much screen time either but what you describe is just keeping kids artificlly small.

Well, luckily I'm not limiting screen time to impress you. As you probably are, I'm parenting by doing what I think is best. They will get the chance to self-regulate when they're older. I have two much older kids who were able to do this successfully, so I have confidence in this working.

The tone of your post was to impress Doctor.
I wish you and your kids the best. I am letting my kids fail on purpose before they reach 18 and hope they can learn from their mistakes and self regulate.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

My kids are 9 and 12 (so JUUUUUUST outside your age range). They each get an hour a week. During the school year they get none.

Sometimes they want to watch different things and I pretend not to notice if the 12 yr old is watching during the 9 yr old's hour and thus getting two hours.

Wow. So if your 12 year old wanted to watch a movie, she would have to watch it over a two-week period? Sounds fun!

The kids don't watch movies at home. We're a very low-screen household.

What do they do all day?

What did kids do before the age of electronics? How about using their imaginations, being creative and playing? How about going to the pool, doing arts and crafts, reading, having a lemonade stand etc - are these really such archaic activities?

When I tell my patients to limit their screen time, ALL the parents nod their heads and tell their kids "See, I told you - even your Doctor says so."

For me, it would sound way more impressive if your kids could actually self regulate. Instead you give a 12 year old a time slot. I wouldn't be surprised if these kids go overboard the first chance they get. We don't have TV, only internet and I don't like too much screen time either but what you describe is just keeping kids artificlly small.

Well, luckily I'm not limiting screen time to impress you. As you probably are, I'm parenting by doing what I think is best. They will get the chance to self-regulate when they're older. I have two much older kids who were able to do this successfully, so I have confidence in this working.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

My kids are 9 and 12 (so JUUUUUUST outside your age range). They each get an hour a week. During the school year they get none.

Sometimes they want to watch different things and I pretend not to notice if the 12 yr old is watching during the 9 yr old's hour and thus getting two hours.

Wow. So if your 12 year old wanted to watch a movie, she would have to watch it over a two-week period? Sounds fun!

The kids don't watch movies at home. We're a very low-screen household.

What do they do all day?

They go to camp, they make jewelry, they walk and play with the dog, they go to the nearby park and play on playground equipment or bring a basketball, they make homemade body scrubs (mostly the older one), do nail art, play in the driveway (chalk, ball, etc), play on the trampoline, go swimming, read, write stories, cook, go to the library/book stores, have friends over, etc.

Friday - Saturday - Sunday, 30-45 minutes each day to be used on whatever screen, iPad Xbox TV

During the week educational screen time is allowed for class projects or homework.

They also have physical activity requirement of 2x1 minutes

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

My kids are 9 and 12 (so JUUUUUUST outside your age range). They each get an hour a week. During the school year they get none.

Sometimes they want to watch different things and I pretend not to notice if the 12 yr old is watching during the 9 yr old's hour and thus getting two hours.

Wow. So if your 12 year old wanted to watch a movie, she would have to watch it over a two-week period? Sounds fun!

The kids don't watch movies at home. We're a very low-screen household.

What do they do all day?

They come over to our house and beg to play video games instead of playing outside. At least, that's what the no- and low-screen household kids in our neighborhood do. My DS hates when those kids come over and don't really want to play, but are just looking for a long screen fix, unbeknownst to their low-screen parents.

That may be true of your experience but not all cases. My oldest is slightly out of the age range, and we are a low-ish screen household -- more than some, much less than others. In DC's case he's come home this summer, sometimes early because his friends in high-/unrestricted screen households just want to play video games. He likes them but not to the exclusion of actually doing something IRL. It comes down to the kids and some sort of balance point which is different for every family. Forbiding the screens can make it a forbidden fruit, while allowing too much can turn a kid into a lump.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

My kids are 9 and 12 (so JUUUUUUST outside your age range). They each get an hour a week. During the school year they get none.

Sometimes they want to watch different things and I pretend not to notice if the 12 yr old is watching during the 9 yr old's hour and thus getting two hours.

Wow. So if your 12 year old wanted to watch a movie, she would have to watch it over a two-week period? Sounds fun!

The kids don't watch movies at home. We're a very low-screen household.

What do they do all day?

What did kids do before the age of electronics? How about using their imaginations, being creative and playing? How about going to the pool, doing arts and crafts, reading, having a lemonade stand etc - are these really such archaic activities?

When I tell my patients to limit their screen time, ALL the parents nod their heads and tell their kids "See, I told you - even your Doctor says so."

For me, it would sound way more impressive if your kids could actually self regulate. Instead you give a 12 year old a time slot. I wouldn't be surprised if these kids go overboard the first chance they get. We don't have TV, only internet and I don't like too much screen time either but what you describe is just keeping kids artificlly small.