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I was born in 91, so for the first half of childhood (0 - 9) there were no tablets or smartphones or smart TVs around. During the latter part of my childhood (1

I was born in 91, so for the first half of childhood (0 - 9) there were no tablets or smartphones or smart TVs around. During the latter part of my childhood (10 - 17) these things started to propagate but we were still in the initial phases of smartphones and social networks. We had game consoles growing up but they were not as networked as they are now. Watching my goddaughter (age 3) is pretty terrifying, she knows how to operate Netflix and has seen some movies dozens of times, she spends a lot of time on tablets and smartphones and is already conditioned to them. It's difficult for me to see parents capitulate to their younger kids outbursts and simply hand them a phone to placate them, I'm not a parent yet but given everything I know about the companies behind big tech I don't feel comfortable giving my child access to a phone until high school. If I was able to survive w/o one I'm sure they can too.

jstarfish 8y ago
Some things are subjectively "better" than they used to be though. My kids may spend too much time watching Netflix, but at least for every 30 minutes of screen time, they're getting 30 minutes of pure edu/entertainment and not dividing their attention 50% between filler content and commercials. For better or worse, they have no patience for ads. > I don't feel comfortable giving my child access to a phone until high school. Good luck with that. I said the same, and by the time my oldest hit middle school all her friends already had iPhones themselves, which led to teasing and exclusion for those in the clique that didn't. The worst part is the lack of visibility. Everything happens in private, on encrypted devices wielded by immature humans you are legally and morally responsible for. If someone's grooming or harassing your kid, this pattern of circumstances ensures you may never know until it's too late.

jstarfish 8y ago

Some things are subjectively "better" than they used to be though. My kids may spend too much time watching Netflix, but at least for every 30 minutes of screen time, they're getting 30 minutes of pure edu/entertainment and not dividing their attention 50% between filler content and commercials. For better or worse, they have no patience for ads. > I don't feel comfortable giving my child access to a phone until high school. Good luck with that. I said the same, and by the time my oldest hit middle school all her friends already had iPhones themselves, which led to teasing and exclusion for those in the clique that didn't. The worst part is the lack of visibility. Everything happens in private, on encrypted devices wielded by immature humans you are legally and morally responsible for. If someone's grooming or harassing your kid, this pattern of circumstances ensures you may never know until it's too late.