4 ms·

There is always a tendency to blame the addiction on the substance, but it's usually symptomatic of something deeper. In this case I think it's happening becau

There is always a tendency to blame the addiction on the substance, but it's usually symptomatic of something deeper. In this case I think it's happening because parents don't have as much time to spend with their children as they have in past generations and screens are a convenient way of keeping a child occupied in a safe way.

maxxxxx 8y ago
You are partially right. But when I grew up there simply weren't that many things to tempt children as there are now. Even if I had wanted to have some there was no fast food around, there were no smart phones, no Facebook, no cable TV. We had to find ways to occupy ourselves be it reading or playing some games. It's hard for parents to fight off all these temptations.
skolos 8y ago
In past generations parents spent much less time with kids than now. Kids were mostly roaming streets. Now society frowns upon letting kids be outside nonsupervised, hence the substitution - screens indoors. Edit: Today parents spent twice as much time with kids as 50 years ago. https://www.economist.com/graphic-detail/2017/11/27/parents-now-spend-twice-as-much-time-with-their-children-as-50-years-ago https://www.economist.com/graphic-detail/2017/11/27/parents-...
- brightball 8y ago
  Part of that is that when roaming the streets, you knew the people on your street and usually had an idea that people were home to be able to call you to let you know there was a problem. Being at work is different than being "around and available" at home. Didn't have to be spending time with them directly to be available. When I was roaming at as kid it was to my other friends houses in my neighborhood and everywhere in between. I live in a fairly large neighborhood now and we only know one other boy in the neighborhood who is my son's age. It's unfortunate for him. At the same time, my daughter has several friends in the neighborhood her age and they play together all the time either at our house or the house of another parent who works from home. That said, when I was really little I watched a video of my 4 year old birthday party so many times I memorized it. My mom called it "the best babysitter." Even today I can play that video in my head.
- wefarrell 8y ago
  The content of that article makes a different claim than the headline. It's possible to spend time with a child without devoting time to child care, which is what the article specifically cites. This would be the case for family run farms, and up until very recently the majority of the world's population were farmers.
- wott 8y ago
  I wonder what the results would be if they included grand-parents (and similar close relatives) in the count of time spent. Because parents are not the only close adults being able to provide a 'parental' role of supervision and care; and families have gotten more and more split along the years, with an always more isolated parent(s)-child(ren) nucleus. Speaking of isolation, father's time may rise, mother's time may rise as well, and yet the time spent with parents may decrease too: think of the multiplication of single mothers (and to a lesser degree single fathers).
brylie 8y ago
It is also the responsibility of developers to apply some ethical guidelines. As it stands, media and games are being designed with addictive rewards to hook in adults and children alike, in the name of monetization.

maxxxxx 8y ago

You are partially right. But when I grew up there simply weren't that many things to tempt children as there are now. Even if I had wanted to have some there was no fast food around, there were no smart phones, no Facebook, no cable TV. We had to find ways to occupy ourselves be it reading or playing some games. It's hard for parents to fight off all these temptations.

skolos 8y ago

In past generations parents spent much less time with kids than now. Kids were mostly roaming streets. Now society frowns upon letting kids be outside nonsupervised, hence the substitution - screens indoors. Edit: Today parents spent twice as much time with kids as 50 years ago. https://www.economist.com/graphic-detail/2017/11/27/parents-now-spend-twice-as-much-time-with-their-children-as-50-years-ago https://www.economist.com/graphic-detail/2017/11/27/parents-...

brightball 8y ago
Part of that is that when roaming the streets, you knew the people on your street and usually had an idea that people were home to be able to call you to let you know there was a problem. Being at work is different than being "around and available" at home. Didn't have to be spending time with them directly to be available. When I was roaming at as kid it was to my other friends houses in my neighborhood and everywhere in between. I live in a fairly large neighborhood now and we only know one other boy in the neighborhood who is my son's age. It's unfortunate for him. At the same time, my daughter has several friends in the neighborhood her age and they play together all the time either at our house or the house of another parent who works from home. That said, when I was really little I watched a video of my 4 year old birthday party so many times I memorized it. My mom called it "the best babysitter." Even today I can play that video in my head.
wefarrell 8y ago
The content of that article makes a different claim than the headline. It's possible to spend time with a child without devoting time to child care, which is what the article specifically cites. This would be the case for family run farms, and up until very recently the majority of the world's population were farmers.
wott 8y ago
I wonder what the results would be if they included grand-parents (and similar close relatives) in the count of time spent. Because parents are not the only close adults being able to provide a 'parental' role of supervision and care; and families have gotten more and more split along the years, with an always more isolated parent(s)-child(ren) nucleus. Speaking of isolation, father's time may rise, mother's time may rise as well, and yet the time spent with parents may decrease too: think of the multiplication of single mothers (and to a lesser degree single fathers).

brylie 8y ago

It is also the responsibility of developers to apply some ethical guidelines. As it stands, media and games are being designed with addictive rewards to hook in adults and children alike, in the name of monetization.