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I find it terribly complicated. My 3yo doesn't watch any screen yet, but I have a dilemma. On one side, there's a huge world of cool visual and auditive content

by feiss 8y ago

I find it terribly complicated. My 3yo doesn't watch any screen yet, but I have a dilemma. On one side, there's a huge world of cool visual and auditive content that can be exciting, stimulating and an amazing tool for learning and discovering the world. On the other side, I'm very aware of how absorbing and addictive is, and how difficult is to ration it. Anyway, I feel she's still too young. She doesn't ask for it yet, so why start? She's already very busy discovering the world by herself with all her senses.

rayiner 8y ago
My daughter got an iPad at that age. We never really policed it, and she’s now a very athletic and well adjusted 6 year old. Children have a natural inclination for physical play. An iPad can be stimulating, but it’s not as engaging for a kid as it is for an adult.
giarc 8y ago
I'm a parent and my girls get time with Netflix/tablet/tv etc. We control the time and don't really have issues there (of course there are cries for "shows" sometimes, but we can put the remote out of their reach). Anyways, I find the best thing is to pre-screen the content. For a week or so at Christmas my oldest daughter got really into "toy unboxing videos" on youtube. They are mindless, pile of crap videos with millions/billions of views. We set out to find better content and directed her to those. We settled on a character called "Blippi". It's still silly enough for her to stay engaged, but he does videos on garbage trucks and helicopters etc so we feel like there is some learning going on. As she ages, the content we'll direct her to will change. The moral here I guess is you have the power to control the time and content, so do it.
porpoisely 8y ago
That's interesting. I've heard it the other way. Young children are easily distracted so it's hard for them to get addicted to the screen. It's older kids that are susceptible to getting addicted. I wonder whether introducing the technology when they are younger helps remove the addictive allure of the technology or enhances it.
citizenkeen 8y ago
My wife works with kids who get too much screen time, so I can say this. Not all screen time is the same. The key, key thing is - how involved is the parent? I'd rather my kid watching useless bouncing balls with me on the couch next to him talking to him about it than watching something "educational" (ha) with me in the next room. Our 2.5yo gets twenty minutes of Netflix a day (because he likes animals and I can't take him to the zoo every day). But either my wife or I (or usually both) sit on the couch with him and talk to him about what he's seeing. Don't be scared of screen time. Be scared of screen time as a babysitter.

by feiss 8y ago

rayiner 8y ago

My daughter got an iPad at that age. We never really policed it, and she’s now a very athletic and well adjusted 6 year old. Children have a natural inclination for physical play. An iPad can be stimulating, but it’s not as engaging for a kid as it is for an adult.

giarc 8y ago

I'm a parent and my girls get time with Netflix/tablet/tv etc. We control the time and don't really have issues there (of course there are cries for "shows" sometimes, but we can put the remote out of their reach). Anyways, I find the best thing is to pre-screen the content. For a week or so at Christmas my oldest daughter got really into "toy unboxing videos" on youtube. They are mindless, pile of crap videos with millions/billions of views. We set out to find better content and directed her to those. We settled on a character called "Blippi". It's still silly enough for her to stay engaged, but he does videos on garbage trucks and helicopters etc so we feel like there is some learning going on. As she ages, the content we'll direct her to will change. The moral here I guess is you have the power to control the time and content, so do it.

porpoisely 8y ago

That's interesting. I've heard it the other way. Young children are easily distracted so it's hard for them to get addicted to the screen. It's older kids that are susceptible to getting addicted. I wonder whether introducing the technology when they are younger helps remove the addictive allure of the technology or enhances it.

citizenkeen 8y ago

My wife works with kids who get too much screen time, so I can say this. Not all screen time is the same. The key, key thing is - how involved is the parent? I'd rather my kid watching useless bouncing balls with me on the couch next to him talking to him about it than watching something "educational" (ha) with me in the next room. Our 2.5yo gets twenty minutes of Netflix a day (because he likes animals and I can't take him to the zoo every day). But either my wife or I (or usually both) sit on the couch with him and talk to him about what he's seeing. Don't be scared of screen time. Be scared of screen time as a babysitter.