19 ms·
If I “let my kids go”, they go to the TV, iPad, or Kindle. My kids, like most of their friends, get structured time so they don’t always fall back on what they
by sulam 8y ago
If I “let my kids go”, they go to the TV, iPad, or Kindle.
My kids, like most of their friends, get structured time so they don’t always fall back on what they do during unstructured time — technology stuff. I can take away those options (and we do that during the week), but if I want them to have fun the way they define it, often that means an iPad. And I offer to go climbing, hiking, etc with them, but so far it’s the older one that will embrace that while the younger sees it as a chore that takes her away from Roblox or some other game. That’s the irony of “free range” parenting — the “free” part explicitly excludes an option that didn’t exist when I was a kid because of what looks an awful lot like nostalgia.
- socrates1998 8y agoI should have clarified that when I say unstructured, I meant without any screens. Basically, you tell the kid they can do whatever they want without screens. Be creative, play a sport, walk around, read a book, go explore.... whatever, as long as it isn't tech related.
- saint_fiasco 8y agoWhat's so bad about that? I have lots of good nostalgic memories of climbing trees and stuff on my early childhood, and of LAN parties and couch gaming on my late childhood. Both were "unproductive" and seen by adults as "pointless". Both were very fun.