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Teens turned their rooms into tech-free zones. This was the result
- skiffer 1y ago[dead]
- philipallstar 1y agoTeenagers finally experience parenting, even if it's only from themselves.
- exe34 1y agothey'll rebel against anything!
- codyb 1y agoI do enjoy how Eliza's big plan is to go sit on the stairs, and in her family's regular spots on the couch! Very funny and relatable
- Insanity 1y agoI know the world of technology is a different place now. But I _loved_ the fact that I had a computer in my room as a teenager in the early 2000s. It definitely contributed to me ending up in the career path where I am now, I enjoyed 'hacking' on the computer. And unlike the teenagers in the article, having the computer in my room gave me a sense of 'peace' in my room rather than vice versa. 'parenting' is not simply taking tech away from their children but rather about teaching a healthy relationship with technology, just as you would with food, sports, etc.
- captnasia 1y agoThe difference is when you were a teenager you didn't have algorithmic feeds keeping you glued to the screen like today's youth are.
- Insanity 1y agoI wholeheartedly agree, which is why I started my original comment with saying that the tech landscape is different now. The current internet is essentially an addictive substance that seriously harms mental health and cognitive ability. I'm not on social media, don't watch short-form content etc because I'm an adult and aware of the danger of these things. And I definitely think that parents should teach their kids the same, even if you can't outright forbid / ban it.
- skiffer 1y ago[dead]
- doubled112 1y agoI suppose I did have to create my own fun, solving self created problem after self created problem. It was a completely different set of skills. I still can't get into scrolling a feed hoping something is interesting. Sure, it happens in short bursts, but usually I'm trying to actually achieve something, even if it's only to satisfy a personal itch or curiosity.
- jajko 1y agoDepending on the technology and individual, there is very little 'healthy' technology for teens. I don't say 0, far from it, but given whats usually available its really a minimal set. Also there is very little of 'technological skill' to learn, clicking around could be understood by little kids, rest is just usage. Sure, hackers and generally brilliant folks may actually thrive, but they are rare and far apart in general population. There is endless stream of highly addictive technology, and those kids have absolutely 0 defenses against it. Alcoholics also never notice when they crossed the threshold of a proper addiction, its quiet and sneaky business as usual till you hit the wall hard in some way. What a great way to prepare for adult life, entering it with some heavy but peer-accepted psychological addiction or two. What could go wrong, raising a strong balanced individual right. Pride for any parent.
- Insanity 1y agoSadly, you are right. Everything is made to retain attention, feeding into the addiction. Games do this with live services and 'daily events', social media apps are tailored to keep you constantly hooked (I'm reading 'Algospeak' at the moment which talks about how linguistics plays a role here, recommended read). I don't think I know of a good parenting solution to this, to be honest. But if parents read this and want to chime in, I'm quite curious to see how others handle this. And I'm assuming the HN parenting crowd is a technical audience that understands the risks involved.
- UtopiaPunk 1y agoI have a toddler. We never let them play with a smartphone or tablet. Occasionally we show family photos, and rarely we will show them a video. But an adult is always holding the device and in control. The toddler does have a "Yoto," which is a thing that plays music and little stories for kids. They love it, and I think it's kind of cool. We also let them watch a few shows on TV, but only during the afternoon. It usually gives the adults a chance to do something else, like cook dinner, but if there's an adult available, we try to do something else besides watch TV. Jellyfin has been great for curating a small list of parent-approved shows, with no other shows vying for my kid's attention. When they get a little older, I would like to introduce video games. It would be either a home console with no online connection, or maybe some kind of Linux box that I've locked down. We will be avoiding social media and similar platforms for as long as we can. That is where I feel the most worst, brain-warping dangers exist.
- glitchc 1y agoThe very same, but those days are long gone. Nowadays, I find myself steering my kids away from a career in tech. It's such a dismal place to be.
- fellowniusmonk 1y agoWe really need some sort of home tech curriculum, like let a kid play around with a transistor, a 286, making an ascii game, like graduated engagement that tries to keep the stimulation growing with the knowledge instead of just getting hit with a consumption machine. Basically a tool to help kids realize they can be makers and not just consumers or products.
- bombcar 1y agoThere's something similar in many areas; reading the "car culture" of the 30s and 40s let alone the 50s and 60s is substantially different than what we have today.
- BeetleB 1y agoDid you have broadband or dialup? There's a big difference between being offline and being online.
- Insanity 1y agoAhh, I started out with dial-up in the 90s. By the time I got a computer in my room we had broadband though.
- philipallstar 1y ago> I know the world of technology is a different place now. But I _loved_ the fact that I had a computer in my room as a teenager in the early 2000s. I think it's slightly less the world of technology, and more survivorship bias (and self bias, if that's a term?) You doing well, and well enough to be on a site like this, isn't evidence of very much when applied to a population. In general I'd say better ways to do things are totally to allow technology, but have it in public areas of the house, rather than in kids' rooms. > 'parenting' is not simply taking tech away from their children Indeed; no one is saying that.
- 737282251819 1y ago[flagged]
- hk1337 1y agoOn one hand, and perhaps more importantly, this sounds like a great idea. On the other hand, 5 days seems like a short amount of time for any effective results? I would think, at minimum, 3 weeks to align with the adage of 3 weeks to develop a habit.
- ProllyInfamous 1y agoI have a room in my house that only has an old tube amplifier and a typewriter (and a litterbox). All very low tech... it just works: the amp still sings | the typer still writes | the litter still clumps ---- The best method for keeping my tech/writing/life simple has been to establish multiple workstations ("desks") that each have their own machine & purpose (e.g. tax machine, browsing / youtube, technical writing machine, multiple typewriters [one for correspondences, another for brainstorming]). An extra laptop (or two) is helpful for general purpose multitasking, anywhere. In 950sqft, I have six separate desks, with three primary workstations. If you haven't ever composed on a typewriter... it's worth exploring (no distractions other than emptiness-induced tech addiction syndrome). ---- One of my favorite Tom Hanks -isms is that he gifts dozens of typewriters, annually, to various authors... and if he ever see his gifts sitting unused as art/museum pieces (i.e. not being used to type) he will dismantle the famous Tom Hanks typewriter exhibit and force the recipients to actually set them up for ready-use upon desks (or re-gift the machine) [American Typewriter (2016)].
- deleted 1y ago[deleted]
- BeetleB 1y ago> The best method for keeping my tech/writing/life simple has been to establish multiple workstations ("desks") that each have their own machine & purpose A few years ago I had an important realization. Up to that time, half of my time with computers was pre-Internet (or at least pre-broadband). And virtually all my memorable experiences with computers was from the pre-broadband era. I spoke to a similarly aged tech friend, and he said it was the same with him. I sat and thought of why that may be. There are several reasons, but I'll highlight one here: Browsers as an interface really degrade the computing experience. The fact that everything we do online is via the browser means everything is competing with each other. Reading the news? That other tab with Youtube open beckons. Or the one with some social network feed. In the old days, we had separate programs. The equivalent would be a separate SW for Facebook. A separate one for HN. A separate one for BBC. And if you go far back enough, you did not have multitasking, so you could do only one thing at a time, and it had your full focus. When people read a physical newspaper, they would do not suddenly get the urge to drop it and watch TV, or check some feed, or whatever. Everything was in its place, and you could dedicate yourself to it. Today, you could argue that phones/tablets create a similar experience - everything is its own app. For me, though, the form factor just sucks compared to a proper desktop machine. My hope is WOOB (https://woob.tech/ https://woob.tech/). Have not yet given it a try. Edit: Oh, and the fact that it could take well over a minute to load a piece of SW made one less likely to whimsically switch between apps. If you're doing one thing, and you know it will take, say, 2 minutes to Alt-Tab to another application, you are usually going to do it only if it's fairly important.
- pjc50 1y agoHenry has mastered the art of the local newspaper photo, gesturing to an empty space where the tech used to be, but I can't help noticing that his room seems to be in the middle of an unfinished decorating job.
- nasretdinov 1y agoFor me, a 37-year old teenager, the best thing I've ever done to improve my sleep was setting "downtime" (in iOS screen time settings) from 21:00 to 07:00, and ask my partner to set a screen time password that I don't know so I can't cheat. Works wonders! It creates just enough friction that I don't want to reach to my phone or a computer (which is in another room), and still allows for handling emergencies since messages and phone calls still go through.