re: Kids and tablets - out of control

My 10 year old used his available time to flirt with the waitresses every time we went out. Good boy.

Never needed an iPad even when he was a toddler and just hanging out at the gym while a parent got work in.

And, this week, some parent had an 10/11 year old letting them run wild in the gym with two iPads (both on and he was actively bouncing between them,) and a pacifier attached to some sort of wubby.

We have a 3 year old, the only time she ever gets with a phone/tablet is to FaceTime with our family members or, if she misses someone we will show her a picture of that person on our phone. We recently had a 12 hour road trip and she played with an etch a sketch, her Toniebox, babydoll, or just looked out of the window. She doesn’t throw a fit for a phone or tablet because she never gets to play on one and has zero expectation that she should be able to. We have friends who will just give their kids (of the same age) a phone when we’re out to dinner. It’s fricking crazy IMO.

I mean, it’s a legit addiction, for adults just as much as kids. It does a real number on our brain wiring.

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Here's the thing judgy mcjudgerson


You don't know anything about the kids and parents. The baseball team example is a good one and kind of extreme, but in day to day situations, you don't know shite.


Personally, we limit screen time and at restaurants and such we have them do other stuff, like coloring books, and we bring toys. But they get restless after a while, in particular after they've eaten. At that point we'll bust out phones or tablets while we finish eating and get the check.


Sometimes they have had a rough day, or slept bad the night before, or whatever it is, and they are cranky and mom and dad just want a break.

On an airplane my kids are usually glued to the windows during takeoff and landing, but the rest of the flight? Nah frick it, they get to play games on the switch or watch a show or whatever. Plane rides suck and are boring for adults, much less kids.

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Wow! Shitty excuse to be a shitty parent. Look, if you don’t want to have to deal with kids, keep your dick in your pants. Otherwise, suck it up and accept the responsibility for your kids 24/7………..not just until you don’t “feel like it”.

Jonathan Haidt’s The Anxious Generation. I highly recommend the book as an introduction to how fricked up our youth are due to incessant screen/social media usage.

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Did you post this on your phone or your tablet. Asking for myself.

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/thread

Or

#micdrop

There is plenty of data showing it is more harmful than good, at least in how the vast majority use them. There are valuable skills that can be learned on screens, but the way most use them with kids is in lieu of parenting instead of as a useful arm of parenting.

Every parent should read this book