"When it comes to screen science, I've attended the lectures, seen the documentaries, read the books, gone to parent meetups, and flipped through the studies. I've been through it personally with my high schooler - hooked, caught in dangerous situations, experiencing mental health crises thanks to the online world. My third-grader is phone-free and blissfully unaware (well, he loves Tears of the Kingdom, but that seems downright educational these days), but I still work so hard to get ahead of it."
"I've signed the Wait Until 8th pledge, I'm working on ways for the kids to be more independent (both commute to school themselves!), and we talk about screen time an annoying amount. Hell, I've helped to start and run a PTA committee whose purpose is to look critically at screen time and help foster independence in kids. There's a lot of movement."
"I had the pleasure of talking with Kaitlyn Regehr, Ph.D., a researcher and professor of digital humanities at University College London. The tagline of the book is spot on: "Building Digital Boundaries When Offline Isn't an Option." It's a go-to book that's informative, but not overly complex, exhaustive, but surprisingly short and to the point, and lacking in the shame that so many screen time books put on parents. I can't recommend it enough."
A pervasive battle for children's attention exists as screens and online platforms exert powerful influence. Parents report high schoolers becoming hooked, encountering dangerous situations, and experiencing mental health crises linked to the online world. Some younger children remain phone-free and engaged in age-appropriate games. Parents use strategies such as the Wait Until 8th pledge, encouraging independence (including self-commutes), and forming PTA committees to scrutinize screen time. The 'digital pyramid' concept offers a structured guide to healthy media consumption. Practical, concise, non-shaming approaches focus on building digital boundaries that acknowledge the impossibility of full offline control.
Read at Fatherly
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