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Is screen time good or bad? It’s not that simple

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Re: Is screen time good or bad? It’s not that simple

#31

Post by TeMPOraL »

crazynick4 wrote: post #16
aiiane wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The same is true for reading a book but you don't see people up in arms about that.

I've never found myself unable to stop reading a book even when I knew I should be doing something else. Like now. I should be getting some sleep but instead I'm reading/commenting about screen time. I think, mobile devices especially, are addictive in ways that prior media was just not. I often feel the way I felt after a few months of being a regular smoker - not really getting much pleasure from being online and k…

I'm seconding 'baddox here. I binge on books harder than on TV series, and often sacrifice sleep just to keep reading.

Observing people around me and the way they interact with all kind of media, including books, I'm starting to believe there's a more general factor here. Something about how deep a person wants to immerse themselves in the fictional world. For instance, most books, movies and TV shows that have an actual plot (i.e. not sitcoms / comedies) are a solitary affair for me - because with other people around, I can't properly engage on the emotional level. But I know plenty of people who watch the same movies while doing chores, read the same books five pages at the time, while talking, etc., at no point reaching (IMO) any kind of immersion. I observed the across-media correlation here - those who engage deeply with movies, do so with books and videogames. Those who don't engage with one medium, don't engage with others either.

I believe the latter type complains most about how their not-favourite media is "addictive".

Re: Is screen time good or bad? It’s not that simple

#32

Post by TeMPOraL »

Nition wrote: post #28
p1necone wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Likewise excessive socializing or exercise would preclude kids from reading or screen time. I don't see your point.

The clear solution is to jog on the spot, chatting with your friends while watching TV with subtitles on. The ultimate activity.

Perfectly showcasing why trying to do all simultaneously in a "balance" makes you benefit from none of them.

Re: Is screen time good or bad? It’s not that simple

#33

Post by krtkush »

B-Con wrote: post #24
Sendotsh wrote: post #7

"Screen time" != "Screen time". That's my main problem with all this "screen time is bad" stuff. There's a huge difference between a kid spending 2 hours playing Flappy Bird and spending 2 hours playing with an educational app, or drawing/painting in an app, or watching tutorials on YouTube. It's like saying "time at the park is bad for you" because some kids go to the park to smoke cigarettes and drink alcohol. Scre…

I hate the phrase "screen time". Why does the fact that there's a screen involved matter so much? Many "screen time" activities are more closely related to non-"screen time" activities than to other "screen time" activities. If the kids is typing a report instead of handwriting it, or reading an ebook instead of a physical one, why does that count as "screen time" along with flappy bird?

Blue light produced by screens is harmful and effects sleep pattern.

Re: Is screen time good or bad? It’s not that simple

#34

Post by intothemild »

Pimpus wrote: post #29
Sendotsh wrote: post #7

"Screen time" != "Screen time". That's my main problem with all this "screen time is bad" stuff. There's a huge difference between a kid spending 2 hours playing Flappy Bird and spending 2 hours playing with an educational app, or drawing/painting in an app, or watching tutorials on YouTube. It's like saying "time at the park is bad for you" because some kids go to the park to smoke cigarettes and drink alcohol. Scre…

It's hard to generalize too much about screen time. It is almost universally bad, especially for kids, and should be kept to a minimum. Gadgets nowadays provide an unlimited stream of stimulation, novelty, and dopamine hits. No child can resist that, which is why the "lesser evils" like education apps are still "gamified" to have any chance of keeping a kid's attention. The result is that kids from an early age are g…

Whilst I agree it's hard to generalise and one shouldn't.

Now I'm a father of a 3 year old, I'm seeing differences in screen time with other parents/kids.

There's two kinds of parents, ones that pay attention to what their kids are doing, and those who don't.

We're almost all children of Boomers, who was raised with unfettered access to Television. Our boomer parents allowed some of us unfettered access to the early internet, video games, and television. Some of us were told to get outside and play. I certainly remember that some of my friends had restrictions on Games/TV/Etc, and some friends had no restrictions.

Most if not all of the fear mongering about Screen Time is coming from Boomers, not Gen X/Y.

That said.. I can easily separate the two parent's when it comes to screen time by telling them how bad letting their kids watch Youtube unmonitored is. The parents who monitor what their kids do will agree with me, the parents who don't monitor will disagree with me "Ohh its fine whatever".

The OP is right, the problem isn't Screen Time... it's content.

We have a rule in our house, no screen unless it's important, and if it should be shared.. So if my wife gets a text, and we're all playing, she tells us "Oh i got a text message from this person, I'm going to read it and reply". It involves everyone.

If my daughter is doing something, we do it with her. All her apps are educational and I've run them through my parents who are teachers with over 30+ years experience.

The problem is content, not screens.

Reality is those kids are going to grow up in a future where screens are always around. We'd like to think we're teaching them that screens are OK, as long as you include others in what you're doing.. So that my daughter doesn't become anti-social.

Re: Is screen time good or bad? It’s not that simple

#35

Post by skocznymroczny »

krtkush wrote: post #33
B-Con wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I hate the phrase "screen time". Why does the fact that there's a screen involved matter so much? Many "screen time" activities are more closely related to non-"screen time" activities than to other "screen time" activities. If the kids is typing a report instead of handwriting it, or reading an ebook instead of a physical one, why does that count as "screen time" along with flappy bird?

Blue light produced by screens is harmful and effects sleep pattern.

Do you have any sources for that? Not being negative here, but last time I checked it was mostly in the realm of hypothesis and broscience.

Re: Is screen time good or bad? It’s not that simple

#36

Post by tomp »

TeMPOraL wrote: post #26
Double_a_92 wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I guess their point was to balance the times. I.e. Yes, excessive socializing would also be bad if you start neglecting everything else.

Excessive socializing is the default, though - if kids have nothing better to do, they "hang out".

Is it? When I had nothing to do, I read or used the computer (for games, and then increasingly for programming).

Re: Is screen time good or bad? It’s not that simple

#37

Post by a-saleh »

skocznymroczny wrote: post #35
krtkush wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Blue light produced by screens is harmful and effects sleep pattern.

Do you have any sources for that? Not being negative here, but last time I checked it was mostly in the realm of hypothesis and broscience.

This sounds like a source. http://www.gwern.net/docs/melatonin/2009-burkhart.pdf

But it seems to be very subjective. And the group that started limiting blue-light before sleep seems to have percieved their sleep quality as quite low, so the improvement might be only correlated?

Re: Is screen time good or bad? It’s not that simple

#38

Post by wedfwags »

krtkush wrote: post #33
B-Con wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I hate the phrase "screen time". Why does the fact that there's a screen involved matter so much? Many "screen time" activities are more closely related to non-"screen time" activities than to other "screen time" activities. If the kids is typing a report instead of handwriting it, or reading an ebook instead of a physical one, why does that count as "screen time" along with flappy bird?

Blue light produced by screens is harmful and effects sleep pattern.

You have to post links or else it’s a red flag.

Re: Is screen time good or bad? It’s not that simple

#39

Post by jwatt »

intothemild wrote: post #34
Pimpus wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's hard to generalize too much about screen time. It is almost universally bad, especially for kids, and should be kept to a minimum. Gadgets nowadays provide an unlimited stream of stimulation, novelty, and dopamine hits. No child can resist that, which is why the "lesser evils" like education apps are still "gamified" to have any chance of keeping a kid's attention. The result is that kids from an early age are g…

Whilst I agree it's hard to generalise and one shouldn't. Now I'm a father of a 3 year old, I'm seeing differences in screen time with other parents/kids. There's two kinds of parents, ones that pay attention to what their kids are doing, and those who don't. We're almost all children of Boomers, who was raised with unfettered access to Television. Our boomer parents allowed some of us unfettered access to the early…

I'd love to see the list of apps your teacher parents approved. :)

Re: Is screen time good or bad? It’s not that simple

#40

Post by timrichard »

krtkush wrote: post #33
B-Con wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I hate the phrase "screen time". Why does the fact that there's a screen involved matter so much? Many "screen time" activities are more closely related to non-"screen time" activities than to other "screen time" activities. If the kids is typing a report instead of handwriting it, or reading an ebook instead of a physical one, why does that count as "screen time" along with flappy bird?

Blue light produced by screens is harmful and effects sleep pattern.

Both iOS and Android have timed night mode features to lower the colour temperature... or at least apps to do that if not using a recent OS.

I'm not convinced it's much of an issue these days.

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