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Toy Story 5 shows 'terror' of children's screen addiction, says Tom Hanks

bbc.com

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Re: Toy Story 5 shows 'terror' of children's screen addiction, says Tom Hanks

#81

Post by bfkwlfkjf »

delbronski wrote: post #26

I’ve noticed a lot of fear mongering with screens and kids. So called “experts” have taken a few correlational studies and concluded that screen time is the devil. Instagram is full of these podcast clips of experts warning parents of the terrible effects of screen time. However, if you actually read any of these papers, they make it quite clear that is impossible to fully separate screen effects from family environm…

> However, if you actually read any of these papers, they make it quite clear that is impossible to fully separate screen effects from family environment, and effect sizes are often modest.

The "does smoking caused cancer" question took about 20 years to be settled, I believe between 1950 and 70 or something like that. And yet, a lot of people already knew already in the 20s that smoking does all sort of weird things to your throat. So the common sense take got to the right answer much faster than scientists.

Likewise with screens. Common sense tells us that 1) we FEEL the distractions and the addictions, common sense says that children will too, 2) we KNOW that the companies building these products have an interested in distracting us, common sense says that they will act on it.

But then we have takes like "akshually if you read the papers".

Re: Toy Story 5 shows 'terror' of children's screen addiction, says Tom Hanks

#82

Post by bfkwlfkjf »

Fire-Dragon-DoL wrote: post #78
delbronski wrote: post #26

I’ve noticed a lot of fear mongering with screens and kids. So called “experts” have taken a few correlational studies and concluded that screen time is the devil. Instagram is full of these podcast clips of experts warning parents of the terrible effects of screen time. However, if you actually read any of these papers, they make it quite clear that is impossible to fully separate screen effects from family environm…

I am conflicted (I am a parent). First there is the challenge where "sceen time" is a statement that bundles together a whole bunch of different behavior, that affects children differently. My kids when they watch tv they completely disconnect: I have to pause the tv to ask if they want to eat something or they won't hear me, so of course we drastically limit that one (I didn't have that problem, is that because I wa…

Screens aren't inherently bad. It's about the quality. I think your instincts are 100% spot on, keep trusting them.

But quality/distractions aside, there are other dimensions to consider. For example, reading does take more effort than most videogames, and that's brain exercise that will make a difference in aggregate (the assumption being that books and videogames are both entertainment, they compete against each other to some degree, and doing a lot of one means you'll do less of the other). So in short, playing videogames a lot isn't bad in itself, depends on the videogames. But on the other hand books have additional positive sideffects on top of the primary effect which is entertainment.

Re: Toy Story 5 shows 'terror' of children's screen addiction, says Tom Hanks

#84

Post by Fire-Dragon-DoL »

bfkwlfkjf wrote: post #82
Fire-Dragon-DoL wrote: post #78

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I am conflicted (I am a parent). First there is the challenge where "sceen time" is a statement that bundles together a whole bunch of different behavior, that affects children differently. My kids when they watch tv they completely disconnect: I have to pause the tv to ask if they want to eat something or they won't hear me, so of course we drastically limit that one (I didn't have that problem, is that because I wa…

Screens aren't inherently bad. It's about the quality. I think your instincts are 100% spot on, keep trusting them. But quality/distractions aside, there are other dimensions to consider. For example, reading does take more effort than most videogames, and that's brain exercise that will make a difference in aggregate (the assumption being that books and videogames are both entertainment, they compete against each ot…

They definitely compete, but reading is somewhat of a "poor hobby" from the social aspect (reading out loud takes away from the experience), but the imagination part of reading is way more than you do in videogames.

At the same time, the "puzzle solving" skill you do in videogames is way more than you'd do in a book, so there is that.

I played Blue Prince with my wife and daughter recently, I think I have 40 pages of notebook written down, along with spy-like photos of everything relevant in the game: that was very intense from the brain perspective.

But I do see your point. However, I second guess myself constantly, it's really hard, especially because I did go through some form of game addiction and my way out was going very deep until I realized I wasn't even having fun (yes, mmorpg are similar to free-to-play games: compete for your attention). I push strongly for single-player pay-once videogames, especially indie games, on consoles and PC. Split-screen coop games without online component are great too, or where the online component is a way to "split screen with people not in your home".

Anyway, thank you for the message, gave me some relief I'm not ruining my kids life, lol.

Re: Toy Story 5 shows 'terror' of children's screen addiction, says Tom Hanks

#85

Post by mscbuck »

darkwater wrote: post #39
delbronski wrote: post #26

I’ve noticed a lot of fear mongering with screens and kids. So called “experts” have taken a few correlational studies and concluded that screen time is the devil. Instagram is full of these podcast clips of experts warning parents of the terrible effects of screen time. However, if you actually read any of these papers, they make it quite clear that is impossible to fully separate screen effects from family environm…

Obviously, it is common sense. But here is the thing: lots of parents (or people in general) are not able to use common sense and they need to be told absolute statements, because they will break them anyway, just like speed limits. So if you told them "absolutely 0 screen time" they will give them anyway some here and there screen time - which is fine. If the "expert" writing books, speaking on podcast or showing up…

Yup, the advice is geared towards being very conservative, rather than lenient. An example I like to give people is that here in Wisconsin, drinking culture is huge. A friend of mine's father had pancreatic cancer and went to see his doc and wasn't given too much time to live. He was a big fan of having a nice glass of scotch with his fish fry, so he asked if it was still okay to have it, especially with how much time he was given. The doctor was like: "I have to tell you no, it's not okay. But the reason why is because if I tell my other patients that they can have a drink on "special occasions", well, suddenly, Monday becomes a special occasion, and Tuesday becomes a special occasion, and you see where this is going."

Re: Toy Story 5 shows 'terror' of children's screen addiction, says Tom Hanks

#86

Post by mscbuck »

lnsru wrote: post #37
postexitus wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't think when people say "terror of screen time" they mean 20 minutes of Bluey here and there.

20 minutes of screen time daily is extreme parenting effort. That’s olympic level. I would say the new normal is 20 minutes after each meal.

I'm lucky enough to be able to send my child to day care where he doesn't get any screen time (obviously), so typically his only time he gets to watch something is when we are out and about, and even then we have a rule of timers before he can watch, or if we are at a tap house or something, we've made him actually have to sit and talk to people/friends, ask them how they are doing, introduce himself, etc. Once he does that, he can choose a Pixar movie of his choice or a live concert video to watch.

And even with all that, I still feel guilty due to the reddit mob telling me it's going to destroy his brain.

Re: Toy Story 5 shows 'terror' of children's screen addiction, says Tom Hanks

#88

Post by Biganon »

lnsru wrote: post #43
ido wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Don’t give kids YouTube access. More curated platforms like Netflix or Amazon Prime at least filter out the worst dreck. I find German public tv (I live in Germany) actually has relatively high quality programming for kids. I rather have my kids watch TV than streaming (when they’re allowed screen time), we bought a TV after almost 20 years of not having one.

Can you name something worthy from German public TV? Imho it’s too political with greenwashing and other shit I don’t want at home. We had a discussion at home for whole week after Checker Tobi complaining about deforestation in Brazil. Germans want to know it better for the whole world while their home country is not performing well at all. The quality is good, but the content should be curated better.

Yeah keep your kids unaware of the world issues so they don't bother you with them, great parenting.

Re: Toy Story 5 shows 'terror' of children's screen addiction, says Tom Hanks

#89

Post by xg15 »

sometimelurker wrote: post #69
hexasquid wrote: post #3

Disney, here to save kids from screens. Reminds me of when I saw a bunch of tshirts with the word "PUNK" written on them displayed in a window in a mall.

> Disney in this context, 'Disney' represents a plurality, and it's likely that there's people at Disney that want their kids off screens

Even those people still decided that the best course of action would be to make a movie about it. To be shown on screens.

Re: Toy Story 5 shows 'terror' of children's screen addiction, says Tom Hanks

#90

Post by xg15 »

SyneRyder wrote: post #11
ido wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Don’t give kids YouTube access. More curated platforms like Netflix or Amazon Prime at least filter out the worst dreck. I find German public tv (I live in Germany) actually has relatively high quality programming for kids. I rather have my kids watch TV than streaming (when they’re allowed screen time), we bought a TV after almost 20 years of not having one.

> I find German public tv (I live in Germany) actually has relatively high quality programming for kids. Die Sendung mit der Maus! I haven't watched it much, but as an Australian trying to learn German, I remember finding it a useful show. That, and I appreciate it being referenced in the Eisbrecher industrial metal song "This Is Deutsch".

That show is basically a national treasure in Germany today, so you'll find lots of references to it.

There also used to be a more ecology-centered show with a similar idea, Löwenzahn. It had the gimmick that after the end credits, the main character would directly address the viewers and tell them to turn the TV off NOW.

I'd at expect at least the same from that Toy Story movie.

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