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Comment by koalaman | Hacker News Reader

After having spent a fair amount of time using various different tools to attempt to control their screen time, my conclusion is that it was a mistake to have any screens in the house in the first place.

A library of great books, good games, craft and art materials, and a collection of musical instruments would have been the best thing for my kids I'm thinking. Screens just make them addicted and miserable.

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Completely agreed. They may be left out by some peers for not being up to date on internet culture, but they will have much richer lives and personalities for having spent that time with all of the things you listed.

It's a difficult path, and not for everyone, but I think it's the right one for people willing to do it.

A screen is just a way to display information… I haven’t owned a physical book since 2008 and yet I read 2 or 3 books a month (thx kindle). I got my own pc in 1990 when I was 5… I had a NES where a player the same 6 games for years (and sometimes for hours… I think the amount of time O spent playing WoW pales in comparison of the time I spent playing super Mario bros as a kid). None of the above caused me any issue… it actually helped me find my life purpose (writing software). The problem is the addictivness of some of nowadays content (like reword based mobile games, tiktok, YouTube, etc.). Allowing your kids to use screens to consume the right stuff is a good thing

> A library of great books, good games, craft and art materials, and a collection of musical instruments would have been the best thing for my kids I'm thinking. Screens just make them addicted and miserable.

I agree in principle, and one of the saddest things to see is the pile of all these wonderful diversions sitting ignored while Youtube plays. (See my other comment about how we have essentially banned Youtube in my house for this reason).

What is so frustrating is that the schools have pushed this on us. We were mostly screen-free in our house, until our oldest started middle school. Now she has homework she has to do on her Chromebook every night. Only of course she pulls it out and is playing games every time she has a chance. I can't take it away because she has to get her homework done, but I can't control what she accesses either and it is destroying her interest in anything else.

Are these mutually exclusive? If those items are around, and kids are taught how to make use of them, they will use them. Restricting screen time might be a necessity but it's less of a sore spot if it can easily be substituted and the habits are ingrained.

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