I downloaded every episode of Mr. Rogers and serve them from Plex. On one hand it does create moments where you have to limit your kids and that creates an outsized emotional response, but it also allows me the chance to watch the episodes too (as they aren’t on only at “kid show” times).
I appreciate the chance to show interest in something that they are interested in.
Also, as I have watched so many Mr Rogers episodes I know that sometimes you have to find ways to deal with the mad that you feel[0], so I don’t mind helping work through emotions when we don’t agree that it’s time to stop.
0: https://www.misterrogers.org/videos/what-to-you-do-with-the-...
Twenty years ago it was easier to be a good parent.
As an aside I worked in a drug users support center as an IT admin for a few months in my 20's, I don't feel like I have any insight into actual crack, other then Ewan McGregor said it best when he says choose life.
As one of them, no, not really.
I looked hard into the question but all the litterature I got was a mix of "I'll give you candy if you do X" experiments that beg the obvious "what if the kid doesn't want the candy for whatever reason ?", including their mood while doing the experiment. And this goes on for every detail of the experiments.
And the rest was philosophical and hypothetical "it's not like the olden days" style of conservatism, mixed with "this time it's different" to try to barrage criticism.
Testing on kids is just hard, so coming up with good experiments is in itself a PITA. I wish people would recognize that and take the research with shovels of salt (and I don't see misleading research as better than nothing).
Buying a kindle for my kid has been a decision that still pays dividends, I would have kicked myself if I refused it on social pressure.
Nowadays I think I wouldn't mind audio and video, especially audiobooks and channels like those on Nebula. YouTube is a cesspool while also hosting the most interesting content, running something like Newpipe on a kid's tablet with specific channels locked on would also interesting IMHO.
> addictive games
The main issue for me is the lack of management options. ScreenTime is half-assed, what we have on Nintendo's Switch is a bit better, I'd actually spend time to deal with all the settings and rule system if it was available in a very granular way. We're already spending the same amount looking after other stuff.
Fair enough. I guess ignoring large swathes of industry research and government warnings must be a good tradeoff for an easier life.
The first result that isn't a guideline or call to action when I search "preschool children screen time research"
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S074937972...
On the recruitment:
> Note: Eligible families were recruited primarily through paid social media advertisement (83%) as well as other online sources (6%) and word-of-mouth/other (11%).
So most of this experiment was done with families who click ads on Facebook/Instagram. The results are relevant for that specific public, but tougher to expand to other families and environments.
That's one specific study, but I really read a lot, and this kind of bias is common. Perhaps because they need families that are stressed about screen time in the first place ?
I have not come across any research saying ebook readers are bad. They are very different from general purpose tablets.
The reality of it though: librarians have their lives and can't man libraries 24/7. Scheduling regular visits is fine if the kid has a reading routine, basically the "1 book a week" kind of quota.
I know some people do it, to my family it's a lot easier to me to search together online the very moment an interest is expressed, buy it on the spot and the kid can start reading immediately. There's no discipline, but it also makes books and documentaries a lot more familiar and casual.
My local library is almost as much a homeless support center as a library, it's its own cultural experience, but we still go.
Usually my kids are sitting quietly at the table and playing with their little cars or whatever while some kid is melting down that he ran out of roblox or his game isn't working.
I've literally seen kids that are 9 or 10 act this way in public! Like little babies!
It has a visual indicator (sun going down) that tells them how long they have remaining and that works quite well to remove any discussions (well… screaming and shouting)
https://github.com/sandermvanvliet/tellybox
As others have said in adjacent threads, kids are hard, every situation is different.
Do start hoarding the better shows and series you know.
Some of them think its safe, others think the risk is overblown, and a lot just don't want to deal with their kid having a shit fit.
In the UK, unless you are adopting a kid with needs, you will not get any parenting training. so you're on your own on how to deal with children. TV was safe when I was a kid, and younger parents who grew up with digital TV also had safe watching, why would youtube kids be any different?
With my kids (and yes this is a boast, I'm middle class, this is how we assert dominance) I was lucky enough to be able to enforce time limits of TV/netflix etc. They also aren't allowed youtube on their own, so never got onto the conversion ladder from crap to exploitative crap.
crucially they don't have tablets/phones whilst bored. TV is a treat, so boredom requires them to sit there and fucking day dream like the rest of us.
> TV was safe when I was a kid,
Safe in some ways, but still harmful. it was passive and a substitute for things that helped you develop. A lot of parents (mine included) limited TV for just this reason.
> TV is a treat, so boredom requires them to sit there and fucking day dream like the rest of us.
Exactly this - one of the things I had in mind with regard to TV being harmful. Even in the days when we had three or four broadcast channels and that was it!
> I'm middle class
Worth noting that the British and American definitions of middle class are quite different.
This is a change that has accelerated in the last 25 years, and we do all need to do something about it. I suspect the first step is making housing mor affordable, which means building more homes. (both "private" and social, [council housing] we can't just cater to one part of the market.)
> Worth noting that the British and American definitions of middle class are quite different.
hooooboy yes.