Comment by mahogany | Hacker News Reader

Comment by mahogany | Hacker News Reader

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I wish we could disambiguate between what we mean by “screen” in these conversations. A screen is a medium, which I do not believe is universally bad. I am not sure about tablets and they do seem like they can have “bad” content, and I am 100% sure they are used as a crutch when they “shouldn’t” be.

But in moderation, it would be pretty difficult for someone to convince me that showing my toddler Mr Rogers was bad for him just because it is on a screen. There are things that the show Mr Rogers can do that no book or toy can do. It can show a narrated video of a real factory that makes crayons that enthralled my kid and boosted his imagination which translated directly into play time. It can show a real jazz band and have the members talk about how their instruments work (and we can hear them). It can show adult dynamics between non-authority figures which is rare in today’s world. Or any number of things like this.

I would be interested to hear why this is wrong or bad, and what a universally superior option would be that should be used in place of it. I see diversity of experience (even an experience in separate mediums) as important. 1 part coloring and 1 part Mr Rogers easily beats 2 parts coloring in my mind.

It’s the same as games; people not paying that much attention to it see the ugly side and assume it’s the whole medium. With children shows, it’s the fucking songs. They’re mindless, addictive, and usually revolting to look at; and it will hook in like nothing else.

Bheem, cory carson, rogers, Pixar, etc is like unquestionably to lead to less degenerate behavior than something like cocomelon (though I get some pushback on shutdowns for those too, I get the same pushback on any other toy).

In games, the equivalent would be social spaces (minecraft, Fortnite) and competitive multiplayer; they can be consumed for far longer than they hold any value. But I fully intend to let them play paper Mario, pikmin, puzzle games, point and clicks, etc.

It’s mentally lazy to throw out the baby with the bathwater

With my kids we draw a big distinction between "consuming" and "doing". Watching a youtube video = consuming, listening to music = consuming, playing a active puzzle solving game like mario or zelda where you have to have a plan and figure out how to achieve what you're doing = doing, drawing pictures = doing. There are lots of grey areas in here, but they're aware of the intent.

I also put a lot of weight into socializing around it - if my 2 kids are playing a game on the ipad together where they have to negotiate and compromise about what is going to happen, who is doing what, when they have to take turns - that's a better use of their time than binge watching disney. (same goes for adults, I believe).

Also to be fair, this is where we've gotten as 5-10 year olds, was always limited+supervised when they were toddlers.

Echoing this. People hear screen and think bad, but we show Mr. Roger’s, Frog and Toad, and other low stimulation programs which I believe (in small doses) can be beneficial as opposed to harmful.

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