To think current concerns over screen time is bordering hysteria

This is an excellent visual explanation!

This. We know screens are not good for kids. I also appreciate that they are a handy babysitter. Just because they are convenient does not mean we should rely on them!

I am a teacher. We are seeing a huge upturn in challenging behaviour and I think this graphic explains exactly why:

Of course your eldest is obsessed by Minecraft, you gave him it! How on earth do you think we managed without screens? You include them in helping make dinner, talking to them, interacting. That's how they learn about food and how to prepare it. Also more likely to eat it if they help make it. Yes, it takes longer, but they are learning, and you are spending time with them and interacting with them. Encourage them to read for fun, imaginative play etc. You have to leave them to become bored, or entertain themselves, it encourages imaginative play, not just stick a screen in front of them.

When my kids were small I had no help at all , husband out at work and often back later once kids were in bed or about to head to bed .
Also no relatives or friends to help out ( local friends would help in an emergency )
No screens available back then but I did put children’s tv on and I did put Disney videos on so I think that’s fine .
yes they “ helped “ 🤣🤪 in kitchen it was messy or my pots were all out on the floor .
It meant I could do a few things and also have quiet rest time with them .
I did read a lot to them as well though and do activities and outings .
One of the children is autistic with learning disabilities too

I agree with OP. We are an ADHD household, 2 kids diagnosed and 2 adults suspected, awaiting diagnosis. If my children didn't use their tablets nothing would ever get done, even with screen time they are both like tornadoes leaving destruction in their wake, they are 10 times worse without them. Before they had tablets their attention spans were none existent and they wouldn't do anything for more than 5 minutes, since they have started having screen time their attention has actually gotten better wether they are medicated or not. They can both actually sit and play a board game now, which they couldn't before. They are not allowed to chat on games and the only social media my son has is youtube and my daughter (who is older) has youtube and WhatsApp, both have parental controls, both are monitored not always as they are watching but I do check what they have been watching, plus they talk to me about things anyway. They occasionally play Roblox together and I even join them every now and again. I feel I should add that both if them are doing very well at school and every specialist that has seen them has said they are highly intelligent. None of the research done has been done with any of the everyday nuances. It is all done on the amount of time and not what they are on.

It can be both detrimental and and a benefit. I do think parents should limit screen time. I also think it’s about what they are allowed to watch/play.

People coped previously because both parents didnt have to work 50 hours a week to live a normal existence

I really think there is a middle ground to be found between the extremes you have painted here.

It is infinitely possible to make a quick UPF free dinner in under 40
mins with no screens. I can say this confidently because I have done it.

Defaulting to screens is sometimes an choice, made because it is easier not because it is not harmful.

I just don't judge others on it as it's not my place. I haven't walked a mile in anyone else's shoes so if they need to give a child a screen for an hour so they can cook dinner, then be my guest. Sadly it's the world we are living in now, no point trying to hide it.

I'll say one thing though, someone who leaves school with a good knowledge of the mechanics of tech nowadays are going to do well in the world we have all created.

Sorry but I don’t think it’s overstated or hysterical. In fact, if anything, it’s understated and not taken seriously enough.

DD has some screentime but we strictly limit it, and what she actually watches. The only time we use screens out of the house is on a flight, alongside colouring and books; we don’t use them in restaurants or any other setting and when we’re on holiday, they go in the case until we fly back.

In restaurants she needs to understand and learn to socialise and engage, if she’s so bored she has to watch a screen, then we shouldn’t be in there restaurant.

Others will take a different approach and that’s up to them. I also appreciate some kids have particular needs. But that’s what we do and we’ve never had an issue.

Er, yes that's exactly what I said. If the parents don't value education and are uninterested in their child doing better, then how much time that child spends on screens will make little difference to their educational outcome.

Music Hall!!!

Oh now we're really plumbing the depths

As someone else said, this whataboutery is so repulsively disingenuous. If TV caused damage in Hawaii, then why can't tiny handsets spouting algorithmic nonsense designed to be addictive non-stop cause 1mx more damage? If adults are hooked on screens, surely we want to do better for our children? It's like saying well, adults all drink alcohol so why shouldn't kids? Do better/

This may be true but TV has played it's part in changing evolution for humans
One tiny example anorexia didn't occur in Hawaii until US TV was pumped in.
TV has had a similar effect on humans as screens have. Kids in the 90s and 00s got attitude from watching EastEnders.
And why the studies are just on kids I do not know as adults are the ones on screens constantly every where you look they are walking looking at them stood staring at them holding a spade, I've seen men on roofs staring at screens. They are ruination but so was TV and Music Hall once upon a time.

A big problem is the screen addicted parents unwilling to change their behaviour which their DC then mirror. If you’re not interacting with your children and your living area is a sea of screens with TV on and everyone on their own devices it’s probably time to think hang on a minute we may have a problem here. We shall see what the development of young children truly looks like with screen addiction in the next 5-10 years.

There is a lot of research that backs up the harm of too much screen time - its not just the content and impact on focus and concentration but also what kids dont do when they have excessive screen time such as interact on a human level, get fresh air and exercise and have the opportunity to solve boredom through creativity.

The research is an umconfortable truth - screens are convenient and reducing them takes effort and can cause arguments but for me personally i take it seriously and my kids had a lot less screen time than their friends, and they are all happy and well adjusted adults.

Ofc there will always be people who say their kids were glued to screens and are well adjusted adults in the same way there are people who say their nan smoked 20 a day and lived to 100, but for me the research and evidence carries more sway than people on an internet forum.

Each to their own though, learn as much as you can and make an informed decision like any other aspect of parenting.

Yes I work with pre schoolers and at least half think we use dollars when we play shop. Also I've noted calling 911 for the emergency services and the belief that there might be raccoons in the basement or attic. It is not a trivial concern that they are adopting an accent from a different country, this can lead to social norms from a different culture too.

Did your son spend time addicted to an iPad or his mum’s phone as a toddler? Use social media from an early age? Course he didn’t as these were not widespread in his childhood. Mine are uni/graduate age now and even they did not have access to this tech which is now endemic.

I am finding these kinds of posts so disingenuous and irritating. Yes, your kids are doing amazingly well despite playing Call of Duty during A Levels. But they simply did not have the same tech exposure as today’s toddlers.

Yes and it wasn't/isn't great to put a TV in a kid's bedrrom which they could watch at all hours. Or to watch TV all day long. So that argument proves nothing.

But as has been pointed out again and again and again on here there is a vast difference between watching TV and watching YouTube/TikTok, which is what children are doing on iPads

Are the people saying that screen time doesn't affect society and their adult kids are lovely and perfect after it:

A) reading the news?!?! It's a shit show out there.
B) have a completely unbiased and full view of how their adult kids perform at work, whether they bickering with their spouses about incomplete jobs and lazy parenting?

I'm not saying that screens cause all ill in the world, but it's baffling that people think these are valid arguments, as if how they parented forty years ago is relevant to modern technology, and as if they know intimately how screens affected their children and wider society.

Yep. My kids have “too much” screen time by the “agreed” standards. Yet my eldest is top set for everything, plays football 4 times a week and does other activities. My youngest is greater depth across the board and does multiple activities.
The issue, like most things, is the extreme side of things is seen as the norm for everyone. Tje majority of kids aren’t on screens 16 hours a day but that’s what people perceive.

So concentrate on the problem

I care. I care about neglected children. I care about children who are being spoken to far more by YouTubers, than their own parents. So much so that they adopt the accent of the ‘people’ that they spend the most time with. I think we should all care about that. The accent is just a symptom of a much greater problem.