To want to live in a “screen free” society

[Libertyfree]

So sick of the daily battles over screen time with children.
Especially at the moment when school day is on phone, followed by social time on phone etc etc.
DD not interested in any activities like crafts, games anymore. Nothing competes with allure of phone.

Op I disagree... Screen is amazing and kept my dc going through this awful pandemic.

We have not lost our soul, imagine people saying that with the invention of the printing press

UK winter is grim and hard and boring.
Come warmer months and we can get dc out... Do more.. Picnics etc...

@audweb

Meh you can get your kids to go back. First lockdown my seven year old used screen time all the time (lone child, single parent working situation). The minute restrictions eased and she could play outside with friends and school returned, screen time reduced. The minute we could DO things that were interesting, she reduced screen time. Listen, I can be barely be bothered doing something exciting in the house in lockdown - lots of adults are feeling lethargic and unmotivated, no wonder our kids feel the same way. But soon she’ll return to school and life and trips to the beach and play outside with friends and seeing family. - screen time will reduce. I can’t find it in me to get worked up about it. I don’t think we have lost our soul - we simply needed something to help cope and connect with the world. Screen time has saved my sanity - without it there would be no other adult human company.

We coped much better with the November lockdown. School took up 6.5 hours, and in the absence of the couple of activities that had resumed, we piled into the car and headed off to a park to use up the last hour of daylight until it really got the better of us at the end of the month.

We've had far too much screen time since Christmas. I no longer have the energy to fight it. It is changing now the end is in sight, but Jan/ early Feb the daylight was very limited, the weather unpleasant for gratuitous hanging out at parks/ walks, the house cold and the conservatory which tends to get used as a playroom, uncomfortably cold. Those hinderences are easing but there's no dramatic benefit to battling to change routines for just two weeks left to endure.

It's not just children though is it? All around are adults peering at one screen or another - be it computer or phone - and hardly interacting with anyone - and my husband is one of them. I know that mobile phones and computers are hugely useful in some ways but I would gladly turn the clock back and un-invent them because, in my opinion, they are creating a very unnatural way of living.

And it's hardly surprising that children think that this is the only way to live.

yabu

Agree. I think of what and who my child 14 could be and achieve without screens in their life.
The minute the screen came, she stopped writing stories. Luckily she still draws amazingly.
But my childhood poor as it was, was a hundred times better than hers. I think anyway.

@Libertyfree

I know I’m being extreme snd tech has many positives at the moment but I feel as a society we’re losing something. Everywhere you look people are constantly on screens. DD is 12

I totally agree and can't stand all this screen time. Enjoy the moment... stop trying to record or photograph everything all of the time!

@Samcro

What would you do about things like FaceTime?

What do you mean what would she do about it? She would communicate in other ways such as the phone or - dare I suggest it - in person, like the good old days.

@Bettyboop82

I totally agree. My eldest child is only 3 (almost 4) and I have restricted screens as much as possible so far. No iPad/tablet etc and limited TV (maybe 1 hr total each day). I dread the days I wont be able to control screen time but I am very aware that one day this will come!

My dc had no restriction for screen time since toddler. It has done so much good for my child, rather than bad, tbh. Now at secondary age, screen is just a tool, he would happily choose activity without screen, because he knows screen is just one of the tool and he can use it if he wants to.

I don't even have children to battle over screen time, but I often wish we could go back to life without the internet.

It's not particularly insightful to say things to the OP like - you're using Mumsnet! This is the world we live in now and we can't do much about it. People are expected to have access to the internet in the same way, 30 years ago, everyone was more or less expected to have access to the telephone.

In other words, since we are stuck with it, we might as well make the best of it and use/enjoy what we can, but that doesn't mean some people wouldn't be happy to see the back of it altogether.

We have devices of course. We keep them in the kitchen and use them when we need them. The kids have never really been on them all the time. I've noticed the only person in our house with a problem is me posting here, that's really gone up in lockdown!

Negotiate some limits with your dcs then stick to it.

I don't understand why screens are demonised. If they're being used responsibly (i.e. Parents paying attention to the content) then they're valuable for education. My kids have tablets, which we limit screen time on of course, but it's taught them so much in terms of vocabulary, spelling, addition, telling the time, etc. I was very anti screens when I became a parent but now I'm all for them.