School holidays - screen time

[Noluthando]

Hi,
Just a thread to chat about how school holidays have gone regarding balancing screen time with other activities. My son is really keen on gaming and YouTube and my daughter loves Netflix children's series and YouTube. Last couple of days they have been on screens as much as they can get away with, I have limits but relaxed a bit towards the end of hols.

It causes a lot of stress trying to limit it and I wonder how things would go if I let them have unlimited screen time, would they self limit and what's the evidence for harm apart from reducing socialising and exercise? Does screen time cause lack of concentration?

I'm always so conflicted about it and it causes stress every school holiday ?

I'm interested to know about others experiences.

Just giving this a bump as I'm interested in this too.
My son is only 4 and we don't really have any screen time except maybe using the iPad on a long journey. Husband wants a family Nintendo switch and I'm worried about the ensuing battles it will cause.

Screens and games are so much more addictive these days compared to when I was a kid playing the SNES!

My DC have unlimited screen time with some basic boundaries around no screens at the table, after bedtime, before breakfast, etc.

They can honestly take them or leave them. Some days they will barely bother, other days they will be in them quite a bit. For example yesterday they were out in the garden most of the day, we had a walk out with the dog for a good 2+ hours, then the older DC went to the park with their friends and the younger DC sat and drew for a bit. This morning it was raining so they played Minecraft together for a while on separate devices but in the same world followed by some Among Us then they sat and watched some YouTube. It had stopped raining after lunch and we went out for a bit and then had a BBQ for tea so they played in the garden until bedtime.

All of their homework, school reading scheme, maths, etc is online so they need devices for that. They do most of their non-school reading on kindle. Eldest uses a laptop for writing for all schoolwork. One DC uses communication apps and e-PECS when needed. Older DC have mobile phones and 8yr old will be getting one soon for walking to/from school, as is usual around here.

Basically, technology is a part of life and restricting their access to technology would restrict their ability to access these areas of it.

I've been strict about other activities being the priority but once they're done, all their downtime is screens. They have a lot of downtime.
If they've done their work and chores and got some exercise then it's just screens for the rest of the time.

I listened to an interesting podcast recently about how there is no evidence that screens and gaming cause problems with attention span, serotonin levels etc. I'll see if I can find it.

Mine also have unlimited screen time but are not allowed anything in their rooms at night. My DD is 12 and sometimes her friends message on the WhatsApp group chat all through the night (2-5am!). That in my opinion is madness.

I've struggled with this over summer. I have a ds11 and a 6 month old baby so it's my first summer juggling both. Baby is very unsettled and at times it's been a battle trying to get out with the pair of them. I've have beaten myself up time and time again for the amount of time we've been stuck in and on screens. It's all ds seems to want to do when we're at home. Occasionally he'll read, draw, play in the garden but I'd say 80% of his time at home is spent on PS or IPad.
However now we've reached the end of the holidays I can say we have had some nice days out, we've left the house pretty much everyday if only a walk to the park, and despite the excessive gaming time I don't think ds has suffered. I asked if he'd had a good holiday and he said yes.
It's easy to beat yourself up when you see other families on nice holidays or lovely days out but this is just a snapshot of their lives. All of our circumstances are different.

I should add that when I say unlimited, I do not let them go on after bath time. Or have anything up the table. So we do still have some limits but not as strict as some other parents I know.

Tech is the future, no point in limiting it too much I reckon.

I don't limit it in the holidays because I find it unnecessarily stressful clickwatching and I think that puts an unnatural focus on it and turns it into some sort of forbidden fruit. Their devices don't work after 10pm (teenagers) and we switch the WiFi off at night anyway. Some days they are on all day and others not at all.

Thanks for the bump @greenbirdsong and for everyone's replies. They've made me feel better. Id love to listen to that podcast if you find a it @paulmccartneysbagel . Like you've said the clickwatching is so stressful and causes a lot of negativity @GreenWheat .