To limit my son's screentime?

[Emmasheenan]

I've always felt pretty confident as a parent, gone with my gut. But I'm starting to freak out about whether I'm doing to right thing! I've always limited screen time with my DS, now 8, and almost everyone I know does that - saves it for a reward or an occasional treat.
Then my SIL posts this to my wall
lulastic.co.uk/parenting/10-things-that-are-worse-for-your-child-than-playing-on-the-ipad/ And now I'm like
We are a Steiner family, love nature, always felt okay about limiting but now I feel like I need to change whole philosophy??!
What do you do with screen time?

Why are people so rude about Steiners?

Is there any aspect of parenting that doesn't have a bloody label attached to it these days

So many different opinions!!
I really respect my SIL but wonder if her posting this on my FB was her not to subtly telling me I'm raising my kids wrong! Or maybe she knew I'd love the article- which I genuinely do! She seems like a modern hippy which is my aim and I think was stuck in a 1970s version of hippy

Well, everyone I know in RL limits screen time. Everyone. Without exception. Of course, those limits vary from family to family. I don't know anyone who has the TV in from dawn till dusk.

I recently stopped DD (nearly 6yo) watching TV after school, it was msking her very hyper. Now she doesn't ask and easily settles into doing other stuff. No TV in the morning before school (DH and I have never had the TV in in the morning, my brain would explode). So now she watches a bit on weekend mornings and sometimes a film on a weekend afternoon. I am absolutely happy and confident with my decision on this. At the mo we don't have iPads but I'm sure we will n the future and we'll assess access to that in the same way.

What do you mean supermanpants?

Steiner is not a parenting label. It is a life philosophy, almost like a religion. You din't need to have kids to be a "Steiner" (anthroposophist).

It's like calling Buddhism a parenting label

Makes no sense

Suppressing screen time altogether for your kids will make them to not be adjusted to the world around them. I know people who have grown up in Steiner schools. They felt like they were missing out on some things. They just waited until old enough to be able to do the things they always wanted to.
How can a kid function in the world we live in without IT skills? Do you want them to become antisocial?
I believe into limiting screen time though. A little at a time.
My philosophy is that kids will be better equipped for life if we educate about the world that is around (eg: dangers of the Internet...) them rather than suppress or pretend it is not there.

Mum - you don't gain IT skills watching any TV. You gain that from studying coding, programs etc and using a computer for this type of thing. Using for gaming is not the same

When I mean sreen time I mean TV but also computer, tablet

Depends on the child. My eldest we could give her free reign. She should probably spend more time on tech than she does. My youngest would do nothing but play one particular game (a 3 year obsession going strong) and re-watch the same episode of the same shows over and over, if we let him. Then when it was switched off he'd have the mother of all tantrums. Again. I worry about him, frankly. But with screen-free times of day built into his routine, he is a different child and he'll happily go and do other things.

It never ceases to amaze me that people assume what works in their own family must work for everyone, ever.

OP the article might be pointed at you, but you can choose to take it as a such or not.

It is easier to suppress it altogether or to allow. Limiting. Limiting is much harder to implement

YANBU to limit screen time (not a huge fan of that term either tbh). There are plenty of other things they can be doing. We don't rule it out completely but we limit it more than other people do. DH had no restrictions and I did. I don't feel that I missed out by not having unlimited screen time. I look at how he spent his summers and think it was a bit of a waste.

IME not letting them watch TV/play games/eat junk food all the time/whenever they want does not, as others have suggested, make them want it all the more. They find other things to do/eat fairly quickly.

I thought it was generally accepted that "screen time" included using computers, tablets and smartphones, not just watching TV.

DH and I only bought our first TV last year after living together for 11 years, but I wouldn't claim our home was "screen-free" before that. Right after DC2 was born the Rosie's Walk DVD we borrowed from the library and played on the laptop for the toddler saved our lives!

I have a 3 year old and an 18-month old so screen time isn't much of a concept here. We sometimes have half an hour of the iplayer while I drink my morning coffee but that's it. No doubt this will change pretty quickly as they get older...

It's all about balance in our house.

We take a lot from the steiner philosophy, but even this is a balance.

We spend a lot of time outdoors, we can spend all day saturday outside and not see a screen all day, but then sunday we could end up watching telly for hours.
Although we always try to get outside for atleast an hour each day.

The only screen we have at home is the telly though, so easier to balance.

"I'm with pinotblush, "screen time" us utter bollocks and I know no one in real life who gives two hoots how much time their DC spend on gadgets or watching TV.

I don't police my DD's use, she us allowed to use her iPad whenever she wants and tends to use it for an hour or two broken up throughout the day, interspersed with playing with her toys and craft stuff. I really don't see anything wrong with this.

I imagine the majority of us grew up watching TV before school, after school, films on all day if at home on a Saturday, and are we a generation of damaged underachievers?! No, thought not."

Nonsense - I know lots of folk ( me included) who struggle and worry about "screen time." If i left them to it, it's all that they would do. X box, youtube, minecraft, instagram. My 13 yr old was an avid reader - now all he wants is his x box, tv or his phone.

And it was so different when i was a kid, absolutely no comparison. One tv ( often parents chose what was on) with 3 channels and little kids Tv, no computer games, no i pads, no phones. Loads of kids at the doors who were driven outside due to little space and little in the way of screens.

I agree Bambam. Kids' tv when I was little was King Rollo or Bagpuss at lunchtime after my mum watched Sons and Daughters, then from 3.30-6ish bbc1 ran all the kids' tv programmes from preschoolers' tv at the beginning through to Grange Hill. No one would watch for that long, you watched the hour or so that appealed to your age group. So, what, an hour a day max?

I am old, admittedly, but I'm still young enough to have primary school children.

Yes, i'm very old too - alas!

Whatthefreak seriously??^ I imagine the majority of us grew up watching TV before school, after school, films on all day if at home on a Saturday, and are we a generation of damaged underachievers?! No, thought not.^

Television in our house was on at specific kids tv slots (30 minutes a day?). Never, ever in the morning. Never just as general background noise. The rest of the day was filled with reading, playing with toys, instrument practice, crafts, cooking, baking, outdoor playing, cycling, doing chores etc.

When I moved to this country I was shocked to see that some people don't even turn the TV off when guests come to their house. Guests are just expected to tolerate crap daytime tv noise, and never get the full attention of the hosts. Awful.

I see limiting screen time as a very useful tool to get children into meaningful, nourishing and stimulating activities. Having the TV on all the time invites kids to pretty much shut down interaction with siblings and friends because it's much easier to just sit and watch.

I honestly cannot think of a single reason why having lots of tv time would be good for a child's development. (Similar arguments hold for iPads, video games etc, in my view.)

I'm really surprised people keep the TV on all day even with guests. I cannot concentrate on a conversation with a random soap someone has on in the background. It's rude and annoying.

I doubt you can crammed in a one bedroom box.....

What?

Sorry wrong thread.....

Screen time is limited to an hour a day in our house - that iPod, iPad, TV, laptop - everything.

They don't have time as they both do violin & piano, DD does ballet, gymnastics and riding and DS does martial arts and extra sport.

Essentially I keep them away from screens by doing lots of activities that build a skill and develop social skills at the same time.

I notice when I've been on the net a lot I find it more difficult to focus afterwards. I dont think its at all good for concentration.

I can't imagine caring what my SILs think though, let alone rethinking my philosophy.

www.telegraph.co.uk/women/womens-life/11975025/Sorry-Kate-Winslet-some-screen-time-can-be-good-for-kids.html

recent article from the telegraph talks about latest research leaning more towards "screen time" not being bad for kids at all.....