to ask how young people passed their time before they had screens 24/7

[WeneverownedaniPad]

This is not a "it were all fields round here" post but ...

DD(14) has been getting a lot of headaches. The optician says it's a combination of tiredness and possibly too much screentime so I need to act.

Thing is, her teachers say she gives 100% in school and her behaviour is excellent. I never have to nag her to do homework and she is very sunny-natured - no adolescent mood swings. She trains a couple of evenings and every weekend for the team sport she competes in. The rest of the time she is on her phone/laptop/Netflix. She's not interested in social media and her friends don't seem to "hang out" in real life - probably because they're glued to their bloody phones!

What did we do (those of who are that old!) before there was so much screen time available?

What do your teens do?

I was 14 in 1998. I remember having dial up Internet at that time but never went on it really. I didn't have a mobile.

My evenings were spent doing homework or hanging out with friends at the park /walking around.
My weekends were lazy mornings watching TV, talking to friends on land-line, spending every Saturday afternoon at our local shopping centre hanging out.

I was an only child and my parents used to take me on lots of days out (boring adult ones, not for me) such as walking round villages, being dragged around shopping, seeing grandparents

Read.
Watched 'too much' TV.
Listened to records.
Had very long phone conversations with my friends who I'd seen all day at school.
Played cards with friends.
Went for bike rides.
Baked cakes.