Screen free children

[screenfreemum]

Are there children who are screen-free? Ours mostly are (DD nearly 7 and DS 3) we don't have an ipad or a telly, which makes it a bit easier, I reckon. We do go to the cinema once every couple of months with 7 yo and she is allowed to watch films on my laptop on sick days, on a longhaul flight, and occasionally a programme if she's had a long day after school. She does get some screentime at school under the guise of education but that is also limited. 3 yo hasn't had any appreciable screentime, except for a glimpse here and there if his older sister is watching a film whilst ill. DH's sister lives abroad so we Facetime with her once a month. And of course if we're at a pub dinner or something they might see a football match on the telly, but otherwise don't have any screentime.

But it feels increasingly like we are outliers, I reckon everyone we know has much more screentime for their children. Friends sometimes talk about wanting to have less screen time for their children and I keep quiet as I don't want to seem precious about it.

Obviously this has been a conscious decision as I do worry about the impacts of screentime on DC (and later social media) but also I don't feel we've had to be too extreme to avoid it. Are there others who have kept their children (mostly) screen free? What happened as they grow older?

On the contrary. In my experience, 'screen teens' are among the most socially awkward. Unable to maintain eye contact and with almost zero conversational skills. Now THAT'S strange!

Absolutely bonkers.

I don't think that's true of a significant number of kids. You happen to have a kid who just isn't that interested in screens.

Some kids will just get bored with the TV and wander away. Many won't. The more prone your kid is to getting "stuck" on screens, the stricter you need to be with limits.

Off the top of my head, we have shown that screen time has negative impacts on:

• Gross motor skills
• Mood and self image
• Concentration/ ability to stay on task
• Social skills

That's a really poor understanding of the research.

The impact on social skills and gross motor skills is negative if screen use is excessive, and would be true of doing almost anything excessively. Excessive reading, for instance, also negatively impacts social skills and gross motor skills because the issue isn't the screens (or the reading) it's not interacting with people and not physically doing things.

The research on impact on social skills also shows that screens can be positive or negative and the context and content are crucial. The impact on mood and self-esteem being similar, with some uses being positive and others negative.

And, again, with concentration - some screen use improves concentration, some is negative and some has no impact (providing you have other opportunities to practice focusing).

@LameBorzoi oh he's definitely been addicted at times. That's when I knew I had to change and limit it - and only show him certain things. I try to put on mainly animal documentaries, rather than nonsense animations. The more overstimulating they are, of course the more addicted they get.