Comments on: So Maybe I Was Wrong

By: Altduncan

Altduncan — Fri, 16 Nov 2012 21:21:31 +0000

Video games and tv are designed to be addictive. The harder it is to turn off the more important it is. An hour a day is way, way too much for growing children, and pretending that it is ok is just making it easier to justify letting them “make their own decisions” when they are really not capable of resisting the siren call. When my children were grown and out of the house and mostly seemed to think that I am an old fuddy duddy who is not in touch with reality I asked each of them several times if they thought I did anything right I bringing them up. They all said emphatically “no tv”.

By: Paul

Paul — Tue, 06 Nov 2012 15:14:01 +0000

This is so timely. I, too, am ignoring the experts, and I’ve been feeling guilty for the longest time.

I also think the TV/Internet watching is a little addicting, at least for the genes on my side. It runs in my whole family. My brothers and I can watch an endless amount of TV, as well as our mother!

But I also think there is educational value to what we are watching and doing. And we live in a bi-lingual household, so to balance out the English, we watch programs spoken in German. (Yes, this is my excuse!)

Thanks for sharing your experience. I’m glad I’m not alone with this struggle.

By: Kim s

Kim s — Mon, 05 Nov 2012 23:00:39 +0000

I could have written this post, as you well know. I tell myself that he gets good grades and has a couple other activities, so it’s okay. In reality, it’s just easier for me than fighting about it.

By: mike3283

mike3283 — Mon, 05 Nov 2012 22:36:04 +0000

Boy does this resonate with me. Ask David about too much screen time and he might remember our solution. If I remember correctly, he had to make out a calendar on Sunday for the coming weeks TV, listing the programs that he was going to watch. I believe that it was limited to a total of 7 – 10 hours. If there was a program that he might be required to watch for school, he got special dispensation.

Grammy and I pretty much left him on the honor system and I believe that he stuck with it most of the time. If he got caught deviating from his choice of programs the restrictions tighened up.

It is true that today is much different than back then, however, I will tell you that the side bar for David was that he became more of a reader.

It is a tough call and my darling grandsons will fight you on this but keep your chin up. Parenting is parenting and yes we all make errors while we work on the learning curve of becoming better parents.

Some day they will remeber the restrictions they endured as kids when their kids put them through the same process. Then they might realize how right you where to restrict their priveleges- with love.

Papa

By: Elizabeth Grant Thomas

Elizabeth Grant Thomas — Mon, 05 Nov 2012 21:32:40 +0000

How brave of you to come forward with these words and thoughts today, Emily. There are few of us out there that aren’t guilty of this, I’m sure. I amazed, even with a two-year-old, how difficult this recommendation is to stick to. Curious George + Cat in the Hat Knows a Lot About That (inane show) = 1 hr. Then, the YouTube videos — just 5 minutes here, 5 minutes there — add up to another 30 minutes or an hour in a desperate fight to get dinner on the table. It creeps up on you, doesn’t it? Have you read “The Gift of an Ordinary Day” by Katrina Kenison? I think you’d love it, and it would give you some perspective. And remember, it’s NEVER too late

By: Benny

Benny — Mon, 05 Nov 2012 20:12:36 +0000

I only get 1 hour per day on weekdays if I get any. the boys are lucky!

By: Sue

Sue — Mon, 05 Nov 2012 20:03:36 +0000

We grew up with Saturday mornings of tv, so our parents could sleep in, but that and the after school hour were the only time anything was on that we really wanted to watch–except the Muppet Show on Friday nights.

We’ve always had a rule of 1/2 hour of tv and another 1/2 hour of other screen time each day. Well this year, Maya’s teacher assigns all of the math homework as ‘math games’ on the computer. I was so upset about this! It was totally undermining our tough wall of resistance for screen time limits. But, after monitoring these games (I did have to do that since it is very easy to switch to Amazon and look at nail accessories while playing math games—-I’m sure you don’t have that issue), I started to feel that there is real learning going on, and the frustration level for her is so much less than that of worksheets or memorization.

After reading the NYT article about technology and learning, I’m getting more used to the idea that there is now a really grey area between education and entertainment. Learning with a screened device is so much more compelling for kids. I just wish there was more concrete evidence of the learning that is going on. I did get Maya to start using the Kahn academy website for math that gives feedback about skill levels and concepts learned.

Well, I guess that what I’m trying to say is that screen time now is maybe not as evil as we parents have been told over the years, so don’t beat yourself up too much! We just have to hope we can teach them how to use it wisely.

By: MemeGRL

MemeGRL — Mon, 05 Nov 2012 19:00:18 +0000

Thanks for this…we went to the “no TV on school days” rule this year. After the hurricane days, etc., I walked downstairs to find both boys in front of the TV, still in pajamas, having not eaten breakfast, with less than 20 minutes to the bus, and I got an earful for chasing them up and out. So while I am jealous you have spared yourself years of these battles, I am hopeful that this will just help it become part of the routine in our house. Because I have watched myself and the smartphone–I know how fast it can take over if you let it.
Good luck to you!!!

By: MelanieO

MelanieO — Mon, 05 Nov 2012 14:17:22 +0000

OMG, please tell me how you do this (if you live to tell about it, that is). I am in a similar boat, albeit a few years behind you. May the force be with you!