
Stop dragging kids away from their screens - spdionis
https://thenextweb.com/insider/2017/05/29/stop-dragging-kids-away-screens/?utm_source=facebook.com&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=Stop%20dragging%20kids%20away%20from%20their%20screens&utm_campaign=share%2Bbutton#.tnw_E2ZHFbSV
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jamra
My wife keeps showing me studies of how a certain amount of hours per day of
television correlates with retardation in children. This retardation was
measured by being intellectually behind in development by 6 months to 1 year.

My kids don't watch TV. This opinion piece is lacking in facts. It all comes
down to an empirical argument about the author's many generations of family
always being worried about too much screen time.

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52-6F-62
I'm not at all refuting what you're saying. I believe it.

I do want to say, however, that from my limited understanding it's more likely
not the negative effects of television itself, but more a lack of positive
influence. That is, time spent watching television is time spent not engaging
in more creative pastimes typical to children of that age. Things like play,
exercise, socializing, and testing limits in various ways.

Almost any resource on brain development and function will spell out that the
early years of childhood are the most crucial, and development during that
time will influence your development throughout the rest of your life.

I mean, without diving deeper and finding real resources, I'll predict that
there's no special poison that makes television so detrimental, it's the
displacement of other positive stimuli in childhood.

I didn't read your other sources, don't have the time presently -- is this
generally apt? Or are they more pointed than my take?

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jamra
Truthfully I didn't read the source material myself. I just took my wife's
word for it, but it's entirely possible that too much TV time is due to
apathetic parenting. It is also possible that television somehow delays
certain parts of a developing brain.

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52-6F-62
Certainly. It's probably something worth looking into. Regardless, watching a
lot of television will influence the development of a child's brain. This
could be in the form of moral instruction, social norms, cultural
affectations, and more. Also it takes little physical coordination to watch
television (from a high-level viewpoint)

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briga
Apps these days are purposefully design to be as addictive as possible. I
wouldn't give my kid unlimited access to screens for the same reason I
wouldn't give my kid unlimited access to candy or coffee or cocaine. Should we
really encourage letting our children spend the most impressionable years of
their lives in front of a screen? Playing computer games might stimulate a
kid's brain to some extent, but a developing brain also needs physical
activity. It's really not hard to see why ADHD is so prevalent in kids today.
Non-stop instant gratification entertainment has a cost.

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NathanKP
If I understood the point of the article correctly the author addressed this
pretty well. Just like candy store employees were too sick of candy to bother
stealing candy, the kids who are raised in an electronic environment are also
desensitized to the addictive strategies.

People used to fear that the TV was going to be so addictive, but instead the
generation that grew up with TV and was supposed to be so addicted to it never
got addicted. Instead it's their parents and grandparents that have the TV
playing at all times in the house.

Maybe you don't get addicted to tech that you grow up with because its just
normal and routine. But its the previous generation that gets hooked and
projects their fear.

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mixmastamyk
There are other benefits to limiting the screens. My daughter is a bookworm
due to the lack of TV and limited tablet time in our house, and I wouldn't
change that for the world. She practices math for fun and already knows way
more about the universe, oceans, music, and comic books than any kid her age
should.

I did get her a kano computer recently, and she knows to use it for reasonable
periods, and is a pretty good typist thanks to tux type.

