I don't have kids, but if I did, I'd probably let even a 6-year-old kid of mine have pretty much unlimited access to a Linux box connected to an ASCII terminal instead of a monitor if the box lacked access to the web and to file-sharing services.
(The purpose of not giving the kid a monitor would be to deny him access to Linux games with engaging user interfaces.)
My point is that the word "screens" is an imprecise description of the danger. The danger is restricted to certain platforms.
(Yeah, I realize that it is possible that the kid could get access to stuff I wouldn't want him to see via the ability to install from a large repository of Linux packages or via FTP, but as long as I'm occasionally inspecting his Linux installation, the expected benefits would outweigh the expected risks. For example, it is very unlikely that any Linux package or ftp repository has been optimized much for addictiveness.)
(The purpose of not giving the kid a monitor would be to deny him access to Linux games with engaging user interfaces.)
My point is that the word "screens" is an imprecise description of the danger. The danger is restricted to certain platforms.
(Yeah, I realize that it is possible that the kid could get access to stuff I wouldn't want him to see via the ability to install from a large repository of Linux packages or via FTP, but as long as I'm occasionally inspecting his Linux installation, the expected benefits would outweigh the expected risks. For example, it is very unlikely that any Linux package or ftp repository has been optimized much for addictiveness.)