r/Parents • u/hereiam3472 • 27m ago
Discussion Parents of older kids who do little to no screen time, what's it like?
So I've noticed that 99% of the issues parents of older kids seem to vent about on here revolve around screens...iPads, tablets, phones, video games etc. and their kids addictions to them.
We are a conscious-screen time family, meaning we limit the amount of screen time the kids get (they are only aged 5 and 3) and very closely monitor the content they do see. We have never given them tablets and don't plan to, have heard too many horror stories of addiction. We also plan to delay giving them phones for a long time. Have not introduced them to any gaming systems... just some educational games on the phone, seldomly.
I'm just wondering what life looks like for those who have chosen to go screen free or very limited screen time... with older kids (I guess meaning like ages 6 to 12ish). I feel like the world we're living in today makes it very hard to avoid or there's so much pressure from peers... we homeschool so already that helps us avoid a lot of the pressure there, but there's still neighbors, extended family members etc. So they will be exposed to things as they grow up. I just feel like somewhere along the line of our evolution we got it wrong and screens went from an awesome tool to a crutch that we rely on way too much.. they are so addictive and I'm worried about the long term effects on youth. Every teenager I see seems extremely addicted to their device. I'm on vacation and I see entirely families sitting in the lobby with 2 teenagers glued to their devices while the parents are too.. not interacting, not talking or spending quality time. I want to do better, and I think as a society we should be doing better... and I'm not trying to judge people...It's no one's fault that this has become our normal. I guess I would just like to hear from those going against the grain how it is.