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Re:Parents now spend twice as much time with their children ... by roflchoppa on Tuesday November 28, 2017 @02:22PM (#15800489)
Two of my buddies had kids when they were 19-20, when I see one of them his daughter is basically watching youtube videos all the time sitting on the couch.

The other guy does not really let his kids around phones or tablets, they can watch TV, but thats also heavily regulated. But usually when we are around, they hang out with us and work on cars. Its really fun to teach them stuff about cars even if they are only 5 and 6. When we sit and have meals, I try to engage them as much as possible, talk about music, and math.

But yes I agree with you, phones are really killing it. Have you tried deleting apps you like to use? Switch to web apps with difficult logins?

on a side note does anyone else find those youtube videos for kids hella creepy?

Re:Parents now spend twice as much time with their children ... by SamBam on Tuesday November 28, 2017 @02:59PM (#15800839)
Not sure which ones, but my friend's five-year-old girl spends her time watching videos of and older girl showing off her Brand-Name Doll, and all the accessories you can buy for it, and how isn't it just so cute when I put her in THIS accessory, and tune in tomorrow for more accessories you can buy...

That definitely makes me sick.

Re:Parents now spend twice as much time with their children ... by jhbadger on Wednesday November 29, 2017 @09:45AM (#15807129)
True, but in the 1970s when I was a kid, I watched a lot of Saturday Morning cartoons which had a lot of toy ads, and my father's comic books had toy ads too. Selling crap to children too young to understand advertising has a long history.
Re:Parents now spend twice as much time with their children ... by roflchoppa on Thursday November 30, 2017 @04:58AM (#15814639)
yeah I remember seeing those ads when I was a child as well, however I think that the invasiveness has increased. the children have this "relationship" with people on youtube, where the youtuber addresses the whole audience, but in a way that children might perceive as friendliness, while the intentions may not be so genuine.
Re:Parents now spend twice as much time with their children ... by metaobject on Tuesday November 28, 2017 @03:55PM (#15801496)
At least the older one is being productive and producing content. Hey, there are some silly YouTubers who make real money from just streaming their life (games, fashion, etc).

Arguably, what they’re doing is better than sitting in front of a passive device like a TV. Sure, they could be spending their time more wisely, but the kids need some sort of down time (exactly how much time is for the parents to figure out).

Re:Parents now spend twice as much time with their children ... by floren on Tuesday November 28, 2017 @05:18PM (#15802398)
> Arguably, what they’re doing is better than sitting in front of a passive device like a TV.

But the example given was of a child semi-actively watching ads, for hours and hours. Is that better than watching, say, Sesame Street?

Re:Parents now spend twice as much time with their children ... by scruple on Tuesday November 28, 2017 @03:34PM (#15801226)
> on a side note does anyone else find those youtube videos for kids hella creepy?

Yes, and there was a recent discussion on HN about it, too [0].

[0]: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15670109