When I grew up, I had long periods of time during which my parents weren't around. I socialized with other children. Imagine that!

"Parents now spend twice as much time with their children as 50 years ago" | https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15800082 two weeks ago.

I was suprised to see the following wasn't at the top:

>baldfat: The problem is that 90% of the time the parents are now on their phones.

You are aware that there are playgrounds and ages where parents have to be around their kids are you?

I am aware that the rules for that are very different from when I was a child and now.

It's got nothing to do with rules. It used to be common sense when I grew up. Also, there are bonding mechanisms in all kids that require feedback from a parent in their early years. This is where your parents attention is necessary. This is also where a kid can develop certain problems if they don't get this attention. My SO sees those failures of zombie parents every day at work. The only thing worse is the parents ignorance.

Same goes for playgrounds that are in difficult areas or conditions of course.

Huh. I spent plenty of time with my parents, and plenty of time without. Yet today's "common sense" says that almost everyone in my generation was raised by wolves.

It's common sense that exaggerations and selective ignorance kills discussions.

You're inferring a lot by viewing a parent on their smart phone.

RE Independence: I dare say a child can play for some minutes with other children without the need to interact with their parent. In fact, I'd go far as to say, interrupting a child's play is more detrimental than leaving them be and looking at your phone. In either case, I'm sure the parent has more insight than a third party passing by and is making an informed decision.