My trouble is that my two daughters (10 and 8) go to a school where iPads are used for a significant part of their school work, even when they're at school. They don't get paper assignments or worksheets anymore, it's all assigned over a program called Schoology and they're expected to work and submit it all through the iPad. Then when they come home after school, their homework is also done on the iPad. Then once they're done all their homework and have already spent countless hours that day on tablets doing their work, they want downtime to relax and play and often games on the iPad is a big part of that.

I agree as a parent we have a big role to play in being very aware of practicing what we preach. Obviously that goes with more than just screen time. I've caught myself many times saying that my child cannot go on tablets right now, meanwhile I grab my phone to check emails or read the news...

I don't know what the perfect answer is but I think moderation is needed much more. Especially considering the active effort to make games/apps as addictive to us as possible. I wish the school would adapt a screen-free learning day system where, maybe a couple days each week, all work is done without the need for iPads.

Funny anecdote from my son: His favorite time at a school is going to the computer lab. I asked him about the iPads in the classroom and he said "Those are for work".

Same story at my home. Research in this area is widespread. We have stopped giving screen time before school and it has improved the attention span thru our the day(may be there is some impact on how you start the day or may be just in my case).

Screen times are in the chunks of 20 mins, max 3 times a day. Alexa/Google have been helpful in setting up timers so no argument at the end whether it was full 20 min or not :-)

After returning from school. Evening, after completing school/activity work. After dinner.

Any day, not more than 60 mins(baring occasional movie time holidays/some weekends).

But due to this, I am not able to introduce them to "programming" because you tube and video games are taking up all the quotas and I am sure once programming is introduced 20 min window will not work.

Whenever I have kids at my home I just put them in front of an ipad and a stupid show. Does the trick.

Didn't you read the study that was against useing screen time as reward/punishment? That's exactly what makes them wanting screen more...

Source - https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/01/190109114811.h...

"Didn't you read X that says parenting decision Y is bad?"

^^ Story of being a parent, right there.

Well, sure. It does not mean you should not listen to studies and just say - fuck it. Do what you think is best for your children and limiting screen time sure makes a lot of sense.

I think op means, there's just so much information and studies, god knows how many are reproducible, and the constant pressure that you aren't doing enough being a parent :).

Haha yes, more on the "Everything you do as a parent is wrong" end of the spectrum.

Did the people in this thread even read the article? It suggests that the effect of eating potatoes or wearing glasses on childhood well-being is greater than the effect of screen time.

That's what the article says, but the definition of "well-being", and the methods, are not explained. Even if the results of this meta-study are reliable, that doesn't mean they rule out all possible negative effects of screen time.

The point is that there is little to no evidence that screen time is bad (or good), just a lot of speculation. The argument against screen time is essentially the same as the one used against GMO foods: "it's new, so it's probably bad." Obviously that's not a strong argument but people in these comments seem to be accepting it without reflection.