It's not quite that simple. Literally all their schoolmates are watching shows, playing video games etc. So they become ostracized as a result of not having the same context as the other kids.

We're trying like hell to slow the onslaught with my son, but the kids make fun of him because "you don't even play Roblox" or whatever.

The public schools are all in on screens, at least where we are. They literally issued my kindergartener a Chromebook and expect us to do 30 minutes a night on the apps they recommend. It's really disheartening.

> they become ostracized

I think this is a strong overstatement. It's one thing to be completely out of the loop for any and all media, and another to watch perdiodically.

Sports are still huge, so obviously there's a significant demo of kids who aren't solely watching tv and gaming all the time.

> the kids make fun of him

Some. That can happen whether your kid is glued to screens or not.

I sympathize. As I said my kids school doesn't use screens and has a strict no media/screen policy at home. And yet, some families don't comply and a few kids will bring these convos to the play yard.

Even if it's a minority it's still very disruptive.

Maybe you can find local groups of like minded families for your kids to find friends.

"screen" is too wide category for what people do. Reading textbook on "screen" is almost same as the real book. Watching educational YouTube could be great. Watching YouTube Shorts isn't so good.