Parents Of Gen Alpha Vs Screen Time

Hi OP-

I agree with all the posters- Parenting is hard! And whatever we do, we are always going to second guess our choices .

I have a little over 4 years boy and a 21 months old girl. We din't have a TV until my son was 3 and my daughter was 6 months. Our friends thought it was weird that my son was missing out on the TV and bought us a TV as a housewarming present when we moved to west coast .

1. We don't watch TV so my kids don't ask for TV time often (they do sometimes). What I have found is- if we don't turn on the TV or check our phones, the kids are happy playing with their toys, reading books etc but if the TV is on or they see us on phone then they will ask for TV.

2. As another poster mentioned, smartphone/ Ipad is more a problem than TV. They can change the program and there is always a tantrum whenever they get to watch apps on smartphone becuase it's addictive and they don't want to give it back. So, when we do let them watch TV, it is the TV. They get to watch one hour of TV on weekend (half hour for each of them since my son likes mighty machines and my daughter likes Paw patrol). No TV time during weekdays because thay are at the daycare all day (8:30-5:30) so once we get home, we all play, eat and read.

3. We do not do Skype. I call my family but I don't think Skype is a bad thing.

4. When my daughter (my son is happier playing outside or with his building toys) cries for TV, sometime we play their videos on the TV and watch together. She enjoys it.

5. We read a lot. We have atleast 300 books for them and every weekend we get another 10-15 new books from the library. That keeps them entertained. Other than books, we do puzzles, blocks, and flash cards (for my son). He is 4 and he can read.

6. The downside of little TV time is that our house is messy most of the times . They have a play room but we let them bring toys to the living room and kitchen. When my husband and I are cooking, they play either in living room or kitchen. They also help with meals (mixing, adding ingredients etc). We bought a kitchen set for them and kept in the dining room, sometimes they play with their pretend kitchen when we cook.

7. We do not have any portable DVD player for carrides. We don't give them ipad either. It helps them look out and see different things. Read numbers and signs etc.

BTW, we have clocks

It is so much fun to see them working together...the big brother reading to the little sister

 

awww nuss, so cute the pic.

Just wanted to add an aside, the clock is a great device to teach. Personally I think the analogous clock is a great invention.
The process of telling time on an analogous clock teaches is quite complex and requires higher order thinking for that age. So playing with it proved very educational for my kids. When my kids were around 3+ I got a real plastic clock, removed the front cover and batteries and let then rotate the hands and understand the connection between minutes hand and hours hand. The learning goes on on even when they are older to understand circles, angles, so much more.

 

We have minimized their screen time to a very minimum. Now that they should earn their points by behaving good, to have 30 mins TV time during weekends.
I too think it is good to have at least some TV time than cutting it off completely.
In the mean time, they do peep inside their granny's room every now and then while she actively watches serials. My kids don't have any interest towards it, and do not understand the slang/language of it either. But my DD dances whenever the ad jingles played in the TV.

I wouldn't support to cut down TV time to zero, even though I would do that for other screens like ipad or mobile as they are kept very close to the body.
But with the TV, they are required to follow GK and other stuff although they were idiotic and useless, that is what becomes a common topic among their friends as they grow.

One of my uncle's kids - a little older kids, are completely cut off from any form of screens since birth. At School, despite of their smart academic achievements, they lack social skills. They say, their friends talk about TV stuff like chotabeem or cricket or movie, recent add, news etc as they gather at school to a common discussion point. Since they know nothing of such, they are often isolated and discriminated.
At that tender age, young School boys are ill mannered and really hurt or bully the one with less GK/social knowledge.

It may not affect others, but some kids do face a low time with that.

So, anything in moderate is my way.

Even we grew up watching TV and movies in theater when we were very young. But we are ok both academically and healthwise.
In fact, many of our friends' parents would have sold their TV or packed them in the boxes when we grew up. But not all those kids could exceed us in studies or even in manners. So, TV or Screen is part of life, we should take it with a pinch of salt.
Don't let your kids to get addicted to it. At the same time, don't chase them away from it completely.