New Report Finds Some Babies Spend Up To Eight Hours a Day on Screens (thetimes.com) 63
fjo3 shares a report from The Times: More than two-thirds of babies under two use screens, a report has found, and some are exposed for up to eight hours a day. Nearly a third of newborns were found to be watching screens for more than three hours a day, while almost 20 percent of infants of four to 11 months used screens for more than an hour a day. The report comes after the government issued guidance that children under two do not use screens at all, apart from communal activities such as video-calling relatives.
In a review of the current research, researchers found evidence linking screen time to poorer outcomes for children, including an increased risk of obesity, short-sightedness, sleep and behavioural difficulties, and later challenges with friendships. [...] The research also revealed why children and parents use screens, with families reporting children doing so for educational purposes, entertainment, play and to communicate and bond with others. Parents, meanwhile, used screens to occupy or distract children, which helped caregivers to complete domestic duties, paid employment and other caring responsibilities. Nearly a quarter of parents -- 23.6 percent -- either had no childcare or were not aware of the government's early years offer.
In a review of the current research, researchers found evidence linking screen time to poorer outcomes for children, including an increased risk of obesity, short-sightedness, sleep and behavioural difficulties, and later challenges with friendships. [...] The research also revealed why children and parents use screens, with families reporting children doing so for educational purposes, entertainment, play and to communicate and bond with others. Parents, meanwhile, used screens to occupy or distract children, which helped caregivers to complete domestic duties, paid employment and other caring responsibilities. Nearly a quarter of parents -- 23.6 percent -- either had no childcare or were not aware of the government's early years offer.
Raising children (Score:5, Funny)
But at least you didn't vaccinate and give them autism.
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Yes, let's bring up a debunked vaccine-autism link.
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Unfortunately it's bubbled up from the cesspool of our current HHS department.
Re: Raising children (Score:1)
Tablets in restaurants safe or not? (Score:3)
I have often seen small tablets with edutainment content being used to keep small children quiet in restaurants. Yes, it works and probably I would have loved it or an eink tablet if I was at that age, but yeah you have to wonder what the impact is. Toddlers even want to go right up to a TV to look at the pixels, doesn't mean they should.
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If you're exposed to restaurants enough to an extent that this would develop behavioural difficulties I think you have bigger issues that need to be addressed. Kids will be exposed to screens, it's a question of dose.
Re: Tablets in restaurants safe or not? (Score:1)
Doesn't everyone spend 8 hours in a restaurant with their kids every day, or am I thinking of a special hell?
Re: Tablets in restaurants safe or not? (Score:5, Funny)
The union rules say 6 hours per day, and if everybody stuck with it that it'll be fine. Unfortunately some parents don't stick with the plan and spoil it for everyone childless people are often left alone dining in a silent restaurant with no screaming children for company. That means that some of us parents have to spend ten hours a day just moving from restaurant to restaurant and looking for people trying to read quietly. No rest for the wicked, as they say.
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Doesn't everyone spend 8 hours in a restaurant with their kids every day, or am I thinking of a special hell?
Hell is 8 hours with other peoples' children :-)
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Don't have kids what are you on about?
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I think if your kid spends enough time staring at screens just in restaurants they are going to grow up having never learned to cook a meal, buy groceries, or ever fend for themselves. They'll grow up being clueless rich narcissists eating in restaurants breakfast, lunch and dinner every single day (the amount of time needed for the screen time to have an effect), and that will have massive developmental issues. They may even be so bad they'll run for president one day.
Re:Tablets in restaurants safe or not? (Score:5, Insightful)
If you're exposed to restaurants enough to an extent that this would develop behavioural difficulties I think you have bigger issues that need to be addressed. Kids will be exposed to screens, it's a question of dose.
The point is that adults who give their kids a stim drug to keep them vacuously quiet in a restaurant (because that's what a tablet does - it produces, via visual/auditory/haptic stimulation, an internal neurochemical change and consequent behavioral pattern as if you had dosed your toddler with a combination of alprazolam and an amphetamine), are the same adults who are stim-drugging their kid with that screen in the car on the way to/from the restaurant, on the pew at church, in the shopping cart at the grocery store, on the train to grandma's house for Christmas, in the waiting room at the doctor, in the evening when the adults get home from work and need some time to take care of their own daily needs, etc.
Each of those situations is understandable. Just like every game theory or economic scenario consists of large groups of perfectly rational choices, which collectively result in pervasive systemic negative consequences that are far worse than the sum of the individual choices. I think saying "kids will be exposed to screens" is akin to saying "kids will be exposed to nicotine". Hm, actually, yeah, that tracks, because if I gave a toddler a cigarette it would also help neurochemically pacify/sedate them while I celebrate my birthday at Cheesecake Factory.
Why would you choose to bring a toddler to an entirely optional environment if your toddler is incapable of being in that environment without you drugging them? Is it so you can enjoy the experience of being at a sit-down restaurant? You getting to have tableside guac and a skinny marg with the other wives is worth drugging your kid and distorting their neurological development?
It's a missed learning opportunity. Childhood is a process. The entire point of the process of childhood is to develop the self-regulation that will allow them to navigate the world. Self-regulation is a tremendously complex art, composed of thousands of soft skills that allow you to maintain yourself while:
being in unfamiliar physical spaces
being the center of attention
not being the center of attention
interacting with your family
interacting with strangers
listening to others while they talk
processing external stimuli and filtering for relevance (your table vs other tables)
adding something to the conversation
assessing your level of hunger and satiety
using cups, plates, spoons, napkins
the list goes on for pages and pages.
Yes, you could be reductive and say missing any one instance is not a big deal. It won't hurt them to give them a stim-drug so dad can watch The Big Game with his buddies at Buffalo Wild Wings. These skills do not programmatically pop into your head at age 14. Humans are not spiders. We do not live to instinctively build webs based on inherited firmware. Humans are cultural animals. Childhood is when these skills are acquired, via acculturation. And they are acquired through a million instances of practice. Children are not spiders running a program of "Climb up, find space, squirt web across space". Children must actively, repeatedly, and progressively encounter and confront their external environment and their internal sensory state. If you do not give your toddler the gift of a million instances to practice and develop self-regulation and navigation, you are choosing to reduce their future functional capacity. You are choosing to acculturate them to a dependence on external stim drugging. You are choosing to numb them to their own bodily sensations of hunger, thirst, boredom, comfort, pain, safety, danger, etc. You are choosing to retard their development of internal resilience.
Why come to a restaurant and bring them out into the outside world if you are going to then administer a nerve block
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Humans are not spiders. We do not live to instinctively build webs based on inherited firmware.
Thank goodness for this. I had an opportunity to observe a pair of impressively large orb weaver spiders residing for several weeks in the outdoor corners of a picture window. For a while, each spun a web and kept to its corner. Then one day, one spider made its way to the other, envenomated it, and wrapped it.
I read a little about orb weavers, and learned that females frequently cannibalize males after mating, that they frequently mate with siblings, and that cannibalism of males is a little less frequent
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I almost went up to a table just last week. Now I'm extra glad I didn't.
Thank you for that well written explanation.
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I think that is one of the few legitimate uses. Otherwise we will see more and more restaurants that do not allow children.
Re: Tablets in restaurants safe or not? (Score:4, Insightful)
Alternatively we fix that problem at both ends: we raise kids to behave well in public, and we as a society understand that putting up with kids who are in the process of learning etiquette is the price we pay for not going extinct.
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Alternatively we fix that problem at both ends: we raise kids to behave well in public, and we as a society understand that putting up with kids who are in the process of learning etiquette is the price we pay for not going extinct.
But how do we do that? I raised my son to understand that there is a time and place for different activities. Some places he can be rambunctious and other places, he sits and behaves himself. This was well before "screens".
Part of the process is parents understanding that kids have a lot of energy that needs dissipated. So before going out to dinner, we'd have him do laps around the house, or some street hockey with friends. All depends on the time of year and the local situation.
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I have kids too. I'm not going to pretend that I have all the answers. But parents have lost the ability to properly impart etiquette to their kids, in many cases because they have none themselves. So kids' behaviour in public has gotten worse. Simultaneously, adults have become spoiled brats unwilling to tolerate even the slightest discomfort, which is why you have people whining about having to listen to crying babies on flights. For fuck's sake babies are the literal future of our species.
Kids' etiquette
Re: Tablets in restaurants safe or not? (Score:3)
Had a discussion with a kid recently. They have to hand in their smartphones at the start of school. He said he did not bring one. I did not believe him. Pushed him to hand it in, he refused. Called his phone, no sound. Called his mother. "Yes sir, he does not bring his phone to class." People can change...
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It's been a while since a comment on Slashdot made me happy. Thank you, sir.
Also, thank you for being a teacher. People say "thank you for your service" to military men when I'd rather say "fuck you for participating in the violent colonial exploitation of militarily weaker nations".
Thank you for your service.
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You know this only applies to US, maybe 1 or two other country with very large and strong military. All the other countries it's more of a "thank you for participating in RESISTING the violent colonial exploitation by militarily stronger nations".
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Also, thank you for being a teacher. People say "thank you for your service" to military men when I'd rather say "fuck you for participating in the violent colonial exploitation of militarily weaker nations".
Thank you for your service.
+1.
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I have kids too. I'm not going to pretend that I have all the answers. But parents have lost the ability to properly impart etiquette to their kids, in many cases because they have none themselves. So kids' behaviour in public has gotten worse. Simultaneously, adults have become spoiled brats unwilling to tolerate even the slightest discomfort, which is why you have people whining about having to listen to crying babies on flights. For fuck's sake babies are the literal future of our species.
Kids' etiquette needs to be improved. Adults need to grow up.
I've travelled around the world, and it's only the so-called advanced Western countries that have this problem. For example, I was in Vietnam recently and kids' public behaviour was practically alien compared to kids back in Australia where I live. When kids did cry or make a ruckus, nobody even looked up. It was just understood that that is what it meant to live in a society that had kids.
I do get it that western society is kind of anti family and not terribly tolerant of disruption as it once was. But there might also be a chicken and egg problem. I've been around places - actual adult drink serving places where a couple might go on date night, or just to relax a bit. But here comes Mr and Mrs, look at our children! Zero discipline for the children, screaming, running around and acting like the place was their playground.
If I'm at McD's, I expect little ones making a racket.
Point is, if
Re: Tablets in restaurants safe or not? (Score:1)
I don't quite agree with everything you said, but I'm willing to overlook everything because of your correct use of the word fecundity. 10/10, would reply again.
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I don't quite agree with everything you said, but I'm willing to overlook everything because of your correct use of the word fecundity. 10/10, would reply again.
I was teh kid who read the dictionaries and encyclopedia when I was young..
Come to think of it, I still do. And no issue with not agreeing with me on all matters - good conversations are always appreciated!
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Bullshit. There are plenty of ways to sit with children in restaurants without resorting to screen time or the children annoying everybody else. I say this as a parent myself. No doubt it starts in the home and every other minute spent with the children: how do you engage with them and how much effort do you put in to helping them stay or entertained. It's called parenting.
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Yep. That's how things were before phone's and tablets. It was great.
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From observable evidence, it is not called "reality" though.
Re: Tablets in restaurants safe or not? (Score:2)
It might be a reality, but that doesnâ(TM)t make it a legitimate excuse as you first stated. Itâ(TM)s bad, lazy parenting.
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I think that is one of the few legitimate uses. Otherwise we will see more and more restaurants that do not allow children.
I like those. It's a great reason to go to a bar for food, especially in sane locations where people aren't allowed to smoke in them. I don't mind kids who can keep to the same social rules as [most of] the rest of us, and I was one of those kids. And it was at least in part because nobody treated me like I was a little prince who should be allowed to be an asshole in a restaurant. Giving kids a tablet when they act like a little shit is training them to be a little shit to get what they want.
Edutainment? (Score:2)
I've only ever seen cartoons and games with the audio way too loud. No edu-anything.
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Cartoons *can* be educational. (I think you're right, but I'm quibbling with your terminology.)
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Can you get "Richard Scarry's Best Storybook Ever" by Richard Scarry? I remember that one on the shelf from before I was able to read. I think my parents bought it before they had me.
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Can you get "Richard Scarry's Best Storybook Ever" by Richard Scarry? I remember that one on the shelf from before I was able to read. I think my parents bought it before they had me.
Yep, still in print. So is "Cars and Trucks and Things That Go" and "What Do People Do All Day." The latter has probably aged more than others, it has abig section about how great it is to dig up coal and burn it. "Buried sunlight."
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Crayons and coloring sheets were the thing when I was a kid. It worked pretty good. Do they still have that or did corporate cancel that because money? Probably. I don't have kids, so I don't know about these things.
1960s orphanage survivor (Score:5, Interesting)
I was born with hip dysplasia and spent six of my first nine months in a half body cast. I was in a state run orphanage, I was growing inside the cast, which left me with terrible scars on the front of my shins, and I was a "fussy" baby, so they "treated" me with phenobarbitol.
The experience left me faceblind and with some other developmental stuff that nicely compliments my otherwise mild autism. I am the squarest of square pegs, a misfit in every situation my whole entire life, except when I am blessedly alone.
I don't agonize about how I am, I enjoy intellectual pursuits, and my ability to focus on stuff in ways that neurotypicals can not. But if I had it to do all over again, I would very much like to have a bit more understanding from others, given that I had no say in how I came to be so different.
Small brains should develop normally, with limited screen time, until they are fully formed. Maybe that's late tweens, maybe it's sixteen, maybe we are going to learn that we need to treat dark pattern engagement magnet software just like we do slot machines.
Re: 1960s orphanage survivor (Score:2)
Dark patterns and marketing are right up there with child labor in coal mines. At least in terms of the long term disability and social harm it is leading us to
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I am the squarest of square pegs, a misfit in every situation my whole entire life, except when I am blessedly alone.
If you hadn't said anything I'd never have thought anything of the kind. I'm guessing online is the way to go for you. All the best.
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Yup 100%. I can pass among neurotypicals if I keep my mouth shut, but people quickly pick up on it if interacting with me.
Yeah, you got sunscreens, ultrasound screens... (Score:2)
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Some never grow up either. That baby still tries to sue for royalties all the time.
This is unacceptable (Score:4, Funny)
Higher for repeat offenders and babies over 18 months of age.
When will they LEARN ?
government support for parents? (Score:2)
If there is no government policy to support parenthood (with paid off-work time and state sponsored childcare), then that government is turning potential future taxpayers into future tax drains. Congrats, self own!
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If there is no government policy to support parenthood (with paid off-work time and state sponsored childcare), then that government is turning potential future taxpayers into future tax drains. Congrats, self own!
We have to make people want to be parents. Government can try all it wants, but social pressures of women told the path is waiting until nearing perimenopause to bear a child, and men being told they are all useless and predators of women has created a social system that looks at having children as some sort of anomaly.
So I'm doubting that giving free childcare, and time off fully paid is going to encourage that, especially to the segment of society who are viewed as the cause of all problems.
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The goal is to turn them into cannon fodder after eliminating all of the jobs.
Everybody panic! Screens are like witches! (Score:1)
Witches, I tell you! And the Bible commands us to murder witches! ...although, come to think of it, it doesn't say a word about screens.
SCREENS ARE WITCHES! ...come to think of it, the Bible also recommends murdering your children if they're disrespectful, so sometimes I wonder about that thing. Still.
WITCHES!
It wasn't easy raising a family (Score:2)
Seriously remember when we had the moral panic about the average American watching 8 hours of TV a day? Remember when that statistic was basically bullshit because it included outliers like retirees who are otherwise sitting around doing nothing because they were so old that was all they could do?
Honestly I kind of wonder what life was like for old people waiting to die before TV. I mean yeah you probably died a lot sooner because modern med
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Strange... (Score:2)
When my kids were babies, they had no interest in screens. If a screen was on in the background, they might glance at it but it wouldn't hold their interest. It wasn't until ~age 2 that they would actually watch a screen and age 4-5 that it would hold their interest for more than a few minutes.
Is that not typical?
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No, it's not. My daughter at 10 months (and earlier, since about 4 months or so) is instantly superglued to any passing screen with moving pictures on it. But then again we don't let her watch anything at all, this is more in passing at stores or if she comes (usually wife brings her, she's just beginning to walk by herself) into a room where I'm watching something the 5 seconds it takes for me to find remote and turn it off, and anything we try to watch on a phone she's instantly attracted to it. From what
More at 11! (Score:2)
Stop talking about "screens." (Score:2)
The problem has always been that nobody pays enough attention to their kids to give them the slightest amount of social stimulation. The new medium is always evil because the kids are always into it and parents don't want to parent.
Babies don't use screens (Score:3)
Parents use screens to distract and occupy babies.
Before tablets it was TV, Games and books (Score:1)