Parents using play to stop children getting 'trapped' by screens….

Paladin1950 said:
Well when I was a kid, I was guilty of spending too much time in front of the TV screen.:unsure:
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In the 70s when I was a kid there was tv for kids only on wednesday after school, from 12 until 7 pm I think.

I had cable when my kids were small. Non stop kids programs. I remember they watched Meow Mauw with 2 cats. It was finished and zjoot the next one came. Non stop. And then I had to be unsympathetic and say no, so what I did I got rid of the cable and bought some dvd's instead. Ah the end. Lets go play outside.
 
In my Childcare center days each room had the TV one day. I put in a movie and (how Shocking of me) turned either
turn the screen black or sound off. Talk about kids tossing a fit but they got used to it. When the screen was black
they acted out the movie and did it with each other. When I turned off sound, they improvised their own dialog - together.
 
There are 4 children living in the house across the street who appear to range in age 9 to mid teens. When they get home from school, they are either playing basket ball in their driveway (hoop attached to the garage) or riding their bikes. I've never seen any of them carrying phones / looking at phones. I don't think they own phones.
 
WhatInThe said:
But but but that will take away from the parent's playtime.
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I always loved to play. We'd go to an indoor playground and I followed them, crawling in these things behind my toddlers and met other parents, also crawling or stuck in these small things, but most were just drinking coffee.

Oh lol once at work we had a day out. We had to walk between trees on cables. These guys.. one didn't dare and didn't go. The others walked super cautious. I just went zjoot zjoot like a monkey and said: Normally I do this with a kid under my arm.

I always enjoyed playing with them. Or going to the kids farm. My older brother always did that stuff with me. Climbing trees. It was actually a second youth. I really enjoyed it.
 
I grew up in the 50s, but as a kid, me and my mates built dens and treehouses from junk, we played football in the street until it went dark. Television didn't come into our house until I was 20 (1957), so the wireless (radio) was king, but by then I had discovered the pub and learned how to play darts and card games.
If you needed to use a phone, then you queued up outside the red public phone boxes on the high streets, but I didn't know anyone with a phone, so the public phones were no interest to me. 😊
 
Wren said:
What a novel idea, parents actually spending time with their children, who would have known …….

Unbelievable

The parents using play to stop children getting 'trapped' by screens
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Oh for Pete's sake... Every Saturday morning in my early childhood I watched the full lineup of cartoons, cowboy shows, Howdy Doody, etc., and lived to tell the tale. Watched some evening TV, as well. My kids watched TV, too. All are doing well in family relationships and careers, and have plenty of friends, work out regularly and watch their health.

My older GKs (14 & 11) don't have cell phones, but their school system provides them with laptop computers that they bring home. They bike, skateboard, read, build with Legos, etc., in their spare time. Also watch TV and play some computer games. My 4 & 2 year old GSs watch TV, but also play with toys, eachother, adults, etc. A lot. (DH & I spent a good part of yesterday afternoon playing Candyland with the 4 year old.)

We need to offer balance to younger generations while recognizing that they were born into a different world than we were, just as I was born in a different world from my grandparents who were born 1890-1900 and my parents (early 1920s) and my children (1980s).

As Bob Dylan so beautifully phrased it:

"Come mothers and fathers
Throughout the land
And don’t criticize
What you can’t understand
Your sons and your daughters
Are beyond your command
Your old road is rapidly agin’
Please get out of the new one if you can’t lend your hand
For the times they are a-changin’"
 
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StarSong said:
Oh for Pete's sake... Every Saturday morning in my early childhood I watched the full lineup of cartoons, cowboy shows, Howdy Doody, etc., and lived to tell the tale. Watched some evening TV, as well. My kids watched TV, too. All are doing well in family relationships, careers and have plenty of friends, work out regularly and watch their health.

My older GKs (14 & 11) don't have cell phones, but their school system provides them with laptop computers that they bring home. They bike, skateboard, read, build with Legos, etc., in their spare time. Also watch TV and play some computer games. My 4 & 2 year old GSs watch TV, but also play with toys, eachother, adults, etc. A lot. (DH & I spent a good part of yesterday afternoon playing Candyland with the 4 year old.)

We need to offer balance to younger generations while recognizing that they were born into a different world than we were, just as I was born in a different world from my grandparent who were born 1890-1900 and my parents (early 1920s) and my children (1980s).

As Bob Dylan so beautifully phrased it:

"Come mothers and fathers
Throughout the land
And don’t criticize
What you can’t understand
Your sons and your daughters
Are beyond your command
Your old road is rapidly agin’
Please get out of the new one if you can’t lend your hand
For the times they are a-changin’"
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It must not have been so bad then. I just saw a show with interviews with kids. Kids complain that their parents give them zero attention and are glued to their screens.
It has translation.


Screenshot_20260411_172021.jpgScreenshot_20260411_172050.jpgScreenshot_20260411_172218.jpgScreenshot_20260411_172252.jpg
 
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StarSong said:
Oh for Pete's sake... Every Saturday morning in my early childhood I watched the full lineup of cartoons, cowboy shows, Howdy Doody, etc., and lived to tell the tale. Watched some evening TV, as well. My kids watched TV, too. All are doing well in family relationships, careers and have plenty of friends, work out regularly and watch their health.

.......
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...Every Saturday morning... the problem now is every day is Saturday morning for many kids-Saturday morning on demand. They don't have to wait or learn to develop patience. Nor do they appreciate things like Saturday morning.

Yes prior generations watched a lot of TV but there were forced breaks from commercials alone(another issue because many can play games hours on end with no break). Most cartoons were a half hour. It was appointment TV, the parents could hold something over their kid's head for behavior but now with tech it's gratification 24/7. Many had to watch an old black and white tv. Today kids get a home theater experience with computer and phones screens. I don't want to say spoiled but too many don't realize how good they have it. But this leads to the lack of appreciation for the simpler things in life.
 
StarSong said:
Oh for Pete's sake... Every Saturday morning in my early childhood I watched the full lineup of cartoons, cowboy shows, Howdy Doody, etc., and lived to tell the tale. Watched some evening TV, as well. My kids watched TV, too. All are doing well in family relationships, careers and have plenty of friends, work out regularly and watch their health.

My older GKs (14 & 11) don't have cell phones, but their school system provides them with laptop computers that they bring home. They bike, skateboard, read, build with Legos, etc., in their spare time. Also watch TV and play some computer games. My 4 & 2 year old GSs watch TV, but also play with toys, eachother, adults, etc. A lot. (DH & I spent a good part of yesterday afternoon playing Candyland with the 4 year old.)

We need to offer balance to younger generations while recognizing that they were born into a different world than we were, just as I was born in a different world from my grandparent who were born 1890-1900 and my parents (early 1920s) and my children (1980s).

As Bob Dylan so beautifully phrased it:

"Come mothers and fathers
Throughout the land
And don’t criticize
What you can’t understand
Your sons and your daughters
Are beyond your command
Your old road is rapidly agin’
Please get out of the new one if you can’t lend your hand
For the times they are a-changin’"
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This is true for many of us and I hope to see more parents catching on and following the less screen time. For many of the kids now
their screen time is liken to our TV time but too many kids/parents have let it get out of hand. Changing times or not a child needs
balance to help a child develop in ways they need "The Whole Child".
Those movies for the kids to watch in the center were always the current Disney movies they had seen numerous times already. Many kids knew the movie dialog by heart. They actually loved my method after the 3rd time and would ask "Sight or Sound" today Ms. Sharon?
Your family sounds very well balanced and interactive. I don't think the majority of kids today have that as much, maybe in spurts at best.
Times were changing in the 60's but not all of it was necessarily in a good way. This is not a rebuttal aimed at you, just some added thought
of the discussion.
 
StarSong said:
Oh for Pete's sake... Every Saturday morning in my early childhood I watched the full lineup of cartoons, cowboy shows, Howdy Doody, etc., and lived to tell the tale. Watched some evening TV, as well. My kids watched TV, too. All are doing well in family relationships, careers and have plenty of friends, work out regularly and watch their health.

My older GKs (14 & 11) don't have cell phones, but their school system provides them with laptop computers that they bring home. They bike, skateboard, read, build with Legos, etc., in their spare time. Also watch TV and play some computer games. My 4 & 2 year old GSs watch TV, but also play with toys, eachother, adults, etc. A lot. (DH & I spent a good part of yesterday afternoon playing Candyland with the 4 year old.)

We need to offer balance to younger generations while recognizing that they were born into a different world than we were, just as I was born in a different world from my grandparent who were born 1890-1900 and my parents (early 1920s) and my children (1980s).

As Bob Dylan so beautifully phrased it:

"Come mothers and fathers
Throughout the land
And don’t criticize
What you can’t understand
Your sons and your daughters
Are beyond your command
Your old road is rapidly agin’
Please get out of the new one if you can’t lend your hand
For the times they are a-changin’"
Click to expand...
Surely, Dylan couldn't have imagined internet addiction, but you bring up a good point; kid's TV was a Saturday morning thing, and usually only lasted a couple hours before kids were itching to get outside and play, or meet up with their friends when they were old enough. Mine had to stay in the yard until they were 7 or 8.

They could wander off after that, but only with friends, and they had to "stay on our street." And that meant no crossing another street, so, they had a roaming area of one-block ...until they were about 9 (and had 2-wheeler bicycles).
 
When I was a kid in the 50's I watched a lot of TV and played outside a lot too. I also read a lot, mostly Jules Verne and Jack London. Didn't waste any time on homework or Bible study. 180 days of school at 6 hours a day is more than enough. This idea that kids should be spending 2 hours a day on homework is bullshit.

 
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Trade said:
This idea that kids should be spending 2 hours a day on homework is bullshit.

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I had to pump so much nonsense in my head. I never use it nor remember most of it.



I had to pump all the soil layers in my head A1 A2 whatever clay sand clayie sand and the only thing I remember is 1 mnemonic and the text from the Blues Brothers, cause I had that on my head with a walkman while studying to make it less boring.

We're so glad to see so many of you lovely people here tonight
And we would especially like to welcome all the
Representatives of Illinois' law enforcement community
Who have chosen to join us here in
The Palace Hotel Ballroom at this time
We do sincerely hope you'll all enjoy the show
And please remember people, that no matter who you are
And what you do to live, thrive and survive
There are still some things that make us all the same
You, me, them, everybody, everybody
 
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Messy said:
I had to pump so much nonsense in my head. I never use it nor remember most of it.
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Same here. I went all the way through college and a graduate school thinking it would be the key to success and it did open doors to me in being qualified for a government job. The degree got me in for the job interview but the only reason I got the job was that I was a Vietnam Vet and so were 2 of the 3 guys that were doing the interview.

I never used anything I learned in college other than a few buzz words so I could pretend I knew what I was talking about. And I later figured out that everbody else was using the same buzz words for the same reason. :ROFLMAO:
 
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I was amazed at the sentence, ‘it’s never too late to start talking to your child’ and the lady towards the end of the article who was surprised that her children could come up with their own ideas, saving her the bother,, after they suggested a picnic in the garden, what did she think their heads were full of, cotton wool ? :rolleyes:
 
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Wren said:
I was amazed at the sentence, ‘it’s never too late to start talking to your child’ and the lady towards then end of the article who was surprised that her children could come up with their own ideas, saving her the bother,, after they suggested a picnic in the garden, what did she think their heads were full of, cotton wool ? :rolleyes:
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Full disclosure. I didn't even read the article. I just made some assumptions about it and then went off on a tangent. :ROFLMAO:
 
Trade said:
Same here. I went all the way through college and a graduate school thinking it would be the key to success and it did open doors to me in being qualified for a government job. The degree got me in for the job interview but the only reason I got the job was that I was a Vietnam Vet and so were 2 of the 3 guys that were doing the interview.

I never used anything I learned in college other than a few buzz words so I could pretend I knew what I was talking about. And I later figured out that everbody else was using the same buzz words for the same reason. :ROFLMAO:
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Funny. I work for the government too. I just draw maps. All education was useless, but you did need that diploma to get the job, so whatever. I could have done this job with only kindergarten too. I just draw maps.
 
Messy said:
Funny. I work for the government too. I just draw maps. All education was useless, but you did need that diploma to get the job, so whatever. I could have done this job with only kindergarten too. I just draw maps.
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I took a 5 hour course in Cartography at the University of Florida in 1969. That was back in the days when you used Zipatone, and a leRoy lettering set among other tools of the trade back then. It was one of the hardest courses I ever had. I majored in Geography because I thought it would be fun and easy. And it was except for that damned course. The instructor was a real nit picker. The tiniest mistake and you would have to strat all over. I must have spent an average of 40 hours a week on that one course. I think I made a "B" in it. I've got some old copies of my transcript in a box in a closet somewhere but I don't feel like looking for it.

Nowadays it's all done on computer. I wouldn't know the first thing about how to do that.
 
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I take it back. There was one other Geography course that was a pain in the butt. I don't remember the name of the course and I'm not going to look for that transcript, but I will never forget the name of the instructor. Edmund C. Hagan. He was a WW2 veteran. Of the German Army. He'd been sent to the Russian Front. I guess once a Nazi, always a Nazi, because he was one hard task master.
 
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