My kids are losing some of the best years of their lives to screens, and there is nothing I can do

you sound like a weak parent

would you agree

inciteful instead of insightful! cool story bro!

Why are you afraid? Be the loving parent he needs and wants.

Hebrews 22: 4-11

I’m guessing you posted this on something with a screen.

I understand that you don't think that you can take the cell phone or computer from your kids, as they communicate with their friends with them and do schoolwork on the computer, which is the schools' fault for basing everything online. However, you need to place limits on their use, just like the tech execs do with their own children. And it is true that you need to set the example by having just as much no phone time as they do. It has a visible effect on the kids when you get away from the screens yourself.

I agree. It sucks. I had a great childhood in the 1970s and 1980s. No screens. Lots of street baseball and football. So much fun.

Do you live in the inner city? You may actually be a good parent by letting your kids be on their screens if it is keeping them from shooting random people and robbing Target.

Unless it's for school use, TAKE THE SCREENS AWAY! You aren't here to be his friend, you are here to be his parent. If you see that this is negatively affecting him, man up and do something about it!

Yes it will be a big fight, and yes he will probably go through some sort of withdrawal like symptoms, but you have to be the adult and do something.

What's your alternative? Everyone else his age are on screens too. It's not possible for kids to have a 1980s childhood anymore.

Television has been a fixture in American homes since the late 1940s.

The battle against screen time was lost long ago.

Television was pretty boring when I was a kid, save for Saturday morning cartoons (often old Looney Toons stuff), or maybe a few after-school programs. I'm talking mid-late 1970s here. One of my buddies had an Atari 2600 (as did I, eventually), but we rarely sat around playing it for more than a few minutes.

We spent our childhood playing football, riding bikes, building forts, getting in fights (and then becoming friends again), fishing in a creek, trading football cards, etc. In the summer we were often outside from 9am until dinner time, with a short break for lunch. You could figure out where your friends were by riding your bike around the neighborhood and looking for their bikes. Our parents rarely knew where we were, and mostly didn't care.

Somewhere along the way the latchkey style of parenting went out of fashion, parents became obsessed that their children would be kidnapped and thus needed 24/7 supervision, and of course the eventual phones/screens/games thing. Progress, I guess.

This is the issue. Ever notice how nerdy dorky parents have nerdy dorky kids?

You probably are on the phone/screen too much and the kids well....they follow the parents.

My sister has 4 kids. All teenagers. very little screen time. her oldest son got a phone senior year of high school. they barely use computers.

the son is too busy being the star qb of their high school (they legit won a state title) and studying for college.

daughters are highly involved in sport/church/academics.

parents barely are on their phone/computer.

You have to respect their culture, bigot. Carjackings and muggings are equity.

Of course there is something you can do, you are the parent. My son gets 1 hour of TV before school, a total of 5 hours of his tablet (parental locked to just the apps we approve) and earns Switch time with good behavior in 5 minutes in elements.

He uses the computer for school but maybe we can set limits in wifi, or have it at specific times. Thank you

You are the parent, not a friend. If you want to do something about it then do it. They will hate you but oh well. I assume you are paying for their phone/internet connection, there is something you can do.

The screen time is a tough one and we are not the best examples in terms of role models. But you set other examples and that is your ace in the hole. Set the example that screen time might be a lot, but not at the expense of work, career, education and training necessary for said career (or general betterment/learning), the family and friends, and exercise/fitness.

Make those things so resolute (by example) that they are essentially inalienable principals that are the highest priority.

Kids pick up on those things and they become ingrained at very fundamental levels. Maybe not always but probably more often than we would think.

Bad parenting

You poor miserable suckers with kids . You guys always look like your soul got sucked out, too bad you got talked into having kids. o man wants kids.