I'm a prospective parent wondering how to approach this for my future kids. How do you think about the categorization of "screen time" vs. non-"screen time"? Is there a reason I should be more concerned about my 6-year-old playing Final Fantasy than if they spent the same time reading young adult fiction? Playing Spelunky vs. playing softball?
(I get that there are object-level differences; maybe young adult fiction is better than Final Fantasy at teaching something about culture, or they get more reading practice. But maybe Final Fantasy is better at teaching simple math. So I'm mostly interested in the general "screen time" vs. "not screen time" distinction.)
before I was a parent I was anti screen time. Now that I am a parent of a 3yr old I'm pro screen time within reason.
I was really surprised to the huge amount of language development that occurs through screen time. My son at age 2 could name all the Thomas the Tank Engine characters. There are probably 30+ of them! I was blown away by the phraseology he absorbed/adapted from children's cartoons. There is real learning that happens in front of a screen. It's certainly not as passive as it would seem!
A child's expression when watching a screen can be disturbing at times (zombie like is a good description), but I've overcome my initial misgivings. Mixed in with play, exposure to other children, outside time etc. it's really a great tool.
It also gives mum and dad some down time which is nice ;)
(I get that there are object-level differences; maybe young adult fiction is better than Final Fantasy at teaching something about culture, or they get more reading practice. But maybe Final Fantasy is better at teaching simple math. So I'm mostly interested in the general "screen time" vs. "not screen time" distinction.)