Let's stop talking about "screen time"
Issue #8
As a parent—and the founder of a tech company for kids—I've spent a lot of time thinking about screen time, and here's my conclusion: It's time to scrap that term entirely. Let's throw a retirement party for screen time, eat some cake—and then give our children the chance to have a more productive relationship with technology.
Maybe you're wondering why I'm hung up on the semantics. Well, I believe the keywords are attached to an antiquated way of thinking about technology, and this creates real problems for busy parents. That's because words carry meaning beyond their dictionary definitions. Whenever they're used in writing or speech, they pick up nuance and connotation—and sometimes even end up meaning something completely different than when they started. (Just look at the definition for "literally" if you need confirmation.) Language is organic and ever-changing, so it's not unusual that the words "screen time" have come to carry a lot of weight.
Today, screen time has become a practice: time-stamping is how most parents and kids have been taught to relate to screens, no matter the content or activity in question. And, this is deeply bound up in the words themselves. Adding to an already-divisive debate, alarmist screen time headlines make a confusing topic that much more frustrating for parents. It puts a laser focus on measuring and restricting the duration of time you spend with screens, and families desperately need an approach to technology that has more nuance.
Instead, we should think more critically about what kids are doing on screens—and think of screen activities in the broader context of a kid's life. We need to pay attention to whether or not it's detracting from other things in their lives. For me, there's a difference between positive, skill-building screen time and the manipulative mechanisms by which kids become screen captured. Three hours spent learning to write code shouldn't be treated the same way as three hours scrolling on TikTok. Lumping all screen time together is just illogical—and that's why we need a different way to think about technology.
A deeper dive
Here are a few helpful resources in case you want to really dig into today's topic:
In The New Childhood: Raising Kids to Thrive in a Connected World, author Jordan Shapiro dissects the term "screen time" and sheds light on how we got where we are today. The whole book is a great read, and I definitely found it helpful for reframing the way we think about tech in our family.
When school, work and socializing all shifted online, our relationship to (and appreciation for) screens changed. It's time to acknowledge all the positive things that come with technology and find a way to strike a screen-life balance. And at the very least, it's time to pack away all the screen time baggage and start fresh with a more productive conversation.
TL;DR
Too long; didn't read. It shouldn't be a full-time job to keep up on industry news, so here is a mercifully quick summary of some other notable developments:
Speaking of all the great things kids can do with technology, here's a helpful guide to the best STEM gifts for children. There are lots of different options broken down by age—and great inspiration for little builders.
YouTube's most famous child star, Ryan Kaji, has his own TV show on Amazon. He is the nine-year-old face of Ryan's World, a top-grossing channel with nearly 30 million subscribers. This is the first time that a YouTube creator has partnered with Amazon for an original series—and Amazon is likely hoping to attract the existing audience from Ryan’s World and entice them with their Kids Plus platform.
And lastly
Here are a few more pieces of original writing from me and my team—just in case you're keen for more:
Dr. Max Davie is the Officer for Health Improvement at the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health. Kinzoo had the pleasure of chatting with him for the interview series, and he described the drawbacks to time-stamping technology, going so far as to call it a fool's errand. According to Dr. Davie, parents should instead think critically about technology and "ask if their child is engaging in these very compelling activities to the detriment and exclusion of the things that you as a family want to do."
Lots of kids are flocking to Twitch to watch live-streamed video games, which means that lots of parents are wondering if the platform is safe. We took a closer look at Twitch safety to help parents understand how to keep their kids safe.