Yes, your kids are spending more time on screens. Stop feeling guilty about it.

Yes, your kids are spending more time on screens. Stop feeling guilty about it.

By Sara DeWitt

My kindergartner’s(ˈkindərˌɡärtnər, ˈkindərˌɡärdənər) class had to go all virtual Friday. My third-grader(ˈɡrādər) had an asynchronous(āˈsiNGkrənəs) day. And I was making a big Zoom presentation(ˌprezənˈtāSH(ə)n). Minutes before I logged on, I handed the boys snacks(snak), water, a TV remote and my iPad. When I reemerged(ˌrēəˈmərj), they reported that they had watched five straight(strāt) episodes(ˈepəˌsōd) of “Arthur,” while simultaneously(ˌsīməlˈtānēəslē) building a giant(ˈjīənt) tower in Minecraft.

This is when I’m supposed to tell you how guilty I feel. But I don’t, and neither should you.

A year into the pandemic, we all know that kids’ screen time has gone up.

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But while the circumstances in which children are using screens have changed, media coverage of screen time continues to treat any increase in screen time with alarm(əˈlärm) and anxiety. No one wanted kids to be out of school for a year and barred(bärd) from their neighborhood playgrounds; no one expected to have their children with them while they worked every day for a year. Of course screen time has gone up! Why are we shaming(SHām) parents about it? And why aren’t we curious about whether that screen time itself is different?

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https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/03/29/yes-your-kids-are-spending-more-time-screens-stop-feeling-guilty-about-it/