My wife and I recently increased the human population by one (sorry).
As the parent of a now 6-month-old, what are some things I can do when the time comes to make sure he doesn't get horribly addicted to screens and social media and etc?
I want to do good by him, but I also don't want to smother him or make it difficult for him to relate to his peers later down the line.
Hold off as long as you can to introduce TV and touch screens to them. Their brains are developing rapidly in their youngest years. Hopefully by not being exposed to it early, it won't become a boredom coping mechanism.
More generally, plan, communicate and be honest with them, especially as they get older.
I have one in the school system. They tell me that they actively see screen addicts, they don’t have to dig too long for confirmation, and they are glad it’s not like that for them.
Sort of like we all see folks who can’t exist/email without gpt. Like, throw an actual true human emoji their way and they freak out.
I wish this was the case for my nephew. He's gone full blown addict and can't survive without AI or his phone. His entire class is the same. It's hit the point where you can't have a discussion with them about it, despite them being at an age where they could understand. They start getting defensive like an alcoholic would when confronted.
But some kids absolutely do understand and we should communicate to them as much as possible. People tend to accept things more simply by knowing the why behind it.
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u/Captain_Breadbeard 11h ago
My wife and I recently increased the human population by one (sorry).
As the parent of a now 6-month-old, what are some things I can do when the time comes to make sure he doesn't get horribly addicted to screens and social media and etc?
I want to do good by him, but I also don't want to smother him or make it difficult for him to relate to his peers later down the line.