Technology is a slippery slope for kids. It can be so good for them or imprison them. Moderation is key!
Discussion
It is always a tough balance. A technology illiterate kid is not a good idea. I have sent one of my kids to coding camp already. However, I limit the time they spend alone on mindless activities. We can play a game as a family, they can read ebooks, but limited time with other platforms until they are older.
We try our best to balance tech time in our household too. I recently stopped allowing certain shows and activities because the content was low quality and quite frankly, beneath my children and their intelligence. I’m always on the look out for technology, apps, and shows to introduce to my kids, specifically my 7 and 3 year olds. If you have some recommendations, I would appreciate if you shared them. 🙏🏻
I went back and forth, but I am of the mindset that if I ban it they will either do I behind my back or rebel later in life. So I settled with 15 min of wherever they chose (other than social media, sorry nostr). They can watch age appropriate shows, play games, etc. They have unlimited time to play scratch for coding, talk/text with grandparents, and read books, though my older one is limited to a kindle for that to avoid the led screens. It took about 2 months for them to get used to the 15 min limit but now they have no complaints, play with their toys and play outside more, and many days don’t even pick up their tablets by their own choosing.