Do you see an upside to kids' getting sick of screen time?

In my experience the kids just lose all thought when they’re dialed in. Even the hyper, destructive kids zone out.
I’m not sure what to do.

No. My 8 year old nephew is homeschooled and a lot of it is online. He will come to our house and stay up till 3am playing video games. And it isn’t like he is deprived of game time when he’s home lol

@SergeantQueen…so what is he doing when he’s not plugged in? And why the hell you letting him sit up until 3 A.M?

@Dutchess_III I ain’t his momma lol

and he does like the park and biking so we do that.

It would be great if that happens. I think parents will probably need to help make it happen though.

So much on screen activities are set up to addict the user. Probably not school work, although that would be interesting if they use that technique for school work, but if they are online for other things like social media and gaming they are subject to the addicted powers of so many online platforms.

I hope kids are still going outside and burning off energy. Some people have formed pods with some families so their kids can socialize with at least a few friends.

Let us hope.

Though the teens and twenties kids I know who are NOT stuck to screens were limited from the beginning. They were pushed to real face-time all along. And some still became screen addicts.

But I don’t know a lot of people. I can’t speak for the majority.

They will begin to actually “feel” and learn though the senses, sight, smells, taste,touch,instead of virtually feeling anything.

I think that without help, lots of kids will be left not able to play outside. Just as getting cyber was foreign and difficult for many older folks, smaller children with little past outdoor play, won’t be able to put their minds into an outdoor groove.
They don’t know how to use a stick to draw a town in the dirt, and play with cars and trucks to drive around doing stuff. They get restricted from running indoors, so outdoors it may need to be encouraged by some.

While playing with my son one day in a california park, I noticed a Japanese couple picnicking with their toddler daughter.
The couple was watching us almost like we were television. I realized later that the couple must have come from very traditional families, and our type of play was new to them. They began to attempt to play with their daughter imitating things I had done with my son, like taking his hands and swirling in a circle, “flying” him, until I stopped and left him giggling on the ground. Everything they tried went stiff and awkward, but I loved that they were trying. The funny part was when the father was standing in front of his little girl, trying to demonstrate rolling down the grassy hill, without actually getting down. She gave it a go, but found it less exciting than my boisterous son.
He actually noticed the attempted demonstration, and started rolling again to help.

So, remembering that day, I have to believe some children will need to be encouraged and probably demonstrated a few things. Others will naturally have ideas of their own.

I was playing a “would you rather” game on Roblox with my nephew and he did say he’d rather “read the bible forever” than “play video games all day”. Not sure if he was serious but it seemed like a related anectdote to the question.

Oh, that is an interesting angle. I’m glad you mentioned it.

It might bring kids to be interested in a variety of things considered old fashioned. I know I am seeing an increased interest in cooking and baking from scratch.

Maybe. But I can’t help but think a lot of this is just people wanting something because they can’t have it right now, only appreciating something when it’s gone and when it comes back, they’ll go right back to taking it for granted. We all talk so much about missing socialization and interaction with other people but how many of us will go back to staring at our phones and ignoring everyone around us once the pandemic is over? I do feel for the kids who have “screen fatigue”. Even the video-game addicted may be pining for some time outside with their friends. That said, if I ever have kids, I’ll do everything I can to prevent them from becoming addicted to screens at a young age.

My daughter has no problem transitioning from online school to Face Timing with her friends right after school ends. She will also shut the phone off and have some peace, and she will also see her friends in person once or twice a week. Kids in the neighborhood are outside, mostly the younger kids, riding bikes or scooters.