[cmiles74]

I have to agree with what others here have said: the moralizing rubs me the wrong way and, in this case, I don't think it serves any purpose but to move blame away from the author and onto the technology that he perceives as his primary problem.

I have a child and they have access to a Kindle, our television (with Netflix, Amazon Prime, etc.) as well as our Nintendo 3DS. These all (in my opinion) serve much the same purpose: entertain, distract and in some circumstances help people relax. Since the beginning my partner and I have been clear that it's not okay to sit in front of one (or cycle through them all) for hours at a time. At this point our child is seven and they rarely exceed more than 30 minutes at a time of screen interaction. For the most part, they move onto something else on their own.

Clearly part of it is personality, but I do think some part was the establishment of clear boundaries from the start. Perhaps when my child hits the teen years, I'll have to revisit this battle but for now keeping screen time at a minimum is a fairly low friction activity.

As this author demonstrates, there's a very real challenge as parents to make the time to schedule activities or to encourage children to get out and play. This strikes me as eternal problems: no seven year old is great at planning ahead or has the ability to schedule their own play dates. But, unlike when I was a child, there are more options than staring at a blank wall or digging deep holes in the backyard.

[nicoburns]

> Clearly part of it is personality, but I do think some part was the establishment of clear boundaries from the start. Perhaps when my child hits the teen years, I'll have to revisit this battle but for now keeping screen time at a minimum is a fairly low friction activity.

I think this is absolutely key. I see screens like I see sugary foods. Not inherently bad for kids, but best consumed in moderation AND something that kids will over-consume if left to their own devices.