[alex_lav]

> So, kids screaming and throwing tantrums when their ice cream is taken away implies that ice cream is bad

This premise seems just flatout wrong though. Kids get mad when you take stuff from them, regardless of what they’re holding. I feel like I must be misunderstanding what’s being argued, because “if a kid gets mad that it’s taken away, it’s bad for them” seems at face value absolutely ridiculous and pretty verifiably untrue? Give a kid a bottle and then take it away and they’ll cry…

[kemotep]

My experience is that you don’t even need to physically remove the device for the tantrum to start. The battery has died and I have seen children explode and be unable to calm down until after the phone was charged back up or that parent gave their kid their own phone. I have only seen it a few times but going out to eat or to the zoo, I see kids glued to their screens all the time.

I have negative experiences with mindless scrolling youtube or reddit as an adult and understand that I have an unhealthy relationship with them due to the addictive nature and I feel my attention span has reduced over the years. If adults can have unhealthy habits with technology, why can’t small children?

Reducing the child’s dependence on a screen to stay entertained or to behave in a public setting is more like cutting your child off after a few cookies and not letting them just eat several dozen cookies for dinner than taking the bottle away.

Phones aren’t necessary like a bottle of milk is for babies.

[abracadaniel]

Grab a coworkers laptop while they’re working and see the adult version of the same internal emotional response. It’s normally about unmet expectations. Set a new expectation with a: “hey you got 5 more minutes, then we need to put it away, understand?” And follow it up with a 5 minute timer. Timer goes off and maybe a disappointed pout, but not a tantrum. The child version of scheduled maintenance.