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by chez17 4199 days ago
The problem is that TV and computers can be used for far more than 'creativity and learning' and, in my experience with kids, the majority of use is mindless. Kids get hooked on games.
2 comments

And they also tend to read shitty fiction, if they read at all. So again, do you also limit 'paper time'?
Difference is, reading of all kinds has positive effects on outcomes, whereas screen time has the opposite.
Do you have evidence of that? That is pretty much exactly what is in question.
This article contains a variety of citations about screen time[1]. And here's some stuff about the benefits of reading[2], from the reading-to angle. There's tons of stuff like this if you care to look in to it in more detail.

Nothing in here is definitive. I am not saying that negative effects of screen time are proven beyond the shadow of a doubt. Personally, what I care about is what's most likely to be true, so I can act on that for the sake of my son. I think it is more likely than not that >2 hours of screen time per day is a negative factor. I think it is more likely than not that reading is a positive factor. I'm not going to wait for something to be 99.99% proven before I act on the information.

[1]http://www.npr.org/blogs/ed/2014/08/28/343735856/kids-and-sc...

[2]http://www.parents.com/fun/entertainment/books/the-brainy-be...

"the majority of use is mindless. Kids get hooked on games."

At least based on my kids (4 and 7) I concur. We give them an hour a day of screen time.