Beyond Managing Screen Time: How to Make a Home for Humans
Beyond Managing Screen Time: How to Make a Home for Humans
Scaffolds, Altars, and Screen-Free Living Spaces
Today I read the most recent post on
’s by psychologist and , Research-Backed Advice on Screen Policies for Young Kids. Normally I find myself nodding along in agreement to most of the work shared on After Babel, but sensed that something crucial was missing in the advice being offered.While Haidt does emphasize delay, the problem is that the article rests on the assumption that screens will inevitably be a big part of our children’s lives. It is a given that screens will interrupt our interactions (“It’s unrealistic to think that we’ll never look at our phones when around our kids”); that we need screens to cope (“Yes, sometimes the whole point of using screens is to give ourselves a break”), and that we shouldn’t care too much about about screen time (“we may be better off focusing less on how much our families are using them, and more on how.”).
This is the wrong default assumption. While I agree that this is a reality for many families, I also wonder whether the advice offered fails to help families explore a different approach to screens as a whole.
Why not turn things upside down and start with a different foundation?
We need to create homes that are human-centered.
What would such a home look like?
Over a year ago1 I published How to Make a Home for Humans when the conversation around the impact of digital devices on our lives was heating up. It garnered a lot of engagement and is a fitting piece to share again to complement the momentum gained by the team at The Anxious Generation, Erin Loechner and The Opt-Out Family,
, , , and the LetGrow movement, and many more.