What influences your screen time rules?

The screen time rules in our household have evolved over the years. Like many parents, my husband and I struggle with finding the right rules for screen use for our son. On the one hand, I am thankful that there are plenty of experts who weigh in on how much recreational use children should get. On the other hand, I know he has some slightly educational/slightly recreational use in school that is impossible for me to monitor and factor into the home-use equation.

The result is that we have a lot of conversations around use of that time and how much is too much and what counts as screen time and what doesn't. From my son's perspective, he never has enough time. From my perspective, he has plenty.

So, it interests me to read what parents who work in the tech industry think about screen time for their own children. A lot of them hate it. Yes, the potential of the technology is amazing and it can do very cool things, but in practical, every day use...it creates little monsters who crave the feelings the pleasure centers of their developing brains experience when they play mindless games.

This does not bode well for my son. While I am not saying that I am going to re-vamp all the rules, this is one of those articles that I will share with him to help him understand why there are restrictions in place.

But that is a conversation for a little later. Right now, I would love nothing more than to ask him to play a board game with me.

Who do you get advice from when it comes to your child's screen time use? Share your source in the comments.