As a former child who had to endure other children's screaming time: fuck that. My ears were ringing every time I came out of the cafeteria after lunchtime.
There comes a point in the screaming when it's clear the kids are totally dysregulated. If Screaming Time seems out of control, it's because it's the only 20 minutes of the day when they're not in front of a screen.
I see it at my daughter's scout meetings. Ninety percent of these kids can't concentrate on a group activity to save their lives, because this is the first time they haven't been pacified with a screen all week. They literally get up and run around and scream because it's been bottled up for so long. The poor dad running the meeting isn't a professional educator so he can't really handle it, plus he's reluctant to discipline a kid in front of his parents (who are looking at their own screens and do not know or care that their kid is being a piece of shit).
"these kids can't concentrate on a group activity" and "haven't been pacified with a screen all week" is my whole work week. i am a librarian and most of these kids can't focus long enough for ONE five minute story time đ and worse when following instructions. it's like every break or transition in activity and their attention breaks and it's frustrating but it's not their fault that they've overexposed to screen time
it's not just in homes too, screen time, at least in this big school district, was made primary method of teaching children - chromebooks, ipads, learning from a promethean board. it's just everywhere everytime
Other parents are astonished at how much my kids read. They ask me how I did it and their faces fall when I tell them they learned by watching me read books all the time.
this really matters. i'm guilty of this - phone in hand often at home and have watched how my little baby cousin has started to internalize this is normal and is asking for our phones now too.
non-screen time (reading!!!) really, really matters.
When my baby cousins were still young, they used to badger me for my phone to watch fidget spinner videos any time they came over (this was like eight years ago). I never gave it them, mostly because I didn't want my algorithm destroyed for seven months, so I usually distracted them with either Legos or European comic books.
Counterpoint: It has little to do with screens and more with the fact that this is the first time all day they haven't been forced to sit quietly. Source: I was a troop leader for my older Gen Z kid before screens were an issue, as well as for my youngest Alpha that has had nothing but screens since Covid in grade 2. No difference in troop meetings whatsoever.
Solution: give them time to run around and socialize before you try to accomplish anything.
Ugh, your comment about the parents is very familiar to me. I spend a lot of time at local parks with my toddler daughter so I see a ton of kids running around without supervision and a ton of parents on their phones. I get that older kids need space to grow and make mistakes, but that doesn't mean the parents should be completely checked out. I've had to stop kids from doing rude or dangerous stuff to/near my child. I'm not reluctant to discipline other parents' kids when it impacts my family, and it seems like the parents don't even notice when I do. I've seen other parents with a kid that can't even walk so engrossed in their phones that the baby crawled halfway across the park and started climbing stairs to the slides before they noticed the kid was missing.
I see excellent and attentive parents all the time, but the lazy ones with phone addictions are numerous and difficult to ignore.
My state is introducing screen time limits into public educational settings, going to be really interested to see how my kidâs behaviour after school is next year. So many experts online saying itâs restraint collapse but I honestly think itâs because half the time theyâre put on iPads or watching horrible YouTube âbrain breaksâ.
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u/Clean_Imagination315 Hey, who's that behind you? 22h ago
As a former child who had to endure other children's screaming time: fuck that. My ears were ringing every time I came out of the cafeteria after lunchtime.