[ SECRET POST #6697 ]

[case]

⌈ Secret Post #6697 ⌋

Warning: Some secrets are NOT worksafe and may contain SPOILERS.


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[Yellowjackets]



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[Mono Neon]



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[All Creatures Great and Small]


















Notes:

Secrets Left to Post: 01 pages, 24 secrets from Secret Submission Post #957..
Secrets Not Posted: [ 0 - broken links ], [ 0 - not!secrets ], [ 0 - not!fandom ], [ 0 - too big ], [ 0 - repeat ].
Current Secret Submissions Post: here.
Suggestions, comments, and concerns should go here.

Comments

[fscom]

01. https://i.imgur.com/QuOcTjb.png

[(Anonymous)]

If you feel guilty about screentime but like the winding down educational aspect of it, why not encourage a half hour/hour of quiet reading time before lights out? Maybe take your kid to the library to select a bunch of books on interesting topics and there you go.

[(Anonymous)]

I mean, if they're gonna, that's the best choice (but also double-check their channels because there's a lot of pseudoscience masquerading as science channels).

Are they at least of an age where you can have an honest conversation about ensuring that their screen time is mitigated by offline activity? Can you get them hooked up with volunteer opportunities, extracurriculars, etc that play into their interests? e.g. if they're watching space channels, getting them into an astronomy club, or getting them to volunteer with a parks department or wilderness nonprofit if they're super into plants/birds/insects. Honestly, 30 years ago when I was a teen, if my parents had said "you need extracurriculars for your college applications, you love birds, here go volunteer with the local Audobon chapter" I'd have been over the moon. Doubly so if it had prevented me from going to art school instead lol.

[feotakahari]

Adult-me happily agrees with kid-me that the concept of “screen time” is bullshit. A good book, a good show, and a good game are much alike.

[(Anonymous)]

Yeah no. Just because you feel the same doesn't mean they effect your body the same way.

[(Anonymous)]

Not really. Screen time is disruptive to child development and that includes phones, tablets, computers, and tvs. Reading a book won’t negatively affect the child’s health or development but too much screen time will. And screen time at bedtime will disrupt their sleep so the child won’t get as restful sleep as if they’d read a book a bedtime. I totally get why OP has decided not to fight their kid and just let them do it, and I also understand why OP feels the way they do about that decision.

[paperghost]

+1

[philstar22]

Depends. Blue light very much keeps us awake, in awake mode. Blue right reducing apps are really helpful, though.

[(Anonymous)]

Alike in terms of the ability to access decent content? Sure. But there are scientific reasons why pediatricians recommend limiting screen time for young children. OP clearly knows that, hence their guilt.

https://www.mayoclinichealthsystem.org/hometown-health/speaking-of-health/children-and-screen-time

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10353947/

[feotakahari]

A lot of these correlations seem underwhelming in terms of mechanisms. I can at least see a mechanism for light keeping you awake, but how does being on the computer not doing exercise makes you fatter than reading a book not doing exercise? And for language development, is there a mechanism for why reading text in Final Fantasy is worse for you than reading text in Harry Potter?

The second text says the problem might be parents not talking to their kids, which at least seems like a mechanism to me—conversation is more interactive than reading.

[(Anonymous)]

My guess is that computer/TV time tends to exacerbate bad eating/exercising habits in a way that reading a book does not. Books tend not to have commercials aimed at children advertising junk food, for example. And books end, giving you a natural pause and a chance to change up your activity level... TV and the internet does not.

Re: reading, I don't know what the text of Final Fantasy involves, but does it contain a narrative as lengthy and complicated as a full length novel? It's possible that many screen time activities are simply more passive and less mentally engaging than reading a book. That seems fair.

Look, you don't have to believe it, but I don't have kids and yet I know this is a really, really common recommendation pediatricians give to parents of young children. Even if you take the position that there's not enough evidence that screen time is harmful, there's certainly some suggestion that it might be... and that seems a good enough reason to limit it and only use it in moderation.

[(Anonymous)]

>> is there a mechanism for why reading text in Final Fantasy is worse for you than reading text in Harry Potter?

There is (not worse though, just different). Harry Potter and other books usually have intersections that contain a lot of description, both of world building and/or character motivation and state of mind. The reader has to activate a part of their brain that engage in creativity. Unless you have aphantasia you use written words to build up the images of what's happening in the story with your brain. It's a potent exercise in concentration and, again, creativity.
Final Fantasy and other RPGs usually have text that is not really that descriptive, but is mostly only relegated to spoken parts or inventory items. Your brain don't really engage in that part that has to build images from written words because the visual cues are form the most part, provided by the game.

Now, visual novels or very verbose RPGs (like Planescape:Torment) are a different manner. They are usually closer to books in term of brain and creativity engagement that classic action RPGs, even if a lot of elements of world building and character design are given through images (like comics).

IMHO a kid should read a lot of books (and often be read to), but should also freely engage in other hobbies like videogames, comics, etc, but reading "complex" text should be very important and central for their development.
If a kid does NEVER read books... well... I think everyone has known someone that has read little books as a kid and then became an adult that never read fiction books. There is a stark difference there. Not to say that one is better than the other, but it shows, usually in critical thinking and creativity skills.

[(Anonymous)]

Not letting facts get in the way of your opinions is a weird thing to be proud about but you do you.

[(Anonymous)]

They're not though, and the research on it is starting to show that no screens before bed is beneficial to kids and adults. But by all means refuse to actually believe facts because they don't fit your world view.

[(Anonymous)]

Screen time before bed is a horrible habit for anyone just because the screens have a physical effect on you and your sleep cycle. It doesn't really matter about content (to a degree), it's the type of screen that is the problem. But really everyone seems to do it so it's one of those "yeah I know it's not great but oh well" things. We adapt and move on.

There's also a degree of how "bad" it is on age. Little kids like elementary school and below is pretty bad, but once you get to teenagerhood then I don't think it's as bad. Because honestly the "healthy sleep habits" training phase is gone and at that point you're just happy if they have any sleep routines and watch relatively "good" content and not going down radfem or toxic rabbit holes.

Idk. Raising kids is so hard these days because there are way more "bad" things to try and steer around and you as a parent just have to choose the path that works for you and your family. If it isn't causing problems (lack of good sleep, etc) then throw that guilt away and go with the status quo.

[(Anonymous)]

I spent way too much of my childhood w/my parents telling me I read "too much" and taking away my books because they were convinced I should be running around randomly in the yard like a dog despite the fact that I didn't enjoy it.

[(Anonymous)]

I had parents who did the same, and they were wrong. But OP's situation isn't the same thing - there are actual medical professional guidelines that recommend limiting a child's screen time exposure due to negative effects on cognitive development. There have never been actual medical professional guidelines against books for that reason. Our parents were wrong. OP is correct in being cautious.

[(Anonymous)]

DA Not entirely true! Excessive reading was thought to lead to short-sightedness, but it turned out that the reading is irrelevant, it's more time spent indoors that leads to short-sightedness. So my parents made me go outside but I could take my book.

[(Anonymous)]

I can so easily understand this! Like, we KNOW it’s bad. But that’s tempered by the learning your child is doing. And bedtime screen use is so common and there are so many things you have to protect your child from that I think I’d let them, too.