004.67 - Story Time: Kids and Screen Time

Something new today, my readers! Story time!

Instagram has always been a thinking and writing place for me (I’m @mindful.librarian there if you want to connect), usually off the cuff and always spurring great discussion with others. I’m not there to be pretty or show off my aesthetic (because I don’t have one) and I hide almost all accounts that focus on that. I’m there for the books and the thinkers and the laughs. I’m also there because I have real relationships with real people there and they make me think. Most of my brain dumps on Instagram are in my stories and if I want to spur more discussion I’ll do a quick screenshot and throw it in my feed. I usually just leave them up for a day or two before archiving because it was all for the discussion.

Social media is sometimes the devil (I had to take 24 hours off from it to be able to get yesterday’s newsletter out), and I’ve taken long long breaks from it (hello 2020). I’m not on Twitter any more and I’m only on Facebook (with zero friends) because my kids’ sports teams insist on using it for their sole form of communication. But Instagram stories are my favorite place to try out new ideas and see where they land. I’ve decided I wanted to throw today’s thoughts on here as well, because this topic is one I feel extremely passionate about. It’s also complex, nuanced and a minefield.

I have been a parent for 17.5 years, a teacher for 16, and a librarian for 9. In my professional capacity, I feel I have an obligation and a right to speak up about the damage unlimited screens given to young children as boredom alleviators can do. I have been seeing it in the classroom at all ages since students returned when schools reopened during the pandemic. My high school has adopted an extremely hard core phone policy as a direct reaction to this issue.