Thank you so much. Max had a lot of great ideas and his perspective of how to go about weaning ourselves from our tech. One step at a time. Please let him know he has made a difference. It grabs us slowly and then more and more over time. Insidious really. It seems it will have to be undone in the long way too. I’m sure we can find other solutions going forward, meetup groups, even Dungeons & Dragons, in person, used to be a group gaming get together. There are still groups out there in my town for the 21+ crowd no longer in college. They are willing to teach new comers and are friendly.
Not only did my long still living mother, who was a typist, not use tech until email in her age 90’s (2008+), then cable TV as those went digital, but our kids were not allowed to use Wi-Fi until 2017 (ages 17 and 22). I’m an older mom, now 69. However, my husband and I were once C and Unix programmers and early Doom gamers so our family was used to a tech life, just had everything hardwired long after others started using wireless. I knew about Darpa from my dad, and that Facebook started in 2004. Even had a family friend whose pretty daughter’s picture ended up on a billboard in England. Little did Facebook know that this mom had once lived in England and her relatives recognized their niece and sounded the alarm. They stayed off of Facebook at that point. 2004.
Then life drastically changed for us. Quickly too!! VR headset for my son, VR Chats, no social media. My daughter still in college (ending with Zoom/Covid) had a combo of “in person” friends and online friends and keeping up with in person friends through Facebook and Instagram, now even Tik Tok with those friends. All have been DEI’d and Bernie’d. Lost self-esteem, ADHD, complain of headaches, listless, self-imposed stress, non-motivation and that repeating circle of woe as me. Listening to Bernie say we need medical insurance and basic income for all, (Communistic). Even still here in 2025 he reinforces the message to them. At this point it’s now my offspring verses Bernie’s offspring. 2025 cannot go fast enough in my book. I will start with Max’s ideas and work from there. Thank you for listening. Your family has helped a lot.
When 2020 came and Convid hit and schools closed, it took us 10 days to realise screens (Ipads) were turning our kids in to addicts, so we took them away completely. We expected trouble. That never came. They simply adjusted and started hobbies. Lots of arts and crafts and reading and outdoor play (we were already quite an 'outdoorsy' family). Now the youngest is 15 and he doesn't have a cellphone. He doesn't want one. He sees the dangers. He has his own laptop (wired) but limits his time on social media to an hour a day. He has a few friends that also do NOT have a cellphone and limited screentime and sees a difference between them and friends who do have a cellphone. We need to hear more stories of youth who 'kick the habit'. Thank you for this.
Blue screens, TV & mobile, penetrate deeply into the brain & reshape perception. They are disruptive of natural brain patterns & should be off limits for children <12 y.o., & severely curtailed for teens.
Thank you so much. Max had a lot of great ideas and his perspective of how to go about weaning ourselves from our tech. One step at a time. Please let him know he has made a difference. It grabs us slowly and then more and more over time. Insidious really. It seems it will have to be undone in the long way too. I’m sure we can find other solutions going forward, meetup groups, even Dungeons & Dragons, in person, used to be a group gaming get together. There are still groups out there in my town for the 21+ crowd no longer in college. They are willing to teach new comers and are friendly.
Not only did my long still living mother, who was a typist, not use tech until email in her age 90’s (2008+), then cable TV as those went digital, but our kids were not allowed to use Wi-Fi until 2017 (ages 17 and 22). I’m an older mom, now 69. However, my husband and I were once C and Unix programmers and early Doom gamers so our family was used to a tech life, just had everything hardwired long after others started using wireless. I knew about Darpa from my dad, and that Facebook started in 2004. Even had a family friend whose pretty daughter’s picture ended up on a billboard in England. Little did Facebook know that this mom had once lived in England and her relatives recognized their niece and sounded the alarm. They stayed off of Facebook at that point. 2004.
Then life drastically changed for us. Quickly too!! VR headset for my son, VR Chats, no social media. My daughter still in college (ending with Zoom/Covid) had a combo of “in person” friends and online friends and keeping up with in person friends through Facebook and Instagram, now even Tik Tok with those friends. All have been DEI’d and Bernie’d. Lost self-esteem, ADHD, complain of headaches, listless, self-imposed stress, non-motivation and that repeating circle of woe as me. Listening to Bernie say we need medical insurance and basic income for all, (Communistic). Even still here in 2025 he reinforces the message to them. At this point it’s now my offspring verses Bernie’s offspring. 2025 cannot go fast enough in my book. I will start with Max’s ideas and work from there. Thank you for listening. Your family has helped a lot.
When 2020 came and Convid hit and schools closed, it took us 10 days to realise screens (Ipads) were turning our kids in to addicts, so we took them away completely. We expected trouble. That never came. They simply adjusted and started hobbies. Lots of arts and crafts and reading and outdoor play (we were already quite an 'outdoorsy' family). Now the youngest is 15 and he doesn't have a cellphone. He doesn't want one. He sees the dangers. He has his own laptop (wired) but limits his time on social media to an hour a day. He has a few friends that also do NOT have a cellphone and limited screentime and sees a difference between them and friends who do have a cellphone. We need to hear more stories of youth who 'kick the habit'. Thank you for this.
Blue screens, TV & mobile, penetrate deeply into the brain & reshape perception. They are disruptive of natural brain patterns & should be off limits for children <12 y.o., & severely curtailed for teens.
It Does Not Take a Village to Raise a Child, —Just an Unfinity of Love, https://open.substack.com/pub/captainmanimalagonusnret/p/it-does-not-take-a-village-to-raise
Wow. He is a smart kid with a better perspective than most of us did at that age.
This is a GREAT story. One can hope that more kids kick the habit. And that more adults do!