The screentime battles are already in full swing with my niece.
She turned 2 years old in January. “I want iPad,” she wails across the house during lunchtime. She refuses to eat, even though I can tell she’s “hangry.” She’s even more inconsolable when I tell her she can watch 10 minutes of Cocomelon only after she takes at least three bites of her lunch.
If it were up to me, I would throw “her” iPad away. I’m not kidding. I can’t stand to watch her – one of the most intelligent and empathic toddlers I’ve ever been around – get completely sucked in and tuned out on screens.
She taps and swipes and stares, totally hypnotized by its magnetic pull. Screens are already her go-to method of comfort, her favorite reward – even better than candy! – and all too often, the on-demand babysitter for her parents, who are overwhelmed and just trying to make it through the day.
There’s a lot to unpack here, and I have no idea how to help. To be fair, I whip out a phone as fast as anyone else when we’re all out to dinner together, and the crayons and puzzles stop working. We all just need a few bites of our food and five minutes of adult conversation, right?
What’s worse, I often feel powerless against the pull of my screens too. I have zero doubt that smartphones have rewired our brains in negative ways. Not because so many new studies suggest it, but because of how I feel and what I see happening in the world around me.
The always-on gadgets that…
