Screen time is a hot topic among parents, and people are passionate about how much is too much. Many parents have very specific parameters for screen time, including how old their children must be before they are allowed to use screens and how long they can be used. Other parents are much more liberal regarding screen time and let their kids do whatever they want.
We are moms and know that establishing screen time rules can be hard. We also know that all kids are different, and what works for some families won't work for others. One TikTok mom shared her thoughts on screen time and how she is raising her two children differently regarding screens. It's an interesting approach that has a lot of parents talking.
More from CafeMom: 4 Ways I Use Screen Time To Keep My Sanity as a Mom
When she had her first child, she let him have a lot of screen time.
Shae Johnson, who posts on TikTok as @northandstate, explains that she had her 12-year-old son when she was 24, and life was very different for her then.
"I was working a lot. I was a waitress. I was, you know, a young mom really trying to figure it out," Johnson explains. "I didn't know what the h— I was doing, and um, I handed my kid an iPad. And I handed him an iPad honestly if I'm being really honest, as soon as I could."
Like many moms, ourselves included, she gave him her phone so she could get through a Target or grocery store run uninterrupted. We feel that; no judgment here. She said he turned into a "full-blown screen kid."
When she had her daughter years later, she decided to do things differently.
Johnson says that her son is a great kid and very intelligent, but when she had her daughter three years ago, she wanted to follow a different screen path. She claims her daughter has never touched a screen, and she has no plans to give her one.
"She thinks that phones are a camera and for mom and dad to work on," Johnson says.
His daughter can go to the store without asking for her mom's phone and will go on long car rides without any time on a screen. We can't lie; we are pretty darn impressed.
Johnson doesn't want her daughter to be addicted to a screen like her son.
She says that she doesn't beat herself up about giving her son screens young; she just doesn't want to repeat those behaviors.
"I was doing what I could with the resources that I had at the time," she says in the video. "However, I would be lying to you if I told you that I didn't see the negative aspects of it. I notice it a lot with, um, seeing other kids and seeing how they behave and seeing how they cannot get through Target. They cannot get through the store."
She says she wants parents to learn from her mistakes and to keep their kids away from screens "as long as you possibly can."
People agree with Johnson.
TikTokers think Johnson is right on with her thinking. Some parents even like to do things old school and use books.
"Just give her books. A lot of books. At the doctors appt. Restaurant, car. Just books. I was never an avid reader but my kids read a lot bc I did that," someone suggested.
"I know it's hard for little kids to sit! I love to see young kids at cafes or restaurants reading books, drawing and coloring instead," one commenter wrote.
It's all about how we teach our children. One person wrote, "People forget that kids are born knowing nothing. They learn and do what we teach them."
More from CafeMom: 'I Made My Man a Sexy Video & It Accidentally Went to My Daughter's iPad — I'm Mortified'
Some people believe that screens are OK but that parents need to be cautious.
One person thought Johnson was being a little extra.
"this is a little dramatic. should it be limited? yes, obvi.. but this is the future.. it's digital. they have to know how to function in that world," one comment reads.
Another person wrote that parents just need to be careful.
"I believe it's all about moderation because it is a screen world. So my kids got their tablets on their first big road trip. They maybe play on them," the commenter suggested.
And, of course, parents need to remember that kids are always watching.
"It's parents loving their screens too — my son is the same age and that was the beginning of smart phone being life," someone else pointed out.
