Overheard a mom in aisle 3 and it flipped my view on screen time

I was standing in line at the grocery store yesterday and heard a lady tell her kid, 'I let you watch shows so I can cook dinner without you getting hurt.' It hit me that I've been judging parents for letting kids use tablets at restaurants or stores. Like, I never thought about the safety part of it, just saw the screen. Now I wonder how many other things I judge without knowing the full story. Has anyone else had a moment like that where a random stranger changed your mind about something?

2 comments

2 Comments

thomas.cameron12d ago

Three kids in my neighborhood growing up literally needed stitches from kitchen accidents while their mom tried to cook. I mean yeah tablets aren't ideal but a trip to the ER is way worse than 20 minutes of Cocomelon.

simon_sanchez5811d ago

@thomas.cameron okay but are we really acting like tablets are the only option here? Like you can put a kid in a playpen or something near the kitchen so they're still safe but not glued to a screen. My parents used to just give me a pot and a wooden spoon to bang on and somehow I survived without needing stitches or an iPad. Feels like we're setting the bar real low if we're saying Cocomelon is the only way to keep kids from getting hurt.