This morning, I attended a focus group discussion on screen time for kids, and what parents, teachers and caregivers feel or can do about better managing it. How did I come by such a focus group you ask? You see, the main English daily in my country plans to launch a series to help parents … Continue reading Cutting Back Screen Time For Kids? Let’s Start With Dialling Back FOMO First!
Last month our government announced new guidelines to encourage better management of screen times for children. Since then, much discussion has been going on about the merits and demerits of these guidelines. Unsurprisingly they range from supportive to sceptical. (For those unfamiliar with the guidelines, click here to find out more) Having recently posted about … Continue reading To Better Manage Screen Times For Children, Manage Corporations & Adults First
Have I The Right To Scream? Oops I think I did it again!Substituting great for goodEven what's only blah....Just middle-of-the-road And all for what? Doomscrolling. TikToking.Forgetting all the books.Fast dopamine. Rapid responding.Quick relief and pleasure sensing Don't I already knowThe perils of this digital life?Didn't I read Newport. Twenge. Jonathan Haidt? Yet I still fall. … Continue reading My Monday Metrical Musings #201
My firstborn has had his own "screen", aka mobile phone, since the end of 2021. He was 12 then, going on 13. To ensure my wife and I set the right tone to cultivate responsible use of it, we had written up a phone contract which my son had to sign before he could have … Continue reading Fathering Softer #3 — Screen Time Is How Teens Connect
When my wife and I first made C's glasses 26 months ago, the lenses were at 200 degrees (each!). No doubt high for an eight-year-old. But since we ourselves were bespectacled (his brother too), it wasn't surprising. Disappointing yes, but not surprising. Sadly, four days ago, we were dealt another blow when we visited the … Continue reading Parenting Motivations #2 – Never “take your eyes off the prize”
Today is World Mental Health Day and here's what I found out. According to WHO, one in four people in the world will at some point in their lives suffer from a mental or neurological disorder. Think about that for a sec. One. In. Four. So in places like the United Kingdom where gatherings involving … Continue reading Life Hack Book Review #1 – On World Mental Health Day 2020
At least thrice a week, we take the kids out for a walk. That's the very least we can legally do during this COVID lockdown period, with masks on of course. Other than the obvious health benefits, it's something we parents desperately need. Who can stay indoors 24/7 with kids without going berserk! And let … Continue reading How 5 Whys led to 1 Truth: Why my kid prefers to stay home during COVID
