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Comment by Foobar8568 | Hacker News Reader

Playing video games (mid 80s) from primary school, chatting online (mid 90s), relatively low mother tongue langage but still better than people 10year younger than me, totally failed studies and career far from my potential, but still not too chubby.

People thinking that an electronic device is good for a kid and it's just a matter of self control or parenting has a fairly strong biais and never spent time with a kid or forgot what is it to be one.

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On the contrary, my experience of being a kid is exactly why I'm convinced this is good for them. As a bullied kid I'm pretty sure computer access literally saved my life, and I've consistently seen that the younger someone got on the internet the healthier their relationship with it is.

An escape from reality is far from a good solution. Although I also think that computer access is much better than a cellphone, I strongly believe that parental control is not the correct way, and need several layers of protections.

First one being, is your kid feeling safe enough with you to discuss any topics? I know I couldn't. I have seen way too many kids having already social media pressure, including my own kid with a fairly low level of screen time across the board (I'd say 4h-8h a week maximum including a movie on Sunday morning, depending if she wants to play around with python or some GT7) this allows also some interesting discussions.

> ve consistently seen that the younger someone got on the internet the healthier their relationship with it is

I fully believe that, for the previous generation's internet.

It's great that tech helped you when you were young, but one can't extrapolate here and apply personal experience more generally. The circumstances are vastly different. In some cases there will be kids that suffer from a lack of phone, but there's still computers, there's still video games, etc, etc. There's just no 24/7 cellphone addiction consuming every aspect of their waking day (and night, under the covers) to the exclusion of all else, and to the great detriment of their mental health.

>forgot what is it to be one.

Most adults seem to forget all their memories of their childhood, particularly if they become parents at which point they forget everything instantly.

I'm not sure why this is, what this phenomenon is called (if it has a name), and I would sincerely appreciate a scientific explanation if there is one. I still remember my childhood from about 4 years old onward as a guy in his mid 30s, so I simply can't relate to it.

Yes, I find that I not only can't easily recall what my own experience as a kid was like, I also reproduce a lot of my parents' behaviors.

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