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Comment by andrewstuart | Hacker News Reader

There’s no reason for kids under 6 to ever look at a screen.

I know one kid, now 5, who taught himself to read watching Alphablocks.

My own kids haven't done anything that impressive, but they've certainly enjoyed watching a lot of videos and it doesn't seem to have done them any harm. Doesn't get in the way of doing non-screen things either.

Facetime calls with family. I've had to do a lot of travelling, and it's been amazing being able to see, talk to, and sing with my kid while I'm gone. He's also really close to his extended family and loves seeing them on video calls.

Yeah it seems crazy to me that this is news. Here in France the government officially recommends to avoid screens at all costs for under 3 years omds and as much as possible under 6. There are tons of studies showing it hinders their development.

I have no regrets watching the World Cup games with my 3 year old and having him narrate me through everything he’s seeing

I don't have kids myself, but I understand there is good educational programming on television for small children.

Not in my opinion. Certainly nothing like as good as adult attention or play.

I watched Sesame Street and Reading Rainbow and stuff like that as a child. Seemed fine and even good.

What do you think about non-media screen use like Google Maps or typing on a word processor?

And how many kids do you have?

I’ve raised 5, doing 6 and 7 right now.

I’m not sure I can exactly explain why, but touchscreens are fundamentally different from a developmental standpoint. Also low res screens don’t seem to have the same effect. High resolution Touchscreens are aggressively addictive and encourage a certain kind of ultrafast loop that is simply not a dynamic on other devices.

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