How To Stop Saying Screen Time

Gayle Schrier Smith M.D. • Nov 02, 2017

Hey, just wanted to say thanks, Dr. Hamblin. Can I call you, Jim? I love your magazine , and I really appreciate your bringing the issue of screen time to the attention of so many.

Anytime I can get free publicity for a kids’ health topic so near and dear to my heart, well… my Momma raised a grateful lady who always sends a thank-you note.

No really. I love this video clip! It spoons up a dose of my favorite ‘laughter medicine.’ Such a clever boy you are, poking fun at my buddies and I in the AAP. It’s OK. We don’t take ourselves too seriously. Well, at least I don’t take myself too seriously. Being a girl, of course, I can’t speak for some of my older, obsolete guy buddies at the Academy.

I just want you to know I think you have produced the greatest conversation starter for pediatricians who are interested in reaching out to parents and their little ‘raisin brains.’ It’s so hard when we have to open up that it’s-not-a-music-service Pandora’s box of screen time discussion. I’m with you, buddy. Fire up the music app! Let’s celebrate: freedom from rationing screen time. I’m tired of being the bean-counter, no-first-person-shooter-games, media-rationing Momma. Push that button all you want. We’re having Cheetos and Cokes for dinner.

Wait. No. I think we’re having chicken and green beans for dinner. You probably should go outside and play, too. And no defacing the holographic pyramids when you’re done exploring them with the other kids in the neighborhood.

Start the conversation (but don’t say the word, screen time!)  Engage and debate. I say “thanks for the free publicity.”  Parents, what do YOU say?

Pediatrics…podiatry… We are all experts in one way or another, and we all are out here in screen cyberspace with opinions to share . You and I can reach tons more people with our ideas while we’re waiting around for the double-blind, placebo controlled study to show what common sense already knows is true.  You’ll never win SuperSmash Brothers Melee with your eyes closed.

Evidence-based proof of the perils of screen time? Yes, there’s probably some laying around. But not that much. Some stuff … you just can’t prove. So here we are sitting around with our common sense and our screens.  Until the old, obsolete guys come up with more evidence, there’s that … And good advice. “Kids stop defacing the holographic pyramids.”

The more doctors like you and I talk about media consumption, the more parents will keep talking about what we are saying. Especially if they think we’re a little obsolete. No worries for you, though.  I’m guessing you don’t have too many kids, yet. Do you know Doogie Howser?

The DrDownload Blog

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