Finding a parental balance

• A personal write up
• Practicality: ♥ • • • •
• Theoretical: ♥ • • • •

So one of the things that’s on my mind for a while is the way I’ve come to view media consumption and the way it has changed since I have kids. It feels a bit hypocritical to limit their time on these screens while I’m working to make games for those same screens and binge through Netflix in all-night episodes.

While my memory is pretty poor and I tend to idolize my childhood, I think I spend days on end playing Commodore 64 games and I continued that trend with consoles later on.

But screens and media have totally invaded our lives, they have taken over. I personally struggle with my scrolling addiction and it is pretty obvious that humanity is struggling with it in some form or other as well. I think this transition to omnipresent media and 24/7 pocket entertainment has made me wary about the impact it has on my own life.

On one side, I have such fond memories of playing games as a kid, sucking me into their fantasy world and allowing me to do magical things. On the other I feel there’s so much to discover outside of screens, having fun with other toys and playing with friends outside. But I feel I’m being more strict, allowing my kids less time than the time I spent and it feels a bit funny.

Maybe I’m being strict is because I know their lives will be filled with screens in a few years and I will not be able to stop their intrusion. Together with my wife we made a conscious decision to keep their lives strictly offline, as we value their own decisions about their lives. They should not be confronted by a past that I created for them online, with my memories of their childhood, the moments that I thought would be worth sharing. They should have their own memories and decide which ones they like to share and when, and to whom, if at all.

My kids will be old enough to own a pocket screen soon and the amount of monitoring will fade away. Maybe I feel I need to show them there’s more before it’s too late.