How Screens Sedate - AI Parenting Live

Introduction

Exciting, looks like we're getting some signal now. Cool, I can see it. Fantastic! Okay, I'm going to mute now. Parents often tell me it's too late, their kids are addicted to screens, and the situation could get ugly if they had to take away their devices or the internet.

This highlights why requiring kids to do homework, hygiene, and household chores (the three H's) before earning screen time doesn't work for the long term. I'll delve into that later.

I understand why Google Trends shows a spike in searches for screen time tools and charts in January or February. Why was it so hard for our children to focus on school after two weeks of watching movies and playing with their presents?

The January Slump

I am live in the chat. Alice is here! Exciting, thank you for joining again today. Despite how overwhelming it felt, you found a way through this first month. Congratulations! So my question for you is, are you new? Or are you joining us again? I know Alice is joining us again. Let me know where you're at in the chat. We've set it up so that everyone can participate no matter what platform, and with Restream, I can see all of the different chat submissions.

Either way, welcome to AI Parenting Live. We help families transform screen time into quality time in a world of artificial intelligence. I'm your host, Dr. Ed, and as an ADHD parent of two young boys, one with ADHD, I can appreciate how exhausting it is to finish a hard day of work only to play every other role for your children.

Our purpose today is to help you understand why screens have become so addictive, who compensates for the limitations of AI moderation today, and visualizing the quality of the screen time we have.

Screens: Sedation or Stimulation?

We're diving into how screens are used for sedation. I use screens for sedation too. Guilty! We aren't here to judge. We are here to help.

Today’s theme: how screens sedate. It's near and dear to my heart because I use it all the time. I know many feel guilty, and I'm here to help clarify what's going on behind the scenes with screens, especially video games.

Video Games and the Illusion of Progress

Let’s talk about the illusion of progress in games. I'm not referring to hardcore games but more to casual gaming which dominates today. Video games are designed to meet unconscious desires such as the need for progress and aggression.

Challenges and Casual Games

Did you play video games as a kid? When I was young, games were crazy hard. Games today, like those on mobile, changed everything by making games easier through the illusion of progress. For example, mobile games like Angry Birds and Candy Crush are focused on giving a sense of progress without increasing the challenge significantly.

The Consequences

In 2008 with the launch of the Apple app store, non-gamers started spending a lot of time playing games. By 2018, casual gaming on mobile devices became dominant, employing hundreds of thousands of people and generating billions of dollars. Video games, along with social media, are addictive because they balance challenge and reward to keep us in a flow state.

Addressing Screen Addiction

Strategy 1: Understand Their Need

Spend time to understand what your children like about a game. Show interest and align with their interests.

Strategy 2: Satisfy Their Needs Differently

See how elements of the game fulfill their needs. It could be progress or need to be a champion. Find ways to fulfill those needs outside of gaming.

Strategy 3: Relate It to Real Life

Help them see how elements of the game relate to work they need to do in real life, like working as a team or accomplishing tasks through hard work.

The Limitations of AI

AI and Content Moderation

AI can recognize patterns but struggles with moderation. It can be easily fooled. AI algorithms are trained with ideal examples and human judgment is often required. Videos like Elsagate exposed the weaknesses of AI moderation where inappropriate content was tagged similarly to kid-friendly content.

Human Moderators

Content moderation often falls on armies of human workers in places like Iowa and the Philippines. They provide moderation for liabilities rather than ensuring actual moderation.

Screen Time Management

Google searches spike in January for screen time management tools, yet many existing mechanisms, like screen time charts, are flawed. These charts position screen time as the ultimate reward, making children more likely to hide their screen use.

Intentional Screen Time

Have a different approach for long-term, understanding what needs screens fulfill for children. This approach includes:

Spend time understanding why they like the game.
Find other ways to satisfy their needs.
Relate game elements to real-life tasks.

Instead of traditional charts, create a quality screen time chart with categories like sedation, relation, and creation.

Next Steps

Sign up for the AI Parenting email list to receive tips, tools, and resources to help transform screen time from sedation to creation.

Live your AI parenting journey with intention, understand your children’s needs, and provide them a path to meaningful screen use.

Keywords

AI Moderation: Use of artificial intelligence in monitoring and regulating online content.
Casual Gaming: Mobile and easily accessible games that create the illusion of progress.
Screen Time Management: Strategies and tools to regulate screen use among children.
Parental Guidance: Steps for parents to understand and redirect their child's screen use.
Sedation vs. Creation: The difference between passive screen use and active, creative engagement.

FAQ

Q: Why do screen time charts often fail for the long term? A: They position screen time as the ultimate reward, making children more likely to hide their screen use when unsupervised.

Q: How does AI moderation typically work? A: AI uses pattern recognition to monitor content but requires human intervention due to its inability to critically analyze context.

Q: What are the categories for quality screen time? A: Sedation (passive use), Relation (social interaction), and Creation (active engagement and creativity).

Q: How do casual games create the illusion of progress? A: By maintaining the same level of challenge but increasing rewards, making users feel they are progressing.

Q: How can parents better manage their children’s screen use? A: By understanding the child’s needs, finding other ways to fulfill those needs, and relating game elements to real-life tasks.