I told my kids the TV was broken. Four months later, I'm still pretending.
A parent shares her experience of telling her young children the television was broken to reduce their screen time and reliance on instant gratification. The experiment led to a noticeable shift in the family's daily habits and increased engagement in non-digital activities.
Why it matters
It highlights the growing parental struggle with digital overstimulation and the psychological impact of constant media access on young children.
The author told her kids their TV was broken to deal with screens. Paulo Sousa/Getty Images We unexpectedly spent months without television. Our children started playing together instead of watching shows. We realized we had been relying on screens more than we thought. Every time my kids asked to watch TV , I had to prepare myself for battle. My 2-year-old should not be experiencing decision fatigue , yet I watched her grapple with the impossible choice of which Bubble Guppies episode to watch every single day. And when she would finally pick, it wouldn't even hold her attention. Three minutes later, she would have followed me into the kitchen, asking for attention from me. Not only were my kids overstimulated, but so was I. The author doesn't want her kids to grow up with instant gratification.
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