Unschooling and screen time

Somewhere, high above maths and bedtime on the list of things that are hard to let go of is the fear of ‘screen time’. Wherever you look in parenting circles, online or off, there are lively debates and countless experts offering advice on how to manage this thorny topic. Clickbait headlines about the effects of screens on our children help stoke the confusion and worry, and the one thing we can all agree on for sure is that the whole thing just seems to make everyone cross.

So, where does this all sit with unschooling? Parents often tell me that unschooling wouldn’t work for them because their children would just sit on the sofa all day on their Xbox/ Playstation /tablet. Their starting point is figuring out how they would be able to control the screen time. Since unschooling is based on trust and respect, arbitrary limits can’t work. So letting go of the notion of control and developing a deeper understanding is the only way to go. Over the course of a year or so I went from feeling a sense of rising panic whenever someone spent longer than an hour on a screen to not thinking about screens at all. At some point they became a non-issue. And from the other side, where there are no limits and no worries, I can safely say that life is much nicer over here. It’s a place where we’re enriched daily by technology in terms of knowledge, connections and fun, and where clickbait stories of addiction, violence or any even slightly negative effects have been proven unfounded.

Before we can let go of anything, it’s helpful to understand what our fears or worries actually are. To delve a little deeper here means first doing away with the term ‘screen time’. It covers such a multitude of activities and devices that it has no real meaning. If you see me on a screen, I am possibly reading the news. Equally possible is that I’m texting a friend, browsing Ebay, organising a trip somewhere, scrolling Facebook or replying to a work email. I’d find it patronising if someone referred to all of this as my ‘screen time’. And so it follows that it is patronising to our children for us to lump all their activities together under this one dismissive term. Particularly harsh is that it gives the impression that what our children are doing is meaningless to us (more on that later).

So, what are the fears? They may be around our children missing out on things: exercise, variety of activity, learning opportunities or social life. Or perhaps it’s some fear of the screen activity itself – a certain kind of game or video they’re watching. Perhaps it seems pointless or passive. Or maybe it triggers the feeling that we are not doing enough for our children. I’m thinking about it now, and I can’t honestly say what my fears were. It was a general sense of unease, though there was actually nothing wrong. My children were having a great time playing games like Minecraft, and watching some fairly innocuous Minecraft-playing YouTubers. I could see that what they were doing was interesting and fun, and in fact they learned to read with Minecraft. But I was still uneasy. It was on a screen so it needed a limit.

My shift began when I set conventional wisdom aside and started to get curious. In fact, observing how my children interact with technology has been an essential and fascinating part of this journey.

So here are some of the things I’ve learned along the way:

Limiting anything undermines the trust
Unschooling is all about trust. It’s about accompanying children as they grow and learn, and supporting them in their choices. We can’t do that if at the same time we are dismissing some of their choices because they don’t align with our own. Which means that limiting certain things can undermine everything.

Taking away limits doesn’t leave a void. They are replaced by conversation and discussions, and our interest and involvement. We are all free to bring up things that make us uncomfortable or that we want to understand more about. We’ve had long conversations about all aspects of technology from age ratings to staying safe and time spent online. We’ve been open to each other’s thoughts and needs.

Without school in the picture, the dynamics shift
When a child is free to manage their own time the dynamics naturally shift. Comparing a child who spends a large chunk of their days at school with relatively little autonomy to one who is doing whatever they choose to do is like comparing apples and pears. I remember when D and E arrived home after school. They would get straight onto Minecraft with a palpable sense of relief that now they could relax and do their own thing. That changed after leaving school. They still played Minecraft, but it tended to be either marathon sessions, or none at all for weeks. Not having a set time or limit gave them the power to use the game in the way that worked best for them. And it turns out, that that wasn’t at 5pm every day for an hour and a half…

Don’t assume that some activities are less worthy than others
This is a tough one to undo – it’s deeply ingrained in parents that there is a pecking order of activities and hobbies, and that a good parent encourages the good ones. On this scale, for most of us, reading, playing a musical instrument or having a bike ride sit near the top, whilst gaming or watching a favourite YouTuber are near the bottom. It’s key to our children’s autonomy and development that we let go of these judgements and simply understand that every choice is made for a reason that is valid to them.

Here, the easy flow between activities that use technology would be ruined if I attempted to judge or encourage. If C is on her tablet for a while, she might play Roblox but she could just as easily choose to watch a documentary or learn Spanish on Duolinguo. One is not more meaningful than the other to her. I’m sure she doesn’t think, ‘Right, that’s enough fun. I’d better learn something now’. She just gets on with what appeals to her. E spends hours a day on his computer. His general knowledge is phenomenal, and he likes to research things, create maps, work on the family tree, plan future travels… I love to ask him what he’s up to as I know the answer will always surprise me. D has always been an avid gamer but right now, he isn’t gaming much. He’s on a screen quite a lot, but he’s teaching himself Chinese, Russian and German, and watching videos on economics and politics. He sometimes games, and occasionally he and E set up together on a game for a couple of hours.

The change between activities is quiet and entirely unpredictable. If I were to try to control the flow because I felt some things were ‘better’ than others, I would create tension and derail the process. Which leads me nicely to the next point:

There’s lots to be learned from gaming
Of course, when people talk about ‘screen time’, they’re not really talking about watching history documentaries, learning a new language, or chatting to grandparents on FaceTime. For many, ‘screen time’ is a euphemism for gaming. I didn’t have a clue about gaming until D developed a passion for it. Although in recent months he has gamed less as other interests have grown in importance, gaming has been an important part of his life. He tends to play strategy games that are aligned with his interests in economics and geopolitics, and these games have been the starting point for all sorts of interests and learning. They’re not separate in any way from the knowledge and skills he acquires through life – they are an intrinsic part of the whole.

What was extremely helpful to me in the early days was to sit with D while he was gaming and get him to explain the game to me. He was happy to be able to share his interests, and I would be amazed at the skill and concentration required. I would sometimes have a go, but generally find that the sheer quantity of information I was required to process at once was just overwhelming. It was also reassuring at that point to see how much reading, calculating and planning was needed. I remember one game that required scrolling through long texts. The reading was certainly more sophisticated than anything required of an 11 year old at school. So, why would this reading be ‘less’ than reading a book? It wasn’t. It was challenging and engaging, and success in the game relied on excellent comprehension. At times when D’s anxiety has held him back from other activities, his gaming has also helped him self-regulate and find a calm space.

Access to technology doesn’t limit other activities
It seems like there is a fear that technology dumbs children down. That once they have a taste for this easy entertainment, nothing will ever move them away from it. It seems to me like the opposite has happened. That information and ideas flow into our lives from the online world, often translating into offline activities. They’ve created board games, read books inspired by games, planned new website ideas, learned programming, begun developing a game, and thought up countless business ideas around new technology. I don’t really know how to unpick it all as I have no idea what started online and what started offline. From the stock exchange to running a country, to Ancient Rome, I just know that these are interests that take on many forms.

Having no limits on technology has had no particular influence on their lives beyond the house. Their personalities and interests determine what clubs they go to and who they make friends with. And if the option is between being going out to doing something they enjoy or staying at home, they pretty much always choose to go out.

There’s nothing wrong with relaxing with a screen
Sometimes, someone is tired or doesn’t know what to do, so they relax by watching TV or playing a game. My experience is that they spend a little while doing whatever they need to just relax, and then an idea comes to them and they get on with that. I might make a suggestion for something to do, but more than likely they just need to recharge a little. Who doesn’t?

Things come and go
Life is always moving on and changing. Though I see that everyone’s core interests are always alive in some way, the ways of exploring them come and go. For a while in lockdown, C would play Roblox with a friend in Spain. It was a way for her to be with her friend and have some fun. She particularly liked two games, both involving animals. As the lockdown eased she made friends with a girl who lives nearby and they started to play together with toy animals. Their games, which involve mindboggling amounts of horses, each with their own name and character, can last for hours. Playing online for now has lost its allure for C. A similar thing happened with a game on the tablet in which she would create clothes designs. She occasionally still plays it, but now spends a lot of time making clothes for her various soft toy friends. Things come and go.

Being curious is the only way
Whilst the parent is going through their own ‘deschooling’ process, staying present and curious to what their children are doing is the only way forward. If I felt myself getting uptight about something technology-related, I would try to get curious before the trigger kicked in any stronger. So rather than making a comment on how long someone had been on their computer, I would take an interest in what they were doing. I was often surprised by the responses, always proving that what I see is not necessarily the experience that they are living.

Of course, every child is different, so our experiences here with technology will be entirely different from other families’ experiences. But, I think that in any family, getting away from the fears and really exploring and understanding is always going to be enriching. It’s likely to lead to a far healthier relationship with technology, and a lot less stress.

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