Rethinking our screen time approach

No more scarcity mindset

One of the things I say over and over is that gaming should be treated like any other activity. I often make a comparison to food- when we treat candy or cake like any other food, our kids learn to enjoy it without the obsession that a scarcity mindset can bring. Same goes for games.

This doesn’t mean gaming can’t have limits, and this doesn’t mean access to gaming can’t be impacted by kids’ choices. But if we frame it in a scarcity mindset, kids feel unsure of their access to games and want to gorge themselves on gaming. When predictable, kids know when gaming is available and can develop a healthy relationship with games AND other activities

Swipe to see simple changes we can make to the framing we use around games and the different messages that can send to kids.

*A note on the term "balanced diet" that I think is important: a diet that is balanced does NOT mean "has as little sugar as possible" but should mean "meets the needs of this person". Similarly, technology is something that will be very different on an individual level depending on a person's needs.