It’s fair to say that Today Show host Lisa Wilkinson is well-liked with families across Australia.
But this morning, she has infuriated mums around the country with her comments on live TV about kids and screen time.
Along with her fellow hosts, Karl Stefanovic and Richard Wilkins, they were talking about whether the terrible twos is actually a thing or if it simply points to bad parenting.
Lisa, who has three grown-up children – Jake, 21, Louis, 19, and daughter Billi, 18 – starts off saying that the terrible twos have been around since the turn of time, but then drops this clanger:
“However, if, as a parent, you allow your children time in front of a screen – you give them iPads, you give them phones – before the age of five, I’m going to be generous, you are crazy.
“Come back to me when they’re 14 and completely and utterly addicted to their screens and they have no social skills – that’s when you’ll realise what you did early has come back to bite you.”
Ouch.
Lisa, with her husband Peter Fitzsimmons, and their three kids Jake, Louis and Billi back in the days of “no screen time”. Source: Instagram
“I love Lisa but this is just out of touch”
Ok, let’s put this perspective a little shall we Lisa? When you had your kids two decades ago – the term “screen time” was unheard of. Mobile phones weren’t an extension of every person’s arm and iPads didn’t exist.
Unless you carried your TV around with you back in the day – “screen time” was not available on tap like it is now.
So it seems unfair and unrealistic to make these remarks because parenting these days is an entirely different ball game – and our modern mums couldn’t agree more:
“I love Lisa but this is just out of touch with what parents face today. The reality is, we have TV’s in our homes. Kids WILL watch it. And I’m sure hers did too. We’re not crazy for doing so, we’re just trying to cook dinner!” says one.
“It’s 2016. This is the world. We all wish we were raising our kids in 1987 but we’re just not. PLUS I didn’t let my 10-year-old son use a screen before he was five – and he’s pretty damned addicted now,” says another.
“It’s ridiculous to make such a general statement!”
A single mum-of-two kids under four says it’s “virtually impossible” to ban her kids from any screen time
“If I don’t turn the TV on over breakfast in the morning then I have no hope of getting ready. They’re only allowed to have it on again for half an hour in the evening. My daughter is however quite cunning with my iPhone! She will ask to FaceTime my parents, then ‘hangs off’ on them after 30 secs, just so she can get my phone to watch ABC Kids! It’s ridiculous to make such a general statement about screen use under five leading to addiction, but it’s important to be very aware of how and what they’re doing each day.”
Will screen time before the age of five ruin your child?
What’s with the ‘one size fits all’ methodology??
One mum, with three older kids, says her children have in no way ended up the way Lisa describes.
“Pfft. I let my babies have screen time and they’re all 14+ or nearly. They play card games together, play LEGO, go for bike rides. Sure, they do spend a fair bit of time looking at a screen BUT SO DO I. Big deal.”
Another mother slams the “one size fits all” methodology for raising children.
“Just because a child has screen time before the age of 5 does not mean they will become addicted. Likewise, just because a child doesn’t have screen time before the age of 5 does not mean they WON’T become addicted. Moderation is the key, as is assessing a child’s individual needs. I for one as a working, volunteering, training and studying mum, sometimes need ways of keeping the kids entertained and occupied. If this involves some screen time, then I refuse to feel guilty about that.”
All children model their parents – that’s how they learn. So the only way to ban all screen time for kids is to stop using it yourself. And let’s be honest – we can’t last five minutes without our phones these days, so then it becomes a case of “do as I say and not as I do”.
Sorry Lisa – for all of your fabulousness – we just can’t agree with you this time.
