# Why is "screen time" so frowned upon? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 25, 2013, 5:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-screen-time-so-frowned-upon/677130 "2013-12-25T05:52:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![PlaceboTarget](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/placebotarget/32/1073_2.png) [@PlaceboTarget](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PlaceboTarget)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2013, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-screen-time-so-frowned-upon/677130/21 "2013-12-28T15:33:08Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > Recently gained sentience and preparing for the cybernetic revolt. OMG, could that really be Toasty? And, if it’s not too late, could somebody tell him my dad never meant to replace him with that magnificent Lakeland Digital? ---
**Author:** ![grude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47774/32.png) [@grude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/grude)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2013, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-screen-time-so-frowned-upon/677130/22 "2013-12-28T15:54:01Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > That’s the only thing I can come up with. It seems illogical, though. It would seem to me like being more stimulated is a better thing. Yes this is my take, stimulation is the important thing and boredom is the enemy of the human mind. I made a thread once on why people think watching TV is bad for your brain, no one could find a cite. ---
**Author:** ![monstro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@monstro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monstro)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2013, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-screen-time-so-frowned-upon/677130/23 "2013-12-28T16:58:31Z")
The addiction nature of my personality certainly seems to come out when I’m on a “screen”, versus something else. If I need to pull away from a book or magazine, I don’t have a problem. But anything electronic, and it’s suddenly"OK, I’ll stop in five minutes…er, I mean, ten minutes. Scratch that…let’s shoot for an hour!" ---
**Author:** ![James\_Toothpaste](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e56c9b/32.png) [@James\_Toothpaste](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/James_Toothpaste)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2013, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-screen-time-so-frowned-upon/677130/24 "2013-12-28T17:48:51Z")
I think screen time is perfectly acceptable unless: You are looking at inappropriate content It is keeping you up past your normal bedtime You don’t want to do anything else ---
**Author:** ![Bozuit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/edb3f5/32.png) [@Bozuit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bozuit)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2013, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-screen-time-so-frowned-upon/677130/25 "2013-12-30T15:07:05Z")
> [@GuanoLad](#): > > Television, movies, video games, Internet, etc, is passive entertainment that doesn’t require either physical or mental activity. Reason enough, I think. Though I don’t agree with the sentiment, it at least makes a certain amount of sense. Video games are hardly a passive activity. You might not be running around, but all games require some mental activity, and some quite a lot. There can be a lot of adrenaline with certain games/levels/bosses too. Internet use can obviously be quite thoughtful and can’t really be generalized as passive. ---
**Author:** ![James\_Toothpaste](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e56c9b/32.png) [@James\_Toothpaste](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/James_Toothpaste)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2013, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-screen-time-so-frowned-upon/677130/26 "2013-12-30T23:33:18Z")
> [@Bozuit](#): > > Video games are hardly a passive activity. You might not be running around, but all games require some mental activity, and some quite a lot. There can be a lot of adrenaline with certain games/levels/bosses too. Internet use can obviously be quite thoughtful and can’t really be generalized as passive. Absolutely. 🙂 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-screen-time-so-frowned-upon/677130.md?page=1)