by When the children of Lisa Yoder want to watch a movie, they watch the family’s DVD library or go to the library and choose DVDs to borrow. Yoder’s favorite part about having her children watch is that when the film is over, it is over – there is no screen that suggests that they click to another title and start another movie, do not feed algorithm to hold them. “When it’s over, it’s over,” says Yoder. “That’s it.”
What is old is new again. Parents install fixed telephones in their houses to further postpone getting their children smartphones, film cameras are all anger and now some parents turn to the proven technology from the past DVDs, CDs and cassette ties-in an attempt to protect their children against digital life in 2025. Suggesting their children.
Yoder’s husband was the one who suggested that they bought a cassette player for their children. ‘We wanted [our daughter] To have a desk and to be able to listen to music, but I didn’t want to give her a tablet, “she tells Yahoo.” For the most part, I think, to avoid the constant screentime of all this. “With a cassette player, Yoder’s children have the independence to choose their own music without being connected to an algorithm.
Yoder is not surprised by the trend of parents who return to old technologies. First, she says, it is nice to have something like a DVD physical instead of renting a digital copy. “It is also very nice to avoid the algorithmic attack that probably all comes before them one day,” she says. “If I can prevent it a little longer for my children, I would like to do that as much as possible.”
For Mary Verett, a 36-year-old mother of three in Kansas City, a CD player represents the level of technology she has comfortable with her children who have access without her constant supervision. If her children scroll on an iPad or used the internet, she can worry about what they encountered. But with the CD player their options are inherently limited.
There is no scrolling.
And when it comes to the DVD player of the family, those limited options also reduce a fight between her three children. “I have an old-school DVD [collection]And their options are not endless. That’s all they get. It enables them to go through some of those conflict skills. But there is no scrolling, “she says.” It is intended to give them freedom within limits. I think it just keeps our children, children. That is what this is for us – a way to protect our children from the internet before they are ready. “
In the room of Ailish Kavanagh’s daughter there is a CD player. The 4-year-old listens to CDs while she hangs around in her room and while she goes to sleep. The CD player is portable, so that the child can wear it through the house or move from room to room.
The husband of Kavanagh works in cyber security and the couple has always been sharp aware of the risk that children have seen something they should not do online. One study even showed that there is a 45% chance that children will come across inappropriate content within 10 on YouTube, even if they start with a video-oriented video. Analogue technology is a way because children only have access to the CDs and DVDs that their parents have already screened. It also prevents them from being bombed by the endless choices of streaming services, says Kavanagh. “We have discovered that her much less overwhelmed,” she says. “We try to limit over -consumption and over -stimulation. It teaches her some independence and lets her choose things in a safe way.”
When the children of Kavanagh (she also has a 2-year-old) visit their grandparents’ house, they bring their DVD player. She and her husband are determined about the rules: the children can only watch something that they have physically.
And although the technology they use is not new (the CD player was released in Japan in 1982, followed by the DVD player in 1996), it is new for the kids of Gen Alpha. “It’s new for them,” says Veteret. “A few weeks ago my 9-year-old was:” Mom, the CD player has a radio on it. ” And he discovered the coordination of a radio.
