Parents, are your kids' attention spans shorter than yours were at their age?

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catjellycat@reddit

My ‘kids’ are 19 and 16. I’m 44. When I was 19, the things that kept my attention was listening to my CDs, reading magazines, talking for hours on the phone to my friends and going to the pub.

My 19 year old doesn’t drink, goes to the gym 5 times a week, plays online games a lot and plays for 3 different football teams.

So it’s hard to judge. My younger one is more a fan of passive entertainment like TV watching and doom scrolling but is another gym fan and likes going to the movies/theatre/concerts.

So no, not particularly.

However, I feel that my attention span has really decreased over the last 5 years. I’m a hideous doom scroller. I am going to try and cut down over the summer. I need to pick up my more analogue hobbies again.

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hhfugrr3@reddit

You as a kid sounds exactly like my 16 year old son, minus the going to the pub bit.

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lady_is_a_one@reddit

MY attention span is less than it was at 21. As a millenial, that is true! And something I battle with.

I’m interested in what replies you receive, OP 🙂

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GruffScottishGuy@reddit

Absolutely this, if it's effected me to some degree how has it effected young, developing minds?

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snittersnee@reddit

Same. Or at least it is when I let myself get too sucked into my phone. When I forget about it I remember how much I get absorbed in the rest of the world.

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lady_is_a_one@reddit

Yeah - I can sort of pull myself out of it because I remember a life before that. If I didnt have that reference point (and no shade!), I think I’d truly, truly struggle. It’s HARD for young people these days. I just wish we could stop the scrolling, but how can we?

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snittersnee@reddit

I have answers but they would probably catch me an account ban....not that it isn't tempting to just have tumblr as my one form of social media.

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lady_is_a_one@reddit

Haha, totally.

For what it’s worth, love your username 🙂

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snittersnee@reddit

Thankyou. From my knowledge I picked it up from a friend back in the days when every forum was its own thing and the internet was kept confined to a terminal in the corner of the living room where it belongs

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lady_is_a_one@reddit

Haha - them was the days!!

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_Cridders_@reddit

Honestly, people keep banging on about everyone having a lack of attention span these days but

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lardarz@reddit

I'm not reading all that

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lady_is_a_one@reddit

🤣🤣🤣 this was the best comment

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Scooob-e-dooo8158@reddit

😂😂😂😂

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spriggan75@reddit

Right? Ugh

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peachandbetty@reddit

My son is 5. He has a short attention span. Over the last year, I have removed his access to 90% of his toys, so he only has a few at a time. That way he can't chop and change what he's doing as much. I've reduced his tablet to a couple of reading and maths games from the school. I've removed ALL processed sugar from his diet and this has the biggest effect. He now listens well, does as he is asked and doesn't get distracted mere seconds into a task.

In my opinion, it is the combination of sugar in EVERYTHING and short form digital media.

Not all digital media. There are games specifically designed to hold attention and build processing skills in children. But youtube, roblox et Al ain't it.

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ThickAd8749@reddit

Their attention span is...What was the question again?

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Ok-Dance-4827@reddit

Myth, social media has made all of our brains go to mush and attention spans shit. But if you try and provide your kids with balance and boredom, they will focus on tasks because it takes practise. Same as everything else.

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Jebble@reddit

Eh you're calling it myth and immediately claim the opposite. Interactive screens are proven to be detrimental for brain development. Children growing up with screens visibly less white matter in their brain, damage that can not be reverted. Taking it away will not suddenly allow them to focus.

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Ok-Dance-4827@reddit

I meant it’s a myths that it’s just down to ‘now and then’. Social media has been horrendous for us, but I meant it’s not inevitable, you can avoid it by giving them a balanced life.

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Jebble@reddit

If course you can and generation B is looking to improve again because parents are changing their stance compared to Gen Z/A. But that isn't really the point. It is a now and then, the now has access and is being raised completely different, in a way that is proven to have a negative impact in their brain development specifically the part allowing them to critically think and focus.

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BalthazarOfTheOrions@reddit

I don't think it's especially different from mine, although very few people could match my attention span if I flick on the good ol' monotropism switch.

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smb3something@reddit

I've kept my kid off tiktok so far - only 7 - but absolutely will devour shit youtube content to no end. We removed youtube and all is well. Overall, the attention span is pretty flakey - but that's the ADHD coming from both parents I think.

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Jolly-Bandicoot7162@reddit

As a teacher of almost 30 years, I don't think it's a myth that many children's attention spans are worse than they used to be. Of course, correlation is not causation, although it has coincided with the rise of tablets and smartphones.

As parents, we have always limited electronics, even during covid they only got an hour of electronics per day and limited TV. They can both concentrate pretty well. Again, could be coincidence.

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Jebble@reddit

The causation has been proven though. There are plenty of studies clearly showing what effect screens have on a child's brain development.

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Jebble@reddit

Or is it a bit of a myth that Tiktok has rotted their brains and everything is the same as it ever was?

No. Please do not ignore the abundantly clear proof that screens are detrimental for a child's brain development.

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frontroomhog@reddit

I’m 49 and my eldest is 14. When I was his age I probably had a mega drive or some other games console I also read a lot but my main hobby was warhammer. But I used to hang out with my friend and play football all day during the holidays (where did I get the time?). He has no interest in TikTok or any social media at all. What he does do is play on his Xbox with his friends or his VR. He watches a lot of YouTube but not any streaming services. He’s just started getting into warhammer. I’d say his inputs are different than mine were but he’s all in on whatever he’s doing. And he will have a conversation. My youngest at 12 is quite high on the autistic spectrum and will totally devote all his attention to whatever grabs him at the time. Currently he is consuming everything on doctor who and specifically the darleks. If you want to know anything on any iteration of Godzilla at all he’s your go to man or even transformers. Again no interest in social media or TikTok. In summery (as I realise I’ve probably rambled a bit) no their attention span is not less than mine was at their age just focused into and around the technology available. I do have friends whose kids do nothing but scroll endlessly on their phones not even being able to watch a TikTok video to the end.

We do consider ourselves lucky.

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NutAli@reddit

I've never really been good at keeping atten....ooh, action on tv.

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NutAli@reddit

Oh, sorry, my kids think tiktok is rubbish.

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himit@reddit

Nah. But then, adhd runs in the family.

At ten I realised my daughter was used to having answers handed to her and avoided thinking for herself - so that was a fun battle to fight during 11+ prep. But we got through and at 12 she's now pretty quick on the mark.

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CrazyPlatypusLady@reddit

Good god no. My kid's is much better than mine was at their age. And my attention span is only ok now because I get to microdose amphetamine derivatives on prescription. Yay modern medical science.

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Eoin_McLove@reddit

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DazzzASTER@reddit

My kid is 6 so pre-TikTok but already has a much better attention span than I ever did.

I guess TikTok is strong but Turkey Twizzlers, Original Sunny D and copious TipTops were stronger.

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