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Welcome to ANI In The Air Talk About Tuesday where I talk about something related to
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uh, subreddit schooling. So uh, this week's theme is
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something related to computers and so I thought I'd do uh, a standard talk
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on screen time. So uh, one of the
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common concerns of parents is of course, won't they just be on screens all day?
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Um, and of course our answer is well, they could be.
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Uh, but um, not necessarily and not in the way that you generally think.
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Um, when we see uh, students on screens
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it's usually a very social activity, a lot of motion, a lot of you know
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uh, communicating between each other and uh, interfacing
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with the computer in various ways. Um, it's really like the computer
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is just uh, one member of the friend group.
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Although I suppose it's one member for each friend in the friend group, but um, anyway.
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Uh, it's just an organic part of the group. It's not
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you know, it's not somebody who is, can't really handle
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their reality right now and is escaping into the computer and really shutting down. Although that
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also sounds valuable, although concerning if we were to see it here.
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But certainly uh, I would appreciate uh, you know someone
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who's in a very bad situation um, dealing with it by using the computer rather
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than you know, say drugs or even worse things. Um,
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so, but you know that's not what we see here. What we see here is our students
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understanding that um, you know computers are a part
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of life, of the culture, of what they're almost certainly going to need
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to have when they're uh, adults in some fashion
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or another. And so they are
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you know, playing around with them. Uh, the specific skills
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that they're gaining on the computer you know, may or may not
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translate into something that they will use in adult life, but it's
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a general notion. It's like how our students
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you know, when they're young they say like you know, absurd fantastical things
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which are not really relevant to adult conversation, but it is
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relevant to forming the ability to communicate your ideas
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and get it across. Um, it's uh, interacting with the computer is
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similarly like, is understanding how this device
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which is you know, uh, admittedly not something we evolved to understand. I mean we created
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it, so that's great. Um, but it is a distinct
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uh, thing. And
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um, so you know
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it's, it's, you know getting frustrated with computers and figuring it
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out and learning how these things work in some fashion, even if it's not
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directly. Um, it's that comfort level. It's
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the comfort level of being with, with other people. Um, you know
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it's, it's what's developed over time. That's what they're getting out of it.
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Um, and as I said, um, and to us when we see people using
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computers, it's almost always people who like, the computer lab is one of the dirtiest
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rooms in the school in normal years because
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you know, they're running out into the field and they're going full tilt and then they run right back
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in to the computers. You know, like they're, they're extremely
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active in that regard. And as, well, I mean, students of all ages
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are using YouTube to figure out a whole bunch of stuff. Um,
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but, um, you know, as they get older they can, uh,
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you know, figure out a whole bunch of other things using computers.
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Um, and so it really kind of fills in a gap of how do they acquire the knowledge.
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Um, and of course, you know, there are algorithms for like, you watch YouTube and then they might show you
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something else relevant to something else. And, you know, you kind of bop around even so it's not
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completely under your direction. And, you know, so you can learn various things
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there. And it's also a double edged sword in the sense that it can put you down a rabbit hole
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of, um, a particular point of view,
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um, which is not, you know, that well, substantiate it.
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Um, but you've just seen all this junk that the algorithm has glommed on to.
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And you might think that's a problem. But again, it's like, you know,
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they have this experience and then ideally they go and talk to some other people, uh, students,
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staff, parents, whomever. And, you know, those people might question things
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and then they're like, oh yeah. And then they realize what's going on. And so it's a way of
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building that resistance to accepting what's in front of them.
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Um, and figuring out how to, um, you know,
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be skeptical, really. Um, and that's one of the
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great features of our schooling is really how
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to be, um, skeptical.
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And the computer is often an important part of that process.
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Um, because it exposes to people all sorts of things,
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um, which one should be skeptical of. And so, and
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being part of a community, it's not just somebody in a room browsing things
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and being cut off from anyone else and just that's the reality. They are part of a community that
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they feel free to talk about and are accepted and debate and all sorts of craziness.
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And so, you know, the community is helping
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everyone here develop those great skills of skepticism.
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Um, I also have to say that, uh, computer games can be extremely
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frustrating and, and the desire to get through and succeed
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builds that confidence for how things are supposed to work. Um, and in
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rapid fire, it's a, it's a very, you know, uh,
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extreme iteration, um, process of trying
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and trying and trying and trying and, and really experiencing the,
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the ability, you know, to, to be frustrated with something and see when that works
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and see when being frustrated doesn't work. Right. And then like having the
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time and space to, to change emotional gears and
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seeing if that works. Right. So, you know, if all you got is a few minutes on
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some game you're really trying to do, that's not going to put you in some kind of comfortable zone, right? You're,
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you're going to be like, I got it done. I got it done. And, uh, uh, and then, you know,
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that doesn't work. But if you have plenty of time and space, maybe at first you go, I got it done.
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Oh, you know what? I got time. I can do this.
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I just breathe deeply. Maybe I'll go for a walk, play running mafia, whatever,
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and I come back and boom. And then things are easier, right? And then it's like,
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oh, that's how the brain and the body work, right?
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They, you know, that teasing between frustration and relaxation
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and, and what elements need to be in place at what times during
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this process of figuring stuff out and getting things done, right?
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So all that can happen in these computer games. That's what they're learning.
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They're also learning, of course, how to construct mental models of, of
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environments that aren't even in real life, right? Like they have
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to have this map of their world that they're exploring or doing or whatever. It's, it's,
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you know, so without having to actually go in the physical world all over the place, they get
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to have this wide ranging explorations and figure out how to put it all together, you know, in their
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head, which is fantastic and amazing. Um, then of course, you know,
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with our off campus policy, they can still go out into the world and figure that out and,
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and make some connections with that. Um, but of course we don't want them really
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exploring willy nilly out there. Um, you know, just cause.
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Um, but you know, it really sets the stage for
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all sorts of things. Um, and then there's like, uh, the actual act of
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communication, both trying to receive instructions from the computer about what this game is
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about. And then of course telling the computer in some fashion or another what they want. And of course there's also lots of
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texting going on in these, um, online games and whatever, communicating
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with those users, people they don't even see, figuring out how that works. Um, and then comparing
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it to, um, uh,
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comparing it to, uh,
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you know, communicating, uh, to the people around them in this wonderful community,
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um, you know, all these, all these things.
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Uh, and so, yeah, that's,
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that's really the strong pitch for, for screen time is just,
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there is so much, it's just another tool for learning the world about
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them and really learning about how to learn and how to communicate. Um,
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you know, and it may not look like communication on the adult level,
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um, it just really, you know, won't. Uh, but
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just as we see with our graduates, uh, those who've been with us for a long time and never
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done any kind of practice writing or whatever, they have been communicating their whole
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life in an intense, uh, communicative
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fashion with those around them, um, both formally in school meetings,
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JC, as well as informally with their friends and new people who are arriving and
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conflicts with, uh, who was ever around and talking to them and whatever, right?
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So they know how to communicate and then it's just learning about how to do it in writing, which
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admittedly there are some differences, but there aren't a lot. And so it's like if you
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know what you want to communicate and you can speak eloquently and you can generally figure out
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how to write eloquently, not a guarantee, but you know, pretty much that's what we see.
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Uh, and it doesn't really surprise me that we see that. Um, it delights me.
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It's always amazing to see it, but, um, you know, it makes sense. Um, people who
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who don't write well often, you know, they're, they're the, you
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know, their communication, uh, may not be that great either. Um,
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not always the case, but, um, you know, like, like, or,
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or they're just being asked to write about something that they don't care about or
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they haven't generally communicated about or whatever. Um, don't really want
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to diss people who can't write well, you know, but, um,
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uh, but you know, it really, it comes from this core of
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communicating, doing lots and lots of communications. Um, and that's
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communicating to other people as well as computers, modes of communications, all these
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things. They're all just flipping about back and forth. Now there is another issue with
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screen time, which I admittedly, I have not encountered yet, but I imagine at some point
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we will have this problem where parents might be like, I might get the
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wrong screen time. You know, maybe conventional school goes all howl sale on computers
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everywhere. Everybody's on a computer. You gotta have computer literacy by age seven. You know, you gotta be able to
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do this and the kid can't do that. Um, you know,
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and it's just like reading. It's just like writing, arithmetic, everything
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else, right? Like they're going to do it when they feel ready to do it, um,
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in the fashion. And, and to be honest, I, you know, uh, my daughter uses
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an iPad, um, pretty much exclusively. And you know, I kind of like, well,
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what about the keyboard and mouse and trackpad and stuff, which is, you know, what I
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grew up, I mean, I grew up with a keyboard, you know, we didn't have no like fancy mice or certainly no
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trackpads. Um, but, um,
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yeah, it was just like text, text, text, right? And so I'm like,
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oh, how can you go through life without a key? I mean, you know, I mean, she's fine. And she learned how to
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type on these devices and when she needs to, she types on a keyboard and she's fine.
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Um, you know, and I imagine there'll be some point when she's just typing along, you know, is it a few
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years or 10 years from now? I don't know whenever when she needs it. Right. Like that's the point.
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Like I am fully and 100% confident that whatever she needs, she can
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figure out when she's ready to figure it out. I really believe that. Um, and you know,
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I'm always available to help her if need be. So,
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yeah, um, that's screen time in a nutshell. Um, been a
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winding road. Um, but, you know, hopefully, hopefully this is a way to
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view for those who are skeptical about screen time being good for people,
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but not like mandating it. That'd be just as bad as trying to stop it.
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Wow. Um,
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so, uh, that is, uh, all I've got for
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screen time for now. And, uh, thanks for listening and I will see you when I see you.