SAFE BY DESIGN · EPISODE 21

The Screen-Time Argument

The rule itself was sensible. Arriving the way it did, on a hard afternoon with no warning, it sounded like something else entirely.

It was 4:40 on a Thursday. The print run was due at six, a client was on hold in Riya's home office, and from the next room came the sound of two children having a wonderful time: Arjun mid-level, Tara's music coming through the wall.

Riya muted the call, walked through, and said the sentence she had meant to say calmly for weeks. Just not like this.

“That's it. One hour a day, from now on.”

Then she picked up the tablet and switched on a daily limit, right there. Halfway through Arjun's level, the game stopped and the screen said Time's up for today.

Arjun stared at the screen, then at his mother. “What did I do?”

It was a fair question. And Riya, unmuting her call, didn't have a good answer.