In 1995, 14-year-old Carlie called it a wrap on movies.
While other teens lined up to see blockbuster hits like “Clueless” and “Jumanji,” an earlier movie outing to see a fantasy sci-fi flick called “Powder” sent Carlie off the ledge.
“It was just so cheesy,” Carlie, 45, a realtor from Carrollton, Virginia, told The Post. “I thought, ‘I’m done. I’m not watching movies anymore. Why am I watching people on TV live a life, and getting so invested in that, when I could just go live mine?’”
Since that day, she has eschewed TV and films forever — and when she became a mom herself, decided to extend that discipline to her children.
But unlike many parents who focus on limiting social media or smartphone use, Carlie takes it a step further for her two boys, ages 8 and 9: eliminating TV, streaming and video games almost entirely.
She didn’t want her kids to become another statistic. The average child watches a staggering 7½ hours daily on screen — especially as excessive screen use has been linked to poor sleep, weaker attention, and developmental delays.
So tablets and streaming apps are no-gos, and the single TV they own is outdated, rarely turned on, and cable-free — which, she admits, has occasionally kept her in the dark about impending hurricanes. (She’s since purchased a phone for work, which keeps her in the loop.)
While many kids unwind after school with YouTube or Netflix, Carlie’s kids play outside, practice their cooking skills, or help in the garden. But as the boys grow older and spend more time with friends, she confesses that her screen-free stance may inevitably start to shift.
“My kids see that everyone else has their own device,” she said. “I don’t know how to give them a little without it getting crazy.”
Jean M. Twenge, Ph.D., author of “10 Rules for Raising Kids in a High-Tech World,” told The Post that a no-screens strategy is a smart move — if you can maintain it.
“I do think it’s a great approach if you can pull it off,” she said. “No screens can be easy to enforce, but may be hard to pull off in the long run.”
“Kids may feel a little left out of certain conversations, but they tend to pick things up from their peers. It doesn’t end up being as big of a deal as parents worry.”
Still, Carlie’s introduced a “point system” for chores and behavior that lets the boys earn an hour of playtime on a Nintendo Switch. It’s something she grapples with, especially now that they’ve been pushing for more.
“I’m constantly questioning myself, ‘Am I doing the right thing?’” she said. “I feel like my kids are going to miss out on some opportunities, but I don’t want to push them.”
Carlie isn’t the only parent navigating no screens — though for some, the decision started for entirely different reasons.
Ashley M., 41, a PA-turned-stay-at-home mom in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, kicked tech to the curb in 2012. At the time, living without a TV was a way to save money while her husband, an orthopedic surgeon, was in residency, and they worked to pay off student loans.
“We realized that we didn’t actually need a TV,” Ashley shared with The Post. “For the most part, we just enjoyed spending time with each other or with friends.”
As the parents of two girls — ages 8 and 10 — they’ve stuck with a solid screen-free approach with the occasional family movie night on an iPad. Instead of tablets or TV, reading has become the hobby of choice.
“The girls wake up, and they read while eating breakfast,” she said. “I’m constantly loading up their Kindles and going to the library because they are such avid readers.”
Like any true millennial, Ashley also values the free-roaming days of the ‘90s — and having like-minded neighbors makes it happen. “The kids ride around the neighborhood and play, then come and check in at certain times,” she said.
As her daughters get older, though, Ashley said she’s had to loosen the reins in certain social settings, allowing them to watch their friends play games or scroll social media. “Does it make me cringe? 100%,” she adds. “But she has to grow and figure it out.”
It’s something that stay-at-home mom Abby T., 38, from Wakefield, VA, keeps in mind as she practices her own approach: no screens, no cable, and no Wi-Fi. While she owns a smartphone, she admits it’s only used for calls, brief Facebook check-ins, or the occasional live event.
“We are homeschooling, so we’ll watch historical stuff like presidential inaugurations,” she told The Post. “My daughter is obsessed with all things space, so we watched the Artemis II launch.”
Her three kids — ages 4 years, 3 years and 2 months — are allowed the occasional movie night on their old rabbit-ear TV, mainly for her two older tots. “I have a collection of Disney VHS tapes — the vintage ones, like ‘Robin Hood,’” she revealed.
In their small town, Abby said it’s easier to keep a uniquely simple life.
“We live on a little farm. We have a giant pond on our property and wood trails. Anyone who looks at us and thinks, ‘Oh, you’re depriving your kids by not letting them watch TV’ — just come to my house,” she laughed.
After breakfast and homeschool, her kids spend most of the day outside playing, exploring, or tending to animals. In cold or gloomy weather, the tech-free fun moves indoors, with coloring, imaginative play, and reading.
“My 3 and 4-year-olds played with Play-Doh for five hours straight,” she added, sounding slightly amazed. “Their attention spans and creativity are just so undamaged because we’ve raised them this way. It’s beautiful.”
This comes as no surprise to Twenge, noting that going screen-free can support attention span and face-to-face communication. “It can open kids up to spending their time in all kinds of creative ways,” she said.
The families agree the benefits are substantial, especially when it comes to reading — with all three confirming their little readers are ahead of the curve.
“We’re reading chapter books together. I will sit there for 30 to 45 minutes reading to them, and they both lay their heads back — you can see them visualizing the story,” Abby said fondly. “The reading has definitely been a benefit. My 4-year-old daughter is reading at a fourth-grade level.”
The reality, however, is that most families aren’t going to such screen-limiting extremes — and that’s okay, said Twenge.
“The middle ground is usually the best place to be,” she told The Post. “An hour or so a day isn’t going to have a big impact — but once it goes beyond that, you start to see more problems.”
Still, as worries grow around social media and obsessive screen use, these families offer a rare glimpse into what life can look like when screens aren’t running the show.
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