Google CEO reveals the reason why he restricts his son’s screen time.
We've all heard the warnings about excessive screen time, particularly for younger people. Plenty of esearch shows it can negatively impact sleep quality, family relationships, and overall wellbeing.
The concern has become so widespread that some communities, like Toyoake in Japan, are introducing guidelines to encourage residents to limit device usage outside of work or school to just two hours per day. As such, many parents are equally concerned about children spending excessive time on screens.
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Interestingly, some of the world's top tech leaders share these concerns and apply strict rules in their own homes. For example, late Apple CEO Steve Jobs raised his children in a largely tech-free environment.
In the Jobs household, dinnertime was reportedly reserved exclusively for face-to-face conversation with his children, which meant no iPads or iPhones at the table.
Bill Gates took a similar stance. The Microsoft founder guarded against technology excess by establishing screen-free periods, not to mention that his children were not allowed to have their own phones until the age of 14.
Meanwhile, Shark Tank star Mark Cuban installed special routers in his house that allows him to monitor when his children are using the internet and automatically shut down all online activities when they exceed their screen-time limits.
Similarly, Google CEO Sundar Pichai has developed his own philosophy for managing his children's relationship with technology.
In an interview with the BBC, Pichai admitted he has ‘always been worried about technology’ when it comes to his children, while also recognising the reality of the digital environment they're growing up in.
Rather than imposing rigid limits like some of his tech industry peers, Pichai notices the importance of digital literacy and so tries to foster a sense of personal responsibility by encouraging them to develop their own boundaries.
That said, in a 2017 interview with the New York Times, Pichai revealed he made the television in his home difficult to access.
"At home, our television is not easily accessible, so that there is 'activation energy' before you can easily go watch TV," Pichai said. "I'm genuinely conflicted, because I see what my kids learn from all this."
Beyond monitoring his children's technology use, Pichai said he actively tries to reduce his own cellphone and computer usage which wouldn’t seem like an easy task for a CEO of one of the world's largest tech companies.
The tech leader admitted that his restrictions may stem from his very different childhood experience growing up in Chennai, India, where he had little phone access, no computer, and no television, according to Bloomberg.