As a tech savvy parent, we more than most people understand the risk of bad use of technologies on kids. Average people just hand the kid a tablet to keep them calm without actually supervising what they are doing. Not even considering the benefits of tech tools or games like Minecraft for creativity or imagination. Tech people are more aware of the risk of this kind of things...
And the advantages, I know parents who let their 16 year old child not use their smartphone for "normal things" a teenager does, still has parental control settings you'd maybe find on the phone of an eight year long… the worst thing you can do as a parent is to hand over an iPad to keep the child silent, the second worst thing is to never hand them an iPad/Phone/other electronic device until their like 14-15 years old. I even know 16 year Olds, who go to work, need a phone or Laptop to work (and before that school) and still don't have one cause of "religion", but basically, there a slave of their parents…
I'd let my feble child play literally any game from the gamecube/ps2 era before I even let them touch an ipad or live service game. If they do use the internet before they're old enough to read and write, it's gonna be on the family livingroom desktop with a keyboard and mouse, not a god damn touch screen.
@@Nomolso_Netinei_Djer My parents had planned to not let me have any electronics -- whether it be an iPod, DS, Xbox, etc. until I was at least a teenager. I guess fate had other plans, because I ended up winning an iPod touch from a raffle and from then on throughout the rest of my childhood I was allowed to use tech, and my parents finally realized it wasn't as bad as they were thinking. Because of what I learned using the devices I had and the curiosity I gained by using them, I now have a job in the tech industry that I'm really happy with. If I wouldn't have won that iPod, my life would probably be completely different right now. I seriously don't see why parents don't want to give their kids tech until they're in their teen years. I think it's just an excuse for being lazy and not wanting to mess with parental controls.
@@weegee_hates_the_blind i respect your decision but find two flaws, how are they going to know to use a keyboard if they cant read or write? lastly touchscreens are the most intuitive for anyone ever, toddlers included. I'm not hoping for an argument but instead that this can help inform your decision
@@frostbullet1188 watching their tiny fingers struggle to push the keys while trying to operate putt-putt will bring me far greater joy than they could ever dream of experiencing watching finger family subway surfer videos on a big iPad at my father’s funeral.
I installed a few of them and its been a while but most are trash. Kids will find a way around at some point. My best advice is supervision and limiting time. Keep their PC in a family area or other high visible location.
I had a similar(not to the same level but similar) wealth of things to do in my house growing up. So if I ever said "I'm bored" I got assigned chores, lol.
I was never bored as a kid, but as an adult with a lot more freedom of choice, having a flowchart like that is a great way to defeat decision paralysis.
I think he meant that he uses it himself to come up with ideas because it's hard to remember when suddenly asked, not that he hands them the document. Which is a great idea actually, I should make something similar for myself and stick it on my wall. The thing about kids is that they don't have the emotional intelligence yet to really understand what they are feeling. Often when they say "I'm bored" it is because they are craving a particular kind of stimulation. Maybe they are lonely, maybe they want physical activity, maybe they want something to watch, maybe they are just hungry, etc. So just handing them a list may not actually be very helpful.
This is something I struggle with too: having the means to give my kid everything I didn't have as a kid, but trying to instill in him the understanding that he's not "owed" these luxuries. That he's very privileged to have what he has, and we definitely crack down on his usage when he doesn't take care of his responsibilities. It's a work in progress 🙂
I think a good solution to this is to use goal based conditional freedom. That way, you teach them to manage their own time and energy, and also make luxuries feel "earned". But it's also important to empathize and try to understand the underlying causes and help them figure out their own system if they do have struggles instead of just taking things away or punishing them, or all you'll do is teach them to lie and hate themselves.
To me it doesn't matter if children get luxury stuff, as long as they are supervised and guided to be a responsible person i have no qualms. If your children get to expierence as much things as possible when growing up that creates happy memories and i think thats great. I think we can all feel a little envious of the children that gets the cool stuff but we as adults now have the means to give stuff that we couldn't get when growing up and i think thats a pretty noble cause. We all fear they might get spoiled but that risk could be mitigated with a good guidance and attentiveness.
Yes, I got all the consoles I wanted as a kid but I knew I wouldn’t get it again if I broke it so I took good care of them. I definitely had a lot so I was “spoiled” in that sense, but my parents still wanted me to be responsible
you are right . listen . I was a tech loving poor kid. All I have in my bones is the frustration and helplessness of using lowest budget tech and just dreaming about proper device. It would have been wonderful If I had good tech even for less time. I had this small android [ Also got very late ] , I remember I spent a month searching "How to increase the mobile ram". and I knew we can't do that. But I couldn't run anything on that phone , I was helpless. And another important thing : It is and unsaid myth among people that kids would prefer gadgets over anything else. Truth is "kids loves parents attention" and "Parents are impatient". So If parent become patient enough to spend time with children , answer their questions , play their little games , Kids will surely throw their phones to play or hangout with parents, all they want is joy. But parents never reach that level of understanding, they just hand them the mobile being impatient , and then get busy in their own work, then kids also creates their own world of excitement in these devices. And then tech is blamed for everything.
I think that isnt really that big of a deal. You are letting your kids have fun. Some people raise their children different. After finishing the video, I think that these are great restrictions and rules. Having a list of things they can do around the house is a great idea.
I feel like the piece that that person is missing is that to his kids doing computer stuff is helping dad with work and building memories with him, I think it's great that he spends a ton of time with his kids letting them explore and learn about technology
I would think somewhat tech savvy parents would be the ones watching LTT videos... parental controls shouldn't really need more explanation? 🤔the topics covered on LTT are well beyond simple parental control settings
@@Nighthunt01And those controls only work to a particular age. 13 years old can already go to internet café, buy some burner smartphone or even partition windows PC, add extra ssd with separate OS.
@@Nighthunt01I was thinking more DNS filtering maybe with a pihole and children unique subnets etc. Especially running your own stuff instead of paying for a subscription.
@@inventor226 oh i see. well that is not parental controls at all lol things like that would be a bit more advanced computer networking things, the sort of stuff you see in company settings with IT that has control of everything, going in and out the network
The way you answered that Screw question with your daughter was impressive. You answered it to the best of your ability in a non-condescending manner. Didn't dismiss or belittle her, like my father loved doing to me at multiple times in my life which just made me despise him and think less of him as a parent and a man. Both parents were terrible for that.
This is great. - I never doubted that they had a disciplined household, considering how principled Linux and Yvonne are. - I also really don't look at those kids and see spoiled brats, whenever they happen to be in a video. They seem well-behaved and quite intelligent for their age as well. - I think having those resources and options available can be very stimulating, and clearly they try to have them try everything, and that "I'm bored" rule is very clever. Cause THAT is what I would take issue with, if they have all that stuff available and they DARE to say "I'm bored!". THEN you would have kids that aren't in the right mindset. But they're trying to avoid that, so that's very good. - And also, I think we in the "first world" don't have any reason to "be bored", even without any computer-tech.
The 'I'm bored' document is kind of genius. When me and my siblings told our dad we were bored he'd put us to work in the yard or garage. We stopped telling him we were bored pretty quickly after that.
Linus is a smart guy, so I don’t think the actual parenting part is what I worry about. I worry more about the social aspect where his kids might have friends who exploit their relationship because his kids have access to stuff. Or when they get older, there could be people who resent his kids. This can lead to social anxiety. It’s the same thing with celebrity kids, except Linus’s kids, I would argue, might have a harder time due to them NOT being total brats. Of course I’m sure Linus already thinks about and maybe even talks to his kids about, but there really isn’t a solution to that one other than trial and error until you find good friends.
the restrictions and rules help there as well though. Even if friends come over I doubt a household with those kinds of rules is going to throw them out just because friends are over. Those kids are going to see the toys and tech sure, but they're also going to see the rules attached. And if they're used to unrestricted access to what they do have at home, the number of things isn't going to outweigh the restrictions.
Must I say, I never thought your kids are in any way spoiled, I also just want to state my personal experience. I haven't had any tech up to 11 yo, but then as soon as I got my first phone (samsung xcover3) my mum told me not to use it too much, i never had family link or anything else, as my mum knew I'd be able to disable it. She just really encouraged me to do other activities and meet with friends even enlisting me in Judo practice. She bought me a touch laptop for school but also told me that she'd never buy me a phone again and every fancy upgrade I wanted I had to buy with my own money. I really enjoyed it like that and now I'm 17, just bough a pixel 8 pro and I happily go run with friends or do sports every day. Thanks mom!
Yeah I remember the days I asked my parents "Would you like your wifi back on? I'd like my PC back" (programmed it so that if you disconnected my PC the wifi would shut down :D). Don't think a Linus Dad would have had a problem xD
i mean yea hes spoiling tf out of his kids compared to people without money BUT think about it like this...dont we want better for our kids? For them to HAVE what we couldnt growing up? That perspective makes it seem like hes a damn good father either way imo
Something worth noting is that you can be too restrictive with your kids, too. You want to teach them to manage their own time and energy instead of having everything controlled for them by you. Especially as they get older, it can be a good idea to transition more into conditional freedom based on more loosely defined goals - i.e. as long as they are getting their chores and schoolwork done, they can earn less restriction and not need to worry about the specific time period or when and how they do things. I say this not to be yet another judgy internet person but because my parents did something similar to me and it really fucked me over when I did have to go out on my own and manage my own life - not to mention the problems it caused with my ADHD leading to poor self esteem and depression. The other thing is that being too restrictive just teaches children how to lie, which I can certainly also attest to.
Maybe I'm misinterpreting the tone of this question, but I find it kinda unfortunate that parents who have attained a certain level of success have to constantly defend their ability to share that success with their children. Parenting is VERY personal, and I can completely understand why a parent who has access to resources his/her parents didn't have while growing up would absolutely want to go above an beyond to live vicariously through their children by giving them the things they wish they had access to while growing up. I don't believe the "quality" of resources available to one's children are as important as our willingness as parents to ensure that we try to raise our children in a balanced manner
That's the first I've heard of a time trading scheme, and it sounds genius. I'm not sure I would have liked it as a teenager because, TBH, no restrictions would have been appealing. But if established early on, with possible negotiations on ratio and activities, that sounds like a great way to make it feel fair, give the child a reason to look forward to the other activities, and give them agency in their enjoyment. The "I'm bored" document is also a great one - my parents did something similar, though they also included helping with housework and maintenance.
It's awesome if the children are compatible with it. Cuz I can imagine myself just refusing to do anything at all, even stuff that I am supposed to do, if rules like that were just forced upon me, since I inherited unreasonable stubbornness that both my parents possess, and I was not afraid to use it against them, lol. I always required my parents to explain everything they asked of me (and everything in general, I was extremely curious), and it would've been really difficult to explain why I should accept those conditions. Man, I am afraid of what my children will be like.
For teenagers, especially older ones, the time management is redundant. By then theyve got to study and also have learnt proper time management themselves.
There is a difference between a) spoiling your kids and b) providing your kids with everything they need to enjoy childhood as much as they can Yeah, it’s a thin line, but it’s important to know where you are at as a parent. I think most adults with unnecessarily expensive and time consuming hobbies justify it by saying, “Well, I just want to enjoy what I couldn’t have as a child now that I have money.” Let your kids enjoy their childhood and have toys so that when they become adults they will want to spend their money wisely (saving, investments, etc).
As a kid, my parents never really restricted the amount of time I could play games on our computer or console. To be fair, I was a quiet and well-behaved kid, and my dad tried to take part as much as possible. We'd play lots of Gran Turismo, Need for Speed 2, and so on. Always a great time and I also got to spend time with dad talking about cars and computers. I think it depends on the kid whether it makes sense to restrict their time with tech, and there's lots of parents that don't really spend time with their kids enough to know them as a person, so they either just restrict everything or nothing at all. Overall, my dad didn't "tell" me to do things, he kind of just asked, and I'd do as he asked bc he treated me like a person and was willing to compromise when we didn't agree. Ofc that might not work with other kids, but I appreciated the respect and didn't want to let him down.
Could this be made into a short series to help educate parents these restriction systems exist and how to use them effectively and what drawbacks they have…
When I was growing up my family was really poor, for a year we even had to live in a heavily discounted B&B instead of a house (6 people in a 3 person setup is generally not good), but my parents managed to give us enough entertainment that I had no idea. When it was revealed to me over a decade later it turned out we were always behind on console generations, had barely any new games (I hate that digital may kill the pre-owned games market at some point), and often got stuff for free from friends of the family. That's when I started looking into dates and realised most of my favourite things back then were already like 7-10 years old when we got them, but it didn't matter because as a kid it was all new to me and did exactly what they were supposed to do since launch; entertain.
Why is this any of our business? Linus can parent any way he wants. Whether he lets them play games all day or not, I don't feel like my opinion is valid. I don't have an opinion on that, but even if I did, it's still not my business how another man parents his children.
I feel like people really oversell spoiling kids. Like sure is it a problem if kids grow up entitled and carless with money? Sure but there is time to figure that shit out. I think people often carry the trauma of growing up without much and decide their kids must be inflicted with the same trauma. It can actually be pretty positive to grow up having stuff, being able to explore different hobbies that weren't available to their parents being able to try new things. Sure you should try to avoid buying dumb shit but I think people really overestimate the dangers of spoiling a kid.
I'd love to see a full video on tech and parenting, especially since I'm guessing much of the LTT viewership nowadays are late 20s-early 30s parents with small children (or will shortly become parents). My little one will be turning four soon, she does have "her" own iPad but it's currently locked down to UA-cam Kids, which in turn is locked down to Bluey, Paw Patrol and a couple other shows, and that too for half an hour a day. Some coverage of parental controls would help, as would ideas for age-appropriate apps and games that aren't excessively addictive or microtransaction-laced Skinner boxes. Also teaching advanced computing skills instead of just passive consumption; I'd like to get a Raspberry Pi when she's about five and starting school but not yet sure what to do or teach with it.
00:02 Linus is accused of spoiling his kids with excessive gaming setups. 01:00 Linus gives his kids limited access to technology. 02:05 Linus uses parental controls and restrictions to manage his kids' access to computers and gaming. 03:10 Parents have different rules regarding their kids playing certain types of games. 04:07 Being spoiled is not something anyone wants for their kids 05:06 Linus provides his kids with a variety of activities to combat boredom. 06:08 Limiting video games and encouraging other activities 07:08 Using Family Link to set limits on app usage and screen time.
I remember when my dad randomly bought me Halo Combat Evolved when I was 7. The flood was terrifying to fight lol. I've never had restrictions, I could basically play whenever I liked. I played with my computer for hours on a daily basis. Perhaps it wasn't an issue for them since I also played soccer with my friends for hours on a daily basis. Days went kinda like this: Wake up at 6:30 School from 8:30 to 14:30 Played outside (mostly soccer) from 14:30 to 18:00 Played video games from 18:00 to 23:00
The irony being that the pathway i took into programming, also therefore tech savy... i think id have to have deep consideration about the balance between restrictions and parental controls after age 15... safety is important, but i moved into programming because of the time i spent modding games on PC and playing on the internet... wasting time on things like Encarta (for those who remember that). i have no idea what kind of career i would have chosen without those experiences, but also wouldnt want to funnel my kids in that direction with that attittude.
Stop worrying about what he does with HIS kids. NOBODY should have to explain themselves on the relationship with their own kids. My response would be "You mad bro?" Respect to Linus for handling it the way he did
And I don't think a kid with a top tier PC will be any more spoiled than kids with low end PCs. In the end, they can do the same thing. The only difference is that the better PC will play more demanding games or have higher resolution/higher frame rates in esports games.
When I was growing up, Star Trek night was family night. This was through the 90's to the early 2000's, Next Gen through Voyager. That also happened to be the only night that kids were allowed to eat in the living room. Not really related, but this reminded me of it.
With my cousins and my brother's kids. We only allowed them limited time too. and only after 12 noon, but they had to eat lunch first which was only allowed at 12 noon not earlier (believe me they have tried to get around that). Morning time was outside time. Time to use any electronics, was usually an hour during the week (after homework was done), 2 hours on weekends, when they were younger. The only exception was when it rained. then they were given more time and could be on earlier.
I think the problem here is - limiting what your kids do and how long they can do something limits how engaged they can be in an area. I'm not sure if Linus wants this for his kids, but if I had the same sort of parental controls as Linus has on his kids I would not be here as a tech enthusiast. Not to say it isn't healthy to limit screen time, it definitely is, but it's an interesting trade off
When it comes to tech and such my mother was pretty hands off, worked out for me, but definitely something you have to think about, especially nowadays with social media and the state of the internet. The first phone I got was in first grade, but it was a hand-me-down from my mother and was what we would now call a dumbphone. Mostly for if I ever needed to reach her for whatever reason if I was out and about, or emergency services.
The real thing is how you raise your kids, not what they have access to. You can spoil a kid with zero high tech gaming if you simple let them do whatever they want with no limits and no discipline. Conversely you can raise a kid very well with or without access to that stuff.
I think the most brutal method is only letting your kids have free physical access to a Thin Client like a Wyse Terminal which is useless without the locked server.
tbh, despite having all the tech, getting time to game is something they have to work for. so already they've got a mindset of "i cant just get what i want, i have to work for it"
I love the idea of the "I'm bored" doc but it's also good to teach them to be okay with being bored. Still you can tell how much care and thought Linus has put into his parenting and i wish we could see a bit more. I agree with a few other posters saying a video or videos about parenting with technology would be amazing.
That's a dumb take, because it doesn't work. You can't teach a person that it's okay to be bored. Because it's not. If you are bored - go and find a way to not be. If you don't offer a child a way to not be bored, they will find it eventually, you just might not like it. And if the cause of your take is "you'll have to learn to cope with being bored when you are at work", then it's just sad.
As someone who grew up in poverty, I would do the exact same. Give my children the best of the best, but like Linus, I agree with having them earn it and monitoring the time they have access to it. Also even in the small glimpses that we get into their private life, you can see how well behave and educated their kids are. Unfortunately in the vast sea that is UA-camr families, its easier to see and identify bratty behavior in kids.
Also what does it matter if a child has access to a super computer if they only still access to the same content Time and the content is the problem (and Linus takes good care of those)
i must admit, my kid gets access to more than most, he is 8 today, he has my old gaming pc (1080TI + 8700k) he has a Switch, he has access to my ps5/Xbox, I bought a extra pc of used parts, when he has friends over, because not all here has a pc and they do like to game together... so that is an old 2070S with a 4790k (GPU scrapped by my brother) he also has an older IPAD he got when he was at hospital. so yes.. but i evaluate it fluently, i do not SET times.. he can loose access if he does something out of order, but he has school and Sports every day in the week, from 8-18 he also does a LOT of social stuff, he cleans up after himself, he is VERY good at what he does. So that earns him access, he also does coding pirates, and i see that the pc is mostly used for actual "learning" he plays in Unity right now.. i do not want to "break" his motivation, or ruin his way of learning. he does 3 languages, Danish, English and a fair amount of Ukraine (we had a lot of immigrants in school during the worst parts of the war)... the thing i work a LOT on is that he has to learn that he just do not get everything he wants, so he also pays for a lot of these things, like 1/2... i did not want him to get a phone, i know MOST has in his school, iphone 14-15´s but i did agree with him, if he could save for HALF by doing in house chores he could get one, and he DID so he got a Iphone SE..
one thing I would teach my kids if I have them is that its ok to make mistakes not serious ones but one where you will learn from and become a better person.
Atleast Linus knows how the digital world works, how no navigate in it and what the limits, dangers and basically everything is. Most parents don't even know half of what they should know. Maybe they have more access then most, but like he mentioned himself, he does have quite strict rules. Most problems with tech and kids I've seen (as a pedogical worker), is mostly due to utter dumb parents and their lack of knowledge. One big ++ I wanna give linus (and his wife) is the extend till which they engage with their children. Most problems for children develop cause of lack of attention and authoritarian parenting, which they seem to not have at all. Try getting your kids to read, having the problem "Can't find F in my list" is a problem 95% (from personal experience) of parents won't ever be able to say.
I think part of the issue is that we haven't seen Linus' kids properly in a while. In my head the oldest is still 5 years old, even though I know that is objectively not true and as far as I rememer the oldest is not too much younger than the channel itself . I get Linus not wanting to show his kids too much and they have school during work time, etc. Just something to take into account of why it might seem that way. On the whole linus seems to do a great job of satisfying his "big kid" wants but reining his children in and making them good people; i.e. whenever we see them they're always so polite and their manners are impecable.
I think the thing with the tech kids get is that it can be an incredible tool, if they play minecraft and then learn to code so they can make their own minecraft mods or plugins that's a huge win for that kid's life, but people tend to be very... envious of other people so they assume the worst is going on, if you think your kid's tech time is a good use of their time then empower them with as much tech stuff as you can, if you don't think it is then set up parental controls and limit their access to tech but not every single kid is the same.
It's weird since when I grew up there wasn't tech and games that were through the moon. I mean most of us remember when minecraft came out or the geometry dash craze at schools or what have you but I didn't start really playing games until my teens and wasn't limited. Thus I learned self control, self restrait, how to balance my life, what addiction can do to you and I became better at self control due to that. I think it is a major downside that linus controls his kids because self control is such an important skill that can carry you through life
Just to notice, because my mother was more a reward type of parenting, sometimes it didn't work, because when I was uninterested or unmotivated, specially when I was a teenager, so keep a backup plan if any of your kids starts to reflect that kind of behaviour that rewards stop working, sorry for not having a plan B, my mother didn't know how to deal with me, I just eventually did the change by myself when I turned 19/20
Kinda glad I was raised without technology at my fingertips. My first computer was a Pentium IIII machine I dug out of my grandfathers basement. I learned WAY more about computers than I ever would with everything available to me from the start.
Gonna be interesting to potentially see what happens when Linus' and Yvonne's kids become teenagers and the rebellion starts. Guarantee they're going to start looking for workarounds to rules and while Linus has a collosal headstart in knowledge, teens have a lot of free time on their hands, along with a hormonal desperation to get what they want.
I also had a time limit on computer time. Too bad for my father, that he decided to teach me computer stuff, starting at age 5, so I kept circumventing all his efforts to get me to spend less time playing games.
People that say: “I would only get my kid this at this age and this at that age” or whatever and “you are spoiling them” Like go take a hike, good for you you have your own opinions for your child… let other parents parent their own kids.
There's a whole lot more behind parenting than just the physical possessions kids may have. It's easy to see all of that from an outside perspective and think they can use all of it whenever they like, making assumptions on the approach for gaming time etc but it's not like that in all cases. I barely had anything growing up, yet I was able to game as much as I liked, which caused huge issues with my education until I forced myself to work hard. You may see kids with luxury items and cutting edge tech, but those same kids might be studying more than they play, even at Christmas or on holidays.
@Linus - I mean this as a positive thing, but when my kids come to me and say "I'm bored", most of the time what they actually mean is that they want my attention, whether they realize it or not. Sometimes they just want to watch what I'm doing to be with me. A lot of "I'm bored' situations turned into bonding moments over a youtube video or whatever I happen to be doing.
What Linus said about how he raises his children when it comes to his children and tech reminds me of how I was raised with having an Audio Technician and used to be a pro guitar player for a father and how if the house wasn't full of high-end instruments it was full of high-end headphones and other home audio equipment to the point where the equalizer to my stereo in my bedroom as a child was set to absolute clarity that it affected how I notice things later on. I agree that Linus isn't spoiling his kids, but directing some of them out of being into something that is not tech-based because of how much tech he brings at home. Though, I wonder if his wife has a 50/50 or more say at home with how much tech they raise them around?
I think the best thing you can do for your kids is limit video games, but allow them to play if theyre using video games to be a potential career. My dad did this a lot for me he gave me a computer to play minecraft and PC games during freshman year of high school. I used that computer to play games but I mostly used it to make game servers for Minecraft, Arma, and Dayz for my friends and I to play on. This taught me so much about Linux, coding the restart scripts in C#, bash and python. It taught me how servers work and how to set them up in my house. I think limiting game time is definitely good, and I dont plan on giving my kids a tablet or even a phone till 7th grade at least. I think technology can be really good but also terrible for a lot of young kids. You just need to really limit it.
You don't intend to be able to contact your child? That is weird. Technology isn't good or bad, and limits aren't necessary for everyone. Cuz my parents realized quite quickly that if I spend all my time at home playing video games instead of doing whatever on the streets, it's really better this way, because at least I'm not drinking, smoking or doing drugs when I'm home, and I'm with my friends either way. Considering that I was also making decent money off of video games since I was 14 or so, it worked out quite well, and my current income is based on video games and connections I got through playing video games online.
Duolingo properly used is very educational :) It has really helped me learn the basis of Swedish, although you have to do a lot and complent it with extra taking notes
I was allowed to have a PC. The only requirement was that I had to learn about PCs, spec, and build my own PC. Glad I was required to do that because it sparked my interest in PCs.
Yep i know what i use to do with my computer as a teenager with slow internet i can only imagine what my kids will do because we have gig internet and everything possible.
Linus being able to give more also means he is able to limit more, he didn't just get a lot of tech stuff out of luck, he worked for it and knows about it, which also means he knows how to control his children using that technology
Not directed at Linus or his family. The one thing I think should be unrestricted to some degree is anythijg like programming or craft like that which requires extensive online learning and time invested. But balance is key etc etc.
we got 25 screens in a 5 person housholde more like 45 if u count unused stuff (realy unused not just once a year or smt but not in the past 10 years or since it became redundant/broken)
I feel bad for any kid that never grew up with gaming on potato Wi-Fi and learning how something’s you can’t fix or help but there’s something else you can do or fix to indirectly solve the problem.
I think parents often overlook their kids' hobbies and aren't willing to spend the same amount of money they spend on technology. Like for example if your kid loves cars why not buy them wood and some wheels and let them make a go-kart, it's like sledding but in the summer. If your child likes horses, why not sign them up for horse riding. If they love arts and crafts, like any kid, why don't their parents give them tons of cardboard and hot glue. There is also the problem of parents not being willing to help out and maybe do some arts and crafts with their kids.
Video Idea: How about a Video about how to parent technology to kids. You could make a discussion video with professional educators and child psychyatrist. Interview different Staffmembers about their methods and rules.
At least we never have to worry about the IT team at their future jobs wanting to yell at them for being technologically incompetent. Regardless of their future careers, Linus kids will probably be more savvy than most tier 1/2 helpdesk they will interact with when older. Also, I find it hilarious that Linus can't clean/organize his house until he has time to make it a video. Thought stepping down was supposed to improve work/life balance and focus on more enjoyable parts of managing LMG? But now he can't even clean the house without monetizing it and getting help from his staff!
It still surprises me the audacity sometimes people have. Basically "it really isn't my place to say BUT I think that..." Parenting is personal and of course it is something that he wouldn't want public but with so minimal information people still feel the need to comment on it as if he was their best friend and just ofering "advice". Then their plan was to start giving consoles since about 5yo, then a laptop and eventually maybe a PC? it's basically the same thing, the complexity of the device won't matter what kind of development children have, I would have assumed the argument was going to be about videogames too early. And of course as Linus said, why assume that they are allowed to play on them all day? Just being able to see that kind of tecnology would be cool to me.
Non-tech savvy people giving their children tech are more likely to be spoiled than tech savvy parents. Growing up with non-tech savvy parents, with me as the tech savvy guardian to a young sibling, regulation is always key. It's really dangerous to kids having unregulated access to internet sites such as youtube and store apps on mobile devices, that can affect a child's communication capabilities and mental growth, luckily I am always there to regulate my siblings gadget time when my parents give them unregulated access
Depends at what age/how developed the child in question is. I was given unrestricted access to the Internet at like 10, and I never had any issues with it. And before that, the only restriction was time, not what I could do.
My kid isnt old enough for devices yet, but our plan is supervised use only, then I'll get him a non internet connected PC in my office so he can only play retro games and such. But for physical toys the world is his oyster. I have 10+ years of colleting RC cars that he can play with and a large park behind the house.
I can relate. My kids have all the tech. But they are the most restricted of them all. Most of the other kids, the parents have no control. But we, the tech savy parents have so mutch better control than the rest of the bunch. I bet Linus kids are gaming less than most friends they have.
I was around 15 when i start brootfircing passwords, go around websiterestriction on a windowslevel (father was stupid wnough to leav me on a admin acount) or gaining admin and if he didnt't realise then that im more tech savige than him and restrictet me further i woul'd probebly have flashed a recoverysystem via boot manager and wipe the hole system. Do you think your kids cou'ld doo the same kn the future?
I have a tech savvy father, he used to set a bunch of parental controls and restrictions. Of course as his son I will find every loop holes and exploits in the system. And he never punished me for finding exploits, instead he will patch or find another way around to set up restrictions and it became a battle of some sort😂 Fun times
Linus' status as a UA-cam person is not license to talk about his kids! The only time it's OK to talk about media people's kids is if they're in the media, and then only on a very limited basis. Kids are off-limits. Linus is wealthy and earned that wealth working with consumer technology. It's going to abundant in his house. That's not avoidable. The "toys" in his house are his work. I was at Google for 12+ years and my colleague's houses and mine were filled with our tech. I can say with certainty and a wide sample base that having a large number of screens in a house says nothing about how much non-school screen time kids are allowed. Kids are not "spoiled" by abundance and there's no data that says they are. They're spoiled when they aren't given boundaries, when they aren't taught that other people's needs and boundaries are as important as their own, that accomplishment matters and takes effort, and that their good fortune is an accident of birth, and that those less fortunate don't deserve less. If you want to complain that this abundance isn't available to everyone, that's legitimate. It sucks that there's so much inequality. But there's no evidence Linus' wealth or consumption is at resource hoarding levels.
Specific methods aside, being actively involved and aware of how your kids interact with technology already makes you better than 90% of parents out there. Most parents don't give a shit or don't realize how important it is to be aware of what your kids are doing online. You don't have to be a full blown helicopter parent, but you can't just let them go free range.
Lol I don't think he needs to explain raising his kids to anyone but his family. That's his business...but I guess he doesn't do videos with them, so there is that part. I know I wouldn't just for this reason.
Gracious of Linus to answer, when all he needed to say was, "none of your business". Yes, I'm happy for him and his kids that he seems to have figured out a system that balances work vs. play, but it's not a family-blogging channel, it's a tech channel. Honestly, I'd give it a pass if it was a "how do you do this" question, not a "you should do it this way" statement. Like, cool your parasocial jets, man.
To that Redditor (or wherever it was posted) I think its also important to acknowledge: I don't think the privilege Linus' kids have in accessing all of this is lost on Linus in any way. He knows he's in a fortunate position to provide his children with these computers and their cool techy house, and it sounds like here he does a good job of "policing" how they use it. Its real easy for people with a more normal level of wealth to look at these videos and say "spoiled kids with a rich dad" but that is clearly not the energy that Linus portrays or promotes. Also, the most important thing regardless is they are his kids and his things that he works hard to provide for them, he can do what he wants lol
It baffles me sometimes when people see parents buy their kids a whole bunch of stuff, especially text savvy parents, without understanding or knowing how parents manage the devices. Just because a kid has a device doesn't mean that they use it, especially if parents have set up parental controls and other systems to manage the time on the device. Yes there are parents that just let their kids do whatever they want, but Linus doesn't seem like the type of parent to let his kids do whatever they please, even though he seems like a fun dad.
I was also allowed to do this but my parents hated high end components and are always giving me the shame gossip everytime I get a gadget thats benefits my academic or their preffered "image". Should I leave them once I get a stacked cash or just offer the money I "robbed opporunity" to my sister who my parents intend to give the components for?
I don't think a child is going to notice the difference between playing Minecraft on an rtx4090 vs their school laptop.. Kids being spoiled isn't just allowing them to have nice things it's replacing good parenting with buying them whatever they want to keep them happy
We dont see their family dynamic or process. Yes they have a super tech home but that was their dream and they earned it. It seems from this they are being great parents!
This reminds me of a short vid I saw recently where a professional fixer for spoilt children says most of the time by the time he is called it is too late. Call him sooner.
Honestly, Linus, you should really make a series about parenting in the new world, as really anyone who isnt tech savy wont properly raise their children with the net
As a tech savvy parent, we more than most people understand the risk of bad use of technologies on kids. Average people just hand the kid a tablet to keep them calm without actually supervising what they are doing. Not even considering the benefits of tech tools or games like Minecraft for creativity or imagination. Tech people are more aware of the risk of this kind of things...
And the advantages, I know parents who let their 16 year old child not use their smartphone for "normal things" a teenager does, still has parental control settings you'd maybe find on the phone of an eight year long… the worst thing you can do as a parent is to hand over an iPad to keep the child silent, the second worst thing is to never hand them an iPad/Phone/other electronic device until their like 14-15 years old. I even know 16 year Olds, who go to work, need a phone or Laptop to work (and before that school) and still don't have one cause of "religion", but basically, there a slave of their parents…
I'd let my feble child play literally any game from the gamecube/ps2 era before I even let them touch an ipad or live service game. If they do use the internet before they're old enough to read and write, it's gonna be on the family livingroom desktop with a keyboard and mouse, not a god damn touch screen.
@@Nomolso_Netinei_Djer My parents had planned to not let me have any electronics -- whether it be an iPod, DS, Xbox, etc. until I was at least a teenager. I guess fate had other plans, because I ended up winning an iPod touch from a raffle and from then on throughout the rest of my childhood I was allowed to use tech, and my parents finally realized it wasn't as bad as they were thinking. Because of what I learned using the devices I had and the curiosity I gained by using them, I now have a job in the tech industry that I'm really happy with. If I wouldn't have won that iPod, my life would probably be completely different right now. I seriously don't see why parents don't want to give their kids tech until they're in their teen years. I think it's just an excuse for being lazy and not wanting to mess with parental controls.
@@weegee_hates_the_blind i respect your decision but find two flaws, how are they going to know to use a keyboard if they cant read or write? lastly touchscreens are the most intuitive for anyone ever, toddlers included. I'm not hoping for an argument but instead that this can help inform your decision
@@frostbullet1188 watching their tiny fingers struggle to push the keys while trying to operate putt-putt will bring me far greater joy than they could ever dream of experiencing watching finger family subway surfer videos on a big iPad at my father’s funeral.
As a parent, I would be love to see a video about setting up parental controls and Internet filters for my home.
I installed a few of them and its been a while but most are trash. Kids will find a way around at some point. My best advice is supervision and limiting time. Keep their PC in a family area or other high visible location.
Hell as a non-parent who may one day have kids, I'd love to see that. Would be an invaluable resource.
Yes please! My Kids are only 3 but man am I worried about the big bad interwebs.
@@drink15Especially tech savvy ones like Linus' kids might become.
Lol all the OG UA-cam watchers are now parents probably.
I cant imagine walking up to my dad when I was younger, saying I'm bored and then him handing me a link to a work doc hahah
I had a similar(not to the same level but similar) wealth of things to do in my house growing up.
So if I ever said "I'm bored" I got assigned chores, lol.
I was never bored as a kid, but as an adult with a lot more freedom of choice, having a flowchart like that is a great way to defeat decision paralysis.
I think he meant that he uses it himself to come up with ideas because it's hard to remember when suddenly asked, not that he hands them the document.
Which is a great idea actually, I should make something similar for myself and stick it on my wall.
The thing about kids is that they don't have the emotional intelligence yet to really understand what they are feeling. Often when they say "I'm bored" it is because they are craving a particular kind of stimulation. Maybe they are lonely, maybe they want physical activity, maybe they want something to watch, maybe they are just hungry, etc. So just handing them a list may not actually be very helpful.
This is something I struggle with too: having the means to give my kid everything I didn't have as a kid, but trying to instill in him the understanding that he's not "owed" these luxuries. That he's very privileged to have what he has, and we definitely crack down on his usage when he doesn't take care of his responsibilities. It's a work in progress 🙂
I think a good solution to this is to use goal based conditional freedom. That way, you teach them to manage their own time and energy, and also make luxuries feel "earned".
But it's also important to empathize and try to understand the underlying causes and help them figure out their own system if they do have struggles instead of just taking things away or punishing them, or all you'll do is teach them to lie and hate themselves.
To me it doesn't matter if children get luxury stuff, as long as they are supervised and guided to be a responsible person i have no qualms. If your children get to expierence as much things as possible when growing up that creates happy memories and i think thats great. I think we can all feel a little envious of the children that gets the cool stuff but we as adults now have the means to give stuff that we couldn't get when growing up and i think thats a pretty noble cause. We all fear they might get spoiled but that risk could be mitigated with a good guidance and attentiveness.
Yes, I got all the consoles I wanted as a kid but I knew I wouldn’t get it again if I broke it so I took good care of them. I definitely had a lot so I was “spoiled” in that sense, but my parents still wanted me to be responsible
you are right . listen . I was a tech loving poor kid. All I have in my bones is the frustration and helplessness of using lowest budget tech and just dreaming about proper device. It would have been wonderful If I had good tech even for less time.
I had this small android [ Also got very late ] , I remember I spent a month searching "How to increase the mobile ram".
and I knew we can't do that. But I couldn't run anything on that phone , I was helpless.
And another important thing :
It is and unsaid myth among people that kids would prefer gadgets over anything else. Truth is "kids loves parents attention" and "Parents are impatient". So If parent become patient enough to spend time with children , answer their questions , play their little games , Kids will surely throw their phones to play or hangout with parents, all they want is joy. But parents never reach that level of understanding, they just hand them the mobile being impatient , and then get busy in their own work, then kids also creates their own world of excitement in these devices. And then tech is blamed for everything.
I think that isnt really that big of a deal. You are letting your kids have fun. Some people raise their children different.
After finishing the video, I think that these are great restrictions and rules. Having a list of things they can do around the house is a great idea.
I feel like the piece that that person is missing is that to his kids doing computer stuff is helping dad with work and building memories with him, I think it's great that he spends a ton of time with his kids letting them explore and learn about technology
Could you do a video on how your parental controls work? I am sure lots of parents, myself included, would be interested.
I would think somewhat tech savvy parents would be the ones watching LTT videos... parental controls shouldn't really need more explanation? 🤔the topics covered on LTT are well beyond simple parental control settings
@@Nighthunt01And those controls only work to a particular age. 13 years old can already go to internet café, buy some burner smartphone or even partition windows PC, add extra ssd with separate OS.
@@ligametis oh yeah i know it. when i was a teen i knew way more about tech and what i can do with it than my family lol
@@Nighthunt01I was thinking more DNS filtering maybe with a pihole and children unique subnets etc. Especially running your own stuff instead of paying for a subscription.
@@inventor226 oh i see. well that is not parental controls at all lol
things like that would be a bit more advanced computer networking things, the sort of stuff you see in company settings with IT that has control of everything, going in and out the network
I think a "parental tools" dedicated video would be pretty interesting
The way you answered that Screw question with your daughter was impressive. You answered it to the best of your ability in a non-condescending manner. Didn't dismiss or belittle her, like my father loved doing to me at multiple times in my life which just made me despise him and think less of him as a parent and a man. Both parents were terrible for that.
This is great. - I never doubted that they had a disciplined household, considering how principled Linux and Yvonne are. - I also really don't look at those kids and see spoiled brats, whenever they happen to be in a video. They seem well-behaved and quite intelligent for their age as well. - I think having those resources and options available can be very stimulating, and clearly they try to have them try everything, and that "I'm bored" rule is very clever. Cause THAT is what I would take issue with, if they have all that stuff available and they DARE to say "I'm bored!". THEN you would have kids that aren't in the right mindset. But they're trying to avoid that, so that's very good. - And also, I think we in the "first world" don't have any reason to "be bored", even without any computer-tech.
The 'I'm bored' document is kind of genius. When me and my siblings told our dad we were bored he'd put us to work in the yard or garage. We stopped telling him we were bored pretty quickly after that.
0:39 thats still a lot…
an xbox or plasttion in 1st and a laptop in 4th are a f*cking lot
Linus is a smart guy, so I don’t think the actual parenting part is what I worry about. I worry more about the social aspect where his kids might have friends who exploit their relationship because his kids have access to stuff. Or when they get older, there could be people who resent his kids. This can lead to social anxiety. It’s the same thing with celebrity kids, except Linus’s kids, I would argue, might have a harder time due to them NOT being total brats. Of course I’m sure Linus already thinks about and maybe even talks to his kids about, but there really isn’t a solution to that one other than trial and error until you find good friends.
the restrictions and rules help there as well though. Even if friends come over I doubt a household with those kinds of rules is going to throw them out just because friends are over. Those kids are going to see the toys and tech sure, but they're also going to see the rules attached. And if they're used to unrestricted access to what they do have at home, the number of things isn't going to outweigh the restrictions.
That 'exploitation' happens regardless of wealth.
Must I say, I never thought your kids are in any way spoiled, I also just want to state my personal experience. I haven't had any tech up to 11 yo, but then as soon as I got my first phone (samsung xcover3) my mum told me not to use it too much, i never had family link or anything else, as my mum knew I'd be able to disable it. She just really encouraged me to do other activities and meet with friends even enlisting me in Judo practice. She bought me a touch laptop for school but also told me that she'd never buy me a phone again and every fancy upgrade I wanted I had to buy with my own money. I really enjoyed it like that and now I'm 17, just bough a pixel 8 pro and I happily go run with friends or do sports every day. Thanks mom!
Because Linus is so tech Savey it just means that when his kids get into their rebellious phase he can properly take away their technology
Or drop it. that work most of the time
@@mr.z7928Idk why but I just imagined a version of Bop It named "Drop It"
@jjohnn9195chill lol he was making a joke about how Linus drops everything
His kids are going to rebel by becoming luddites and getting after-school jobs at the local potato farm.
Yeah I remember the days I asked my parents "Would you like your wifi back on? I'd like my PC back" (programmed it so that if you disconnected my PC the wifi would shut down :D). Don't think a Linus Dad would have had a problem xD
If I told my mom/dad that I'm bored, they'd tell me to wash the dishes (though they're all clean) or to clean the house (it's spotless)
i mean yea hes spoiling tf out of his kids compared to people without money BUT think about it like this...dont we want better for our kids? For them to HAVE what we couldnt growing up? That perspective makes it seem like hes a damn good father either way imo
Something worth noting is that you can be too restrictive with your kids, too. You want to teach them to manage their own time and energy instead of having everything controlled for them by you. Especially as they get older, it can be a good idea to transition more into conditional freedom based on more loosely defined goals - i.e. as long as they are getting their chores and schoolwork done, they can earn less restriction and not need to worry about the specific time period or when and how they do things.
I say this not to be yet another judgy internet person but because my parents did something similar to me and it really fucked me over when I did have to go out on my own and manage my own life - not to mention the problems it caused with my ADHD leading to poor self esteem and depression.
The other thing is that being too restrictive just teaches children how to lie, which I can certainly also attest to.
Maybe I'm misinterpreting the tone of this question, but I find it kinda unfortunate that parents who have attained a certain level of success have to constantly defend their ability to share that success with their children. Parenting is VERY personal, and I can completely understand why a parent who has access to resources his/her parents didn't have while growing up would absolutely want to go above an beyond to live vicariously through their children by giving them the things they wish they had access to while growing up. I don't believe the "quality" of resources available to one's children are as important as our willingness as parents to ensure that we try to raise our children in a balanced manner
Imagine being gaslighted by poor people, lol.
That's the first I've heard of a time trading scheme, and it sounds genius. I'm not sure I would have liked it as a teenager because, TBH, no restrictions would have been appealing. But if established early on, with possible negotiations on ratio and activities, that sounds like a great way to make it feel fair, give the child a reason to look forward to the other activities, and give them agency in their enjoyment.
The "I'm bored" document is also a great one - my parents did something similar, though they also included helping with housework and maintenance.
It's awesome if the children are compatible with it. Cuz I can imagine myself just refusing to do anything at all, even stuff that I am supposed to do, if rules like that were just forced upon me, since I inherited unreasonable stubbornness that both my parents possess, and I was not afraid to use it against them, lol. I always required my parents to explain everything they asked of me (and everything in general, I was extremely curious), and it would've been really difficult to explain why I should accept those conditions. Man, I am afraid of what my children will be like.
For teenagers, especially older ones, the time management is redundant. By then theyve got to study and also have learnt proper time management themselves.
There is a difference between
a) spoiling your kids
and
b) providing your kids with everything they need to enjoy childhood as much as they can
Yeah, it’s a thin line, but it’s important to know where you are at as a parent.
I think most adults with unnecessarily expensive and time consuming hobbies justify it by saying, “Well, I just want to enjoy what I couldn’t have as a child now that I have money.”
Let your kids enjoy their childhood and have toys so that when they become adults they will want to spend their money wisely (saving, investments, etc).
As a kid, my parents never really restricted the amount of time I could play games on our computer or console. To be fair, I was a quiet and well-behaved kid, and my dad tried to take part as much as possible. We'd play lots of Gran Turismo, Need for Speed 2, and so on. Always a great time and I also got to spend time with dad talking about cars and computers. I think it depends on the kid whether it makes sense to restrict their time with tech, and there's lots of parents that don't really spend time with their kids enough to know them as a person, so they either just restrict everything or nothing at all. Overall, my dad didn't "tell" me to do things, he kind of just asked, and I'd do as he asked bc he treated me like a person and was willing to compromise when we didn't agree. Ofc that might not work with other kids, but I appreciated the respect and didn't want to let him down.
Could this be made into a short series to help educate parents these restriction systems exist and how to use them effectively and what drawbacks they have…
When I was growing up my family was really poor, for a year we even had to live in a heavily discounted B&B instead of a house (6 people in a 3 person setup is generally not good), but my parents managed to give us enough entertainment that I had no idea.
When it was revealed to me over a decade later it turned out we were always behind on console generations, had barely any new games (I hate that digital may kill the pre-owned games market at some point), and often got stuff for free from friends of the family.
That's when I started looking into dates and realised most of my favourite things back then were already like 7-10 years old when we got them, but it didn't matter because as a kid it was all new to me and did exactly what they were supposed to do since launch; entertain.
Why is this any of our business? Linus can parent any way he wants. Whether he lets them play games all day or not, I don't feel like my opinion is valid. I don't have an opinion on that, but even if I did, it's still not my business how another man parents his children.
I feel like people really oversell spoiling kids. Like sure is it a problem if kids grow up entitled and carless with money? Sure but there is time to figure that shit out. I think people often carry the trauma of growing up without much and decide their kids must be inflicted with the same trauma. It can actually be pretty positive to grow up having stuff, being able to explore different hobbies that weren't available to their parents being able to try new things. Sure you should try to avoid buying dumb shit but I think people really overestimate the dangers of spoiling a kid.
I'd love to see a full video on tech and parenting, especially since I'm guessing much of the LTT viewership nowadays are late 20s-early 30s parents with small children (or will shortly become parents). My little one will be turning four soon, she does have "her" own iPad but it's currently locked down to UA-cam Kids, which in turn is locked down to Bluey, Paw Patrol and a couple other shows, and that too for half an hour a day. Some coverage of parental controls would help, as would ideas for age-appropriate apps and games that aren't excessively addictive or microtransaction-laced Skinner boxes. Also teaching advanced computing skills instead of just passive consumption; I'd like to get a Raspberry Pi when she's about five and starting school but not yet sure what to do or teach with it.
00:02 Linus is accused of spoiling his kids with excessive gaming setups.
01:00 Linus gives his kids limited access to technology.
02:05 Linus uses parental controls and restrictions to manage his kids' access to computers and gaming.
03:10 Parents have different rules regarding their kids playing certain types of games.
04:07 Being spoiled is not something anyone wants for their kids
05:06 Linus provides his kids with a variety of activities to combat boredom.
06:08 Limiting video games and encouraging other activities
07:08 Using Family Link to set limits on app usage and screen time.
I remember when my dad randomly bought me Halo Combat Evolved when I was 7.
The flood was terrifying to fight lol.
I've never had restrictions, I could basically play whenever I liked.
I played with my computer for hours on a daily basis.
Perhaps it wasn't an issue for them since I also played soccer with my friends for hours on a daily basis.
Days went kinda like this:
Wake up at 6:30
School from 8:30 to 14:30
Played outside (mostly soccer) from 14:30 to 18:00
Played video games from 18:00 to 23:00
The irony being that the pathway i took into programming, also therefore tech savy... i think id have to have deep consideration about the balance between restrictions and parental controls after age 15... safety is important, but i moved into programming because of the time i spent modding games on PC and playing on the internet... wasting time on things like Encarta (for those who remember that). i have no idea what kind of career i would have chosen without those experiences, but also wouldnt want to funnel my kids in that direction with that attittude.
Stop worrying about what he does with HIS kids. NOBODY should have to explain themselves on the relationship with their own kids.
My response would be "You mad bro?"
Respect to Linus for handling it the way he did
Can you do a tutorial on child protection apps?
Like a real information video showing how to setup and all this?
Its call movie magic. Because they are film playing doesn't mean they are doing it 24x7.
And I don't think a kid with a top tier PC will be any more spoiled than kids with low end PCs. In the end, they can do the same thing. The only difference is that the better PC will play more demanding games or have higher resolution/higher frame rates in esports games.
When I was growing up, Star Trek night was family night. This was through the 90's to the early 2000's, Next Gen through Voyager. That also happened to be the only night that kids were allowed to eat in the living room. Not really related, but this reminded me of it.
With my cousins and my brother's kids. We only allowed them limited time too. and only after 12 noon, but they had to eat lunch first which was only allowed at 12 noon not earlier (believe me they have tried to get around that). Morning time was outside time. Time to use any electronics, was usually an hour during the week (after homework was done), 2 hours on weekends, when they were younger. The only exception was when it rained. then they were given more time and could be on earlier.
I think the problem here is - limiting what your kids do and how long they can do something limits how engaged they can be in an area. I'm not sure if Linus wants this for his kids, but if I had the same sort of parental controls as Linus has on his kids I would not be here as a tech enthusiast. Not to say it isn't healthy to limit screen time, it definitely is, but it's an interesting trade off
When it comes to tech and such my mother was pretty hands off, worked out for me, but definitely something you have to think about, especially nowadays with social media and the state of the internet. The first phone I got was in first grade, but it was a hand-me-down from my mother and was what we would now call a dumbphone. Mostly for if I ever needed to reach her for whatever reason if I was out and about, or emergency services.
The real thing is how you raise your kids, not what they have access to. You can spoil a kid with zero high tech gaming if you simple let them do whatever they want with no limits and no discipline. Conversely you can raise a kid very well with or without access to that stuff.
Ah, yes. The internet trying to co-parent
Gotta love people that comment on stuff like this not knowing the full picture
My dad is tech savvy, and thus I am tech savvy. As a kid I found ways to bypass most of these parental locks. And just game anyways lol
I think the most brutal method is only letting your kids have free physical access to a Thin Client like a Wyse Terminal which is useless without the locked server.
tbh, despite having all the tech, getting time to game is something they have to work for. so already they've got a mindset of "i cant just get what i want, i have to work for it"
I love the idea of the "I'm bored" doc but it's also good to teach them to be okay with being bored.
Still you can tell how much care and thought Linus has put into his parenting and i wish we could see a bit more.
I agree with a few other posters saying a video or videos about parenting with technology would be amazing.
That's a dumb take, because it doesn't work. You can't teach a person that it's okay to be bored. Because it's not. If you are bored - go and find a way to not be. If you don't offer a child a way to not be bored, they will find it eventually, you just might not like it. And if the cause of your take is "you'll have to learn to cope with being bored when you are at work", then it's just sad.
As someone who grew up in poverty, I would do the exact same. Give my children the best of the best, but like Linus, I agree with having them earn it and monitoring the time they have access to it. Also even in the small glimpses that we get into their private life, you can see how well behave and educated their kids are. Unfortunately in the vast sea that is UA-camr families, its easier to see and identify bratty behavior in kids.
Also what does it matter if a child has access to a super computer if they only still access to the same content
Time and the content is the problem (and Linus takes good care of those)
i must admit, my kid gets access to more than most, he is 8 today, he has my old gaming pc (1080TI + 8700k) he has a Switch, he has access to my ps5/Xbox, I bought a extra pc of used parts, when he has friends over, because not all here has a pc and they do like to game together... so that is an old 2070S with a 4790k (GPU scrapped by my brother) he also has an older IPAD he got when he was at hospital. so yes.. but i evaluate it fluently, i do not SET times.. he can loose access if he does something out of order, but he has school and Sports every day in the week, from 8-18 he also does a LOT of social stuff, he cleans up after himself, he is VERY good at what he does. So that earns him access, he also does coding pirates, and i see that the pc is mostly used for actual "learning" he plays in Unity right now.. i do not want to "break" his motivation, or ruin his way of learning. he does 3 languages, Danish, English and a fair amount of Ukraine (we had a lot of immigrants in school during the worst parts of the war)... the thing i work a LOT on is that he has to learn that he just do not get everything he wants, so he also pays for a lot of these things, like 1/2... i did not want him to get a phone, i know MOST has in his school, iphone 14-15´s but i did agree with him, if he could save for HALF by doing in house chores he could get one, and he DID so he got a Iphone SE..
one thing I would teach my kids if I have them is that its ok to make mistakes not serious ones but one where you will learn from and become a better person.
Atleast Linus knows how the digital world works, how no navigate in it and what the limits, dangers and basically everything is. Most parents don't even know half of what they should know. Maybe they have more access then most, but like he mentioned himself, he does have quite strict rules.
Most problems with tech and kids I've seen (as a pedogical worker), is mostly due to utter dumb parents and their lack of knowledge.
One big ++ I wanna give linus (and his wife) is the extend till which they engage with their children. Most problems for children develop cause of lack of attention and authoritarian parenting, which they seem to not have at all. Try getting your kids to read, having the problem "Can't find F in my list" is a problem 95% (from personal experience) of parents won't ever be able to say.
I think part of the issue is that we haven't seen Linus' kids properly in a while. In my head the oldest is still 5 years old, even though I know that is objectively not true and as far as I rememer the oldest is not too much younger than the channel itself .
I get Linus not wanting to show his kids too much and they have school during work time, etc. Just something to take into account of why it might seem that way.
On the whole linus seems to do a great job of satisfying his "big kid" wants but reining his children in and making them good people; i.e. whenever we see them they're always so polite and their manners are impecable.
There was a video recently with his daughter and she seemed really respectful and i'm kind of surprised by this question.
I think the thing with the tech kids get is that it can be an incredible tool, if they play minecraft and then learn to code so they can make their own minecraft mods or plugins that's a huge win for that kid's life, but people tend to be very... envious of other people so they assume the worst is going on, if you think your kid's tech time is a good use of their time then empower them with as much tech stuff as you can, if you don't think it is then set up parental controls and limit their access to tech but not every single kid is the same.
It's weird since when I grew up there wasn't tech and games that were through the moon. I mean most of us remember when minecraft came out or the geometry dash craze at schools or what have you but I didn't start really playing games until my teens and wasn't limited. Thus I learned self control, self restrait, how to balance my life, what addiction can do to you and I became better at self control due to that. I think it is a major downside that linus controls his kids because self control is such an important skill that can carry you through life
Just to notice, because my mother was more a reward type of parenting, sometimes it didn't work, because when I was uninterested or unmotivated, specially when I was a teenager, so keep a backup plan if any of your kids starts to reflect that kind of behaviour that rewards stop working, sorry for not having a plan B, my mother didn't know how to deal with me, I just eventually did the change by myself when I turned 19/20
Kinda glad I was raised without technology at my fingertips. My first computer was a Pentium IIII machine I dug out of my grandfathers basement. I learned WAY more about computers than I ever would with everything available to me from the start.
Gonna be interesting to potentially see what happens when Linus' and Yvonne's kids become teenagers and the rebellion starts. Guarantee they're going to start looking for workarounds to rules and while Linus has a collosal headstart in knowledge, teens have a lot of free time on their hands, along with a hormonal desperation to get what they want.
I also had a time limit on computer time. Too bad for my father, that he decided to teach me computer stuff, starting at age 5, so I kept circumventing all his efforts to get me to spend less time playing games.
People that say: “I would only get my kid this at this age and this at that age” or whatever and “you are spoiling them”
Like go take a hike, good for you you have your own opinions for your child… let other parents parent their own kids.
Make it a board. An " I'm board"
There's a whole lot more behind parenting than just the physical possessions kids may have. It's easy to see all of that from an outside perspective and think they can use all of it whenever they like, making assumptions on the approach for gaming time etc but it's not like that in all cases.
I barely had anything growing up, yet I was able to game as much as I liked, which caused huge issues with my education until I forced myself to work hard. You may see kids with luxury items and cutting edge tech, but those same kids might be studying more than they play, even at Christmas or on holidays.
Has anyone noticed lately WAN is just Linus being reactive to the chat and forum. Always leads the topic to him responding to criticism
it's the Meta show
Wouldn't you wanna speak for yourself if people are criticizing you?
It's the hang out show which is fine. You got tech linked.
Which is fine
Always has been
@Linus - I mean this as a positive thing, but when my kids come to me and say "I'm bored", most of the time what they actually mean is that they want my attention, whether they realize it or not. Sometimes they just want to watch what I'm doing to be with me. A lot of "I'm bored' situations turned into bonding moments over a youtube video or whatever I happen to be doing.
What Linus said about how he raises his children when it comes to his children and tech reminds me of how I was raised with having an Audio Technician and used to be a pro guitar player for a father and how if the house wasn't full of high-end instruments it was full of high-end headphones and other home audio equipment to the point where the equalizer to my stereo in my bedroom as a child was set to absolute clarity that it affected how I notice things later on. I agree that Linus isn't spoiling his kids, but directing some of them out of being into something that is not tech-based because of how much tech he brings at home. Though, I wonder if his wife has a 50/50 or more say at home with how much tech they raise them around?
Parenting is hard, a big hug.
I think the best thing you can do for your kids is limit video games, but allow them to play if theyre using video games to be a potential career. My dad did this a lot for me he gave me a computer to play minecraft and PC games during freshman year of high school. I used that computer to play games but I mostly used it to make game servers for Minecraft, Arma, and Dayz for my friends and I to play on. This taught me so much about Linux, coding the restart scripts in C#, bash and python. It taught me how servers work and how to set them up in my house. I think limiting game time is definitely good, and I dont plan on giving my kids a tablet or even a phone till 7th grade at least. I think technology can be really good but also terrible for a lot of young kids. You just need to really limit it.
You don't intend to be able to contact your child? That is weird.
Technology isn't good or bad, and limits aren't necessary for everyone. Cuz my parents realized quite quickly that if I spend all my time at home playing video games instead of doing whatever on the streets, it's really better this way, because at least I'm not drinking, smoking or doing drugs when I'm home, and I'm with my friends either way. Considering that I was also making decent money off of video games since I was 14 or so, it worked out quite well, and my current income is based on video games and connections I got through playing video games online.
I absolutely love the “I’m Bored” List 😮 genius
Duolingo properly used is very educational :) It has really helped me learn the basis of Swedish, although you have to do a lot and complent it with extra taking notes
I was allowed to have a PC. The only requirement was that I had to learn about PCs, spec, and build my own PC. Glad I was required to do that because it sparked my interest in PCs.
Yep i know what i use to do with my computer as a teenager with slow internet i can only imagine what my kids will do because we have gig internet and everything possible.
Linus being able to give more also means he is able to limit more, he didn't just get a lot of tech stuff out of luck, he worked for it and knows about it, which also means he knows how to control his children using that technology
This would be a cool full video on tech savvy parenting tips
Not directed at Linus or his family. The one thing I think should be unrestricted to some degree is anythijg like programming or craft like that which requires extensive online learning and time invested. But balance is key etc etc.
we got 25 screens in a 5 person housholde more like 45 if u count unused stuff (realy unused not just once a year or smt but not in the past 10 years or since it became redundant/broken)
and I personal own 8 out of those so without me as a "tec entusiast" it would be even less on average
I feel bad for any kid that never grew up with gaming on potato Wi-Fi and learning how something’s you can’t fix or help but there’s something else you can do or fix to indirectly solve the problem.
I think parents often overlook their kids' hobbies and aren't willing to spend the same amount of money they spend on technology. Like for example if your kid loves cars why not buy them wood and some wheels and let them make a go-kart, it's like sledding but in the summer. If your child likes horses, why not sign them up for horse riding. If they love arts and crafts, like any kid, why don't their parents give them tons of cardboard and hot glue. There is also the problem of parents not being willing to help out and maybe do some arts and crafts with their kids.
Video Idea: How about a Video about how to parent technology to kids.
You could make a discussion video with professional educators and child psychyatrist. Interview different Staffmembers about their methods and rules.
At least we never have to worry about the IT team at their future jobs wanting to yell at them for being technologically incompetent. Regardless of their future careers, Linus kids will probably be more savvy than most tier 1/2 helpdesk they will interact with when older.
Also, I find it hilarious that Linus can't clean/organize his house until he has time to make it a video. Thought stepping down was supposed to improve work/life balance and focus on more enjoyable parts of managing LMG? But now he can't even clean the house without monetizing it and getting help from his staff!
It still surprises me the audacity sometimes people have. Basically "it really isn't my place to say BUT I think that..." Parenting is personal and of course it is something that he wouldn't want public but with so minimal information people still feel the need to comment on it as if he was their best friend and just ofering "advice". Then their plan was to start giving consoles since about 5yo, then a laptop and eventually maybe a PC? it's basically the same thing, the complexity of the device won't matter what kind of development children have, I would have assumed the argument was going to be about videogames too early. And of course as Linus said, why assume that they are allowed to play on them all day? Just being able to see that kind of tecnology would be cool to me.
Non-tech savvy people giving their children tech are more likely to be spoiled than tech savvy parents. Growing up with non-tech savvy parents, with me as the tech savvy guardian to a young sibling, regulation is always key. It's really dangerous to kids having unregulated access to internet sites such as youtube and store apps on mobile devices, that can affect a child's communication capabilities and mental growth, luckily I am always there to regulate my siblings gadget time when my parents give them unregulated access
Depends at what age/how developed the child in question is. I was given unrestricted access to the Internet at like 10, and I never had any issues with it. And before that, the only restriction was time, not what I could do.
one day linus is gonna walk in on his kid playing doom on the ac controller
My kid isnt old enough for devices yet, but our plan is supervised use only, then I'll get him a non internet connected PC in my office so he can only play retro games and such. But for physical toys the world is his oyster. I have 10+ years of colleting RC cars that he can play with and a large park behind the house.
I can relate. My kids have all the tech. But they are the most restricted of them all. Most of the other kids, the parents have no control. But we, the tech savy parents have so mutch better control than the rest of the bunch.
I bet Linus kids are gaming less than most friends they have.
I was around 15 when i start brootfircing passwords, go around websiterestriction on a windowslevel (father was stupid wnough to leav me on a admin acount) or gaining admin and if he didnt't realise then that im more tech savige than him and restrictet me further i woul'd probebly have flashed a recoverysystem via boot manager and wipe the hole system.
Do you think your kids cou'ld doo the same kn the future?
I have a tech savvy father, he used to set a bunch of parental controls and restrictions.
Of course as his son I will find every loop holes and exploits in the system. And he never punished me for finding exploits, instead he will patch or find another way around to set up restrictions and it became a battle of some sort😂 Fun times
Linus' status as a UA-cam person is not license to talk about his kids! The only time it's OK to talk about media people's kids is if they're in the media, and then only on a very limited basis. Kids are off-limits.
Linus is wealthy and earned that wealth working with consumer technology. It's going to abundant in his house. That's not avoidable. The "toys" in his house are his work. I was at Google for 12+ years and my colleague's houses and mine were filled with our tech. I can say with certainty and a wide sample base that having a large number of screens in a house says nothing about how much non-school screen time kids are allowed.
Kids are not "spoiled" by abundance and there's no data that says they are. They're spoiled when they aren't given boundaries, when they aren't taught that other people's needs and boundaries are as important as their own, that accomplishment matters and takes effort, and that their good fortune is an accident of birth, and that those less fortunate don't deserve less.
If you want to complain that this abundance isn't available to everyone, that's legitimate. It sucks that there's so much inequality. But there's no evidence Linus' wealth or consumption is at resource hoarding levels.
Specific methods aside, being actively involved and aware of how your kids interact with technology already makes you better than 90% of parents out there. Most parents don't give a shit or don't realize how important it is to be aware of what your kids are doing online. You don't have to be a full blown helicopter parent, but you can't just let them go free range.
Lol I don't think he needs to explain raising his kids to anyone but his family. That's his business...but I guess he doesn't do videos with them, so there is that part. I know I wouldn't just for this reason.
Ah yes, the timeless classic of commenting on someone life without the whole story.
Gracious of Linus to answer, when all he needed to say was, "none of your business". Yes, I'm happy for him and his kids that he seems to have figured out a system that balances work vs. play, but it's not a family-blogging channel, it's a tech channel. Honestly, I'd give it a pass if it was a "how do you do this" question, not a "you should do it this way" statement. Like, cool your parasocial jets, man.
To be tech-savvy means to also be cognizant of the effects of tech. If you're not, you're not really tech-savvy, you just know cool stuff about tech,
To that Redditor (or wherever it was posted) I think its also important to acknowledge: I don't think the privilege Linus' kids have in accessing all of this is lost on Linus in any way. He knows he's in a fortunate position to provide his children with these computers and their cool techy house, and it sounds like here he does a good job of "policing" how they use it. Its real easy for people with a more normal level of wealth to look at these videos and say "spoiled kids with a rich dad" but that is clearly not the energy that Linus portrays or promotes.
Also, the most important thing regardless is they are his kids and his things that he works hard to provide for them, he can do what he wants lol
It baffles me sometimes when people see parents buy their kids a whole bunch of stuff, especially text savvy parents, without understanding or knowing how parents manage the devices. Just because a kid has a device doesn't mean that they use it, especially if parents have set up parental controls and other systems to manage the time on the device.
Yes there are parents that just let their kids do whatever they want, but Linus doesn't seem like the type of parent to let his kids do whatever they please, even though he seems like a fun dad.
I'm a dad now and I want a Linus Tech Tips for parents video series because this is gold
This just sounds like a typical envious parent. "You shouldn't give your children more than I'm able to give my children."
Linus i look forward to the day ur kids figure out how to bypass the parental controls.
I was also allowed to do this but my parents hated high end components and are always giving me the shame gossip everytime I get a gadget thats benefits my academic or their preffered "image". Should I leave them once I get a stacked cash or just offer the money I "robbed opporunity" to my sister who my parents intend to give the components for?
I don't think a child is going to notice the difference between playing Minecraft on an rtx4090 vs their school laptop.. Kids being spoiled isn't just allowing them to have nice things it's replacing good parenting with buying them whatever they want to keep them happy
We dont see their family dynamic or process. Yes they have a super tech home but that was their dream and they earned it. It seems from this they are being great parents!
This reminds me of a short vid I saw recently where a professional fixer for spoilt children says most of the time by the time he is called it is too late. Call him sooner.
Always someone that has to try and comment on how someone else raises their kids.
Honestly, Linus, you should really make a series about parenting in the new world, as really anyone who isnt tech savy wont properly raise their children with the net