By: Logiscool Ruimsig - director Semone Peacock

Every parent has been there: you turn your back for five minutes and suddenly the TV is on, the tablet is glowing, and your child is scrolling through videos like a tiny hypnotised zombie. It feels like screens are winning and you are losing. The panic is real. But the real issue is not screens. It is how kids use them.

Modern parenting has been shaped by one simple idea: screen time is a single thing. If your child spends two hours in front of a device, that is bad. But not all screen time is equal. A child watching cartoons or endlessly scrolling through short videos is not the same as a child using a tablet to code a game, design a robot, or create a digital story. The former is passive. The latter is active. And that difference matters more than most parents realise.

Passive screen time, where children consume content without interacting or thinking deeply, is linked to shorter attention spans, reduced problem-solving ability, and less creativity. The brain is not being challenged. It is being entertained.

But the media rarely explains the nuance. Passive screen time is easy to blame because it is visible, it is measurable, and it feels like something parents can control. It is the one simple fix that makes parents feel like they are doing something right.

The truth is that banning screens altogether is not only unrealistic, it is also not helpful. Digital technology is not going away. If anything, it will become more central to education, work, and everyday life. The key is not to avoid screens. It is to guide children toward active screen time.

Active screen time is not about letting kids play any game. It is about using digital tools in a way that encourages learning, creativity and problem solving. This includes coding games and apps, digital design and creativity, robotics and problem solving, and learning tools that encourage experimentation.

Active screen time trains the brain to think, plan, test, and iterate. It is not entertainment. It is learning disguised as play. Good screen time is intentional. It is structured rather than random, project based rather than passive, guided by adults rather than self-directed, and connected to real world skills and outcomes.

A child who uses screen time to build a game is doing something similar to a child learning to build a model airplane. Both require planning, sequencing, and persistence. The difference is that one uses digital tools and the other uses physical ones.

Logiscool is not anti-tech. We are pro intentional tech. At Logiscool Ruimsig, children do not just use screens. They learn to create with them. Our structured programmes teach children coding, robotics and digital literacy in a way that builds problem solving skills, confidence and creativity.

Rather than passively consuming content, students actively build projects that matter to them. The result is a healthier relationship with technology, one where screens become tools rather than distractions.