DVDs, CD players, cassettes: Old-school tech is helping parents entertain their kids with no algorithms, no autoplay
When Lisa Yoder's kids want to watch a movie, they look through the family's DVD library or head to the library and pick DVDs to borrow. Yoder's favorite part about letting her kids watch DVDs is that, when the movie is over, it's over — there's no screen suggesting they click to another title and start another movie, no feeding an algorithm determined to keep them hooked. "When it's over, it's over,' Yoder says. 'That's it.'
What's old is new again. Parents are installing landline telephones in their houses to further delay getting their kids smartphones, film cameras are all the rage and now, some parents are turning to the tried-and-true technology of the past — DVDs, CDs and cassette tapes — in an effort to shield their children from the digital onslaught of life in 2025. Analog technology, they say, is a way to limit overstimulation, curb the lure of an algorithm that's constantly suggesting more screen time and keep their kids away from inappropriate content.
Yoder's husband was the one who suggested they buy a cassette player for their kids. 'We wanted [our daughter] to have some agency and be able to listen to music, but I didn't want to give her a tablet,' she tells Yahoo. 'Largely, I think, to avoid the constant screentime of it all.' With a cassette player, Yoder's kids have the independence to choose their own music without being plugged into an algorithm. Now that the family also has a DVD player, the kids love going to the library and picking out new titles.
Yoder is unsurprised by the trend of parents returning to old technologies. For one thing, she says, it's nice to physically own something like a DVD instead of renting a digital copy. 'It's also really nice to avoid the algorithmic onslaught that is probably coming for them all someday,' she says. 'If I can stave it off a little bit longer for my kids, I would like to do that as much as possible.'
For Mary Verett, a 36-year-old mother of three in Kansas City, a CD player represents the level of technology she's comfortable with her children accessing without her constant supervision. If her kids were scrolling on an iPad or using the internet, she may worry about what they were encountering. But with the CD player, their options are inherently limited.
And when it comes to the family's DVD player, those limited options also cut down on arguing between her three children. 'I have an old-school DVD [collection], and their options aren't endless. That is all they get. It allows them to work through some of those conflict skills. But there's no scrolling,' she says. 'It's meant to give them freedom within boundaries. I think it's just keeping our kids, kids. That's what this is for us — a way to shield our kids from the internet before they're ready.'
In Ailish Kavanagh's daughter's room, there's a CD player. The 4-year-old listens to CDs while she's hanging out in her room and as she's going to sleep. The CD player is portable, so the child can carry it around the house or move it from room to room.
Kavanagh's husband works in cybersecurity, and the couple has always been acutely aware of the risk of kids seeing something they shouldn't online. One study even found there's a 45% chance of kids coming across inappropriate content within 10 clicks on YouTube, even if they start on a kid-centered video. Analog technology is a way around that, as kids can only access the CDs and DVDs their parents have already vetted. It also keeps them from getting bombarded by the endless choices of streaming services, Kavanagh says. 'We found that overwhelms her a lot less,' she says. 'We're trying to limit the overconsumption and overstimulation. It's teaching her some independence and letting her choose things in a safe way.'
When Kavanagh's kids (she also has a 2-year-old) go to visit their grandparents' house, they bring their DVD player with them. She and her husband are firm on the rules: The kids can only watch something they physically own.
And though the technology they're using isn't new (the CD player was released in Japan in 1982, followed by the DVD player in 1996), it's new to the kids of Gen Alpha. 'It's novel to them,' Verett says. 'A few weeks ago, my 9-year-old was like, 'Mom, the CD player has a radio on it.' And he discovered tuning a radio.'
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