Former Love Island star Montana Brown has sparked debate by revealing she has restricted her toddler from two very common parenting tactics which has prompted a mixed reactions from both parents and teachers
Love Island star Montana Brown has ignited a parenting debate after revealing two things she has banned her three-year-old son Jude from having at school – screen time and sugary snacks.
The reality TV star, 30, who shares Jude and eight-month-old daughter Miley with fiancé Mark O’Connor, outlined her priorities when choosing a school, telling her social media followers: “The most important things in my head are nutrition, quality of teaching, and use of screen time.
“When I send him to school I don’t want him to be watching a screen at all… and on a lot of these open days they’re talking about using Chrome Books for their homework as they get into the older years.”
She also criticised excessive sugar consumption, saying: “Another thing, I’m really hating… I’m seeing kids having so much sugar as part of their diet at school.
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“We know it’s bad for them, we know it’s not good for them to concentrate, why are we giving it to them for their break times? I get it on occasion, but if anyone is giving Jude sugar, I want to do it on the weekend as a treat,” she added.
Her comments drew major criticism from parents and educators as one teacher said: “Not all time on a laptop is negative screen time. As a teacher they learn valuable life skills.”
Someone else said: “Montana you need to come down to earth a bit and live in the real world I fear.” Another complained: “Gosh people are way too woke these days. Kids are allowed sweets now and again.”
Another added: “As someone who works in a primary school this is an incredibly high expectation when schools are struggling enough as it is! Your opinions are valid but until you work in a school… you shouldn’t criticise.”
Montana’s views were criticised by another unimpressed follower who said: “Ah Montana, you need to get a little bit of grip now girl.”
In response, Montana addressed the backlash on social media as she clarified: “I’ve caused quite the stir. If you look at the video that I did about schools, I said the most important things to me are nutrition, amount of screen time use and quality of teaching.
“I did not say the schools I’ve been looking at watch movies all day. I said Jude is gonna have screen time, it’s something that I would like for him to have less of it at school so that it makes me feel better about if I want to watch a film with him all day on the weekend.”
The former Love Island star added: “At the end of the day, I don’t let Jude watch any screen time whatsoever at this age. I don’t know one health professional that encourages lots of screen time.
“I’m just sharing with you why those things are important to me. I was shocked at how young kids are using screens at schools, that wasn’t something that I was thinking would be the case.”
Montana concluded by sharing her excitement about continuing her school search: “We’re going to see some more schools this week. I’m really, really excited. Can’t wait.”
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