Are devices, my children’s Mr Frosty?

I just took my family to see Toy Story 5. 

I found it incredibly powerful, and in all honesty, it left me feeling very sad. 

I know the message was there, about children having a childhood filled with play, but there is so much truth in the reality it reflected back to us.  Children, in this case, as young as 8, glued to screens, no longer talking or playing, growing up far too quickly.  It is a true snapshot of reality, and that makes me terribly sad. 

And yes, the film showed us the power and importance of play, true friendship and connection,  and the value of a childhood away from screens. But was it enough?  Did any children leave the cinema, believing that screens and devices aren't everything, and perhaps have a gentler or more understanding view of their parent(s) who are constantly saying no to devices?  Did any children go home and surrender their devices?  Did any parents go home and change the household boundaries around devices? Or was it just a nice film that is making an important point, but perhaps not strongly enough, or,  more worryingly, too late for any of us to hear? 

For me, the film was very triggering. As someone who is doing my best to keep my children away from devices, gaming, and online chat groups.  I won't accept that I am fighting a losing battle.  But I can't say the film did much to uplift me or help me believe that enough of us are fighting the good fight against technology. 

I asked my only children, who are 5 and 8, what they thought of the film, and what they thought the main messages were.  I was pleased that their response was "that playing with real friends is better than screens, and that maybe screens were just a sometimes toy."  

I was quite happy with that.   I'm sure my children wish they got a tablet as a sometimes toy.  I imagine it's how I always felt about Mr Frosty -  gosh I yearned for one of those as a kid, but there was no way my sugar-fearing Mum would have ever allowed it.  I imagine that's how my children feel about screens, their holy grail.  

They watch television,  and we regularly enjoy family movie nights, but for now, I will keep them away from other devices as much as I can. 

The part of the film that showed Bonnie being bullied in a chat group really upset me.  Maybe I'm naive. More likely, I just don't want to believe or accept that 8-year-olds are being bullied online in chat groups.  Is this really a world we want to live in and that we are accepting? 

So what do I hope?  

That any family sitting watching Toy Story 5, on the precipice of giving their child a device, will hopefully pause and think about whether the time is right.   And when they do decide the time is right, that they'll be some clear and strict boundaries.  

The film showed us a world where devices were in bedrooms, the first thing a child looked at in the morning, charging next to them as they slept.  I believe we can do better, and I hope we do. 

Surely we owe that to our children and young people growing up today.  

Few people will look back on their childhood and wish they had spent more time staring at a screen. Most of us will remember the people, places, adventures and moments where we truly felt connected. The friendships we built, the things we created, the challenges we overcame and the memories made with others are the things that stay with us.  

I also know that technology is not disappearing, and our children will grow up in a world where devices and online spaces are part of everyday life.  My goal isn’t to raise children who fear technology; is it to raise children who understand that technology should be something they use, not something that replaces the things that make us human - connection, creativity, play and real-world relationships.  

On the whole, the film has been received well, with a 92% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.  Parents, in particular, have resonated with the film's modern dilemma of raising children in a digital world. 

According to an eSafety Commissioner survey from 2024, more than 84 per cent of children aged 8 to 12 use social media or messaging platforms, and a significant number of children in this age bracket now have access to smartphones. 

I'd love to hear what others thought of the film.

Are we thankful that Disney brought back an old franchise to tell us an important tale? Could they, or should they, have gone harder? 

And more importantly - did it make any of us stop and think about how we are raising our children in this rapidly changing digital world?