HGTV’s Erin Napier Reacts to Fans Questioning Her ‘Overboard’ Parenting Rules

Heavy/HGTV/YouTube HGTV's Erin Napier has strict technology rules for her daughters

As a leader in the movement toward decreasing children’s exposure to technology and social media, HGTV star Erin Napier rarely allows her young daughters, three-year-old Mae and six-year-old Helen, access to devices like tablets or phones.

Along with her husband Ben Napier, the “Home Town” star co-founded a non-profit devoted to the cause, Osprey (which stands for Old School Parents Raising Engaged Youth) in 2023. Though the organization’s mission is “helping our kids achieve social media-free childhoods until they graduate high school,” the Napiers have decided that means their kids will not have access to any devices except in rare cases.

On September 7, 2024, Erin posted an Instagram Story that explained some rules and tactics she and Ben have established to keep their kids tech-free, including pulling Helen out of first grade on days when tablets will be used for instruction. As fans replied with critiques and questions about the couple’s approach, Erin posted some of them in her Stories and replied to each one.

Erin Napier Says Her Daughters Have Only Used a Screen to FaceTime Grandparents

Erin Napier first shared the idea behind Osprey in May 2023 via Instagram, encouraging her fans to get in touch if they were interested in keeping their children away from social media. The move came after she told “The Today Show” in April that she and Ben had decided to block their girls’ access to it.

She said, “Our personal policy is we’re not going to let our kids have any access to social media until they’re done with high school, I think, until you’re old enough to see it for what it is.”

For the Napiers, that includes any use of tablets at home or school. In 2023, the US Census Bureau reported that 80% of households with kids five and older have a tablet in the home. During the 2022-23 school year, the National Center for Education Statistics said that 94% of U.S. school districts provided devices, such as tablets, for students who needed them.

But the Napiers think that’s a step in the wrong direction. In her Instagram Story on September 7, Erin further explained their stance, writing, “Our kids haven’t used screens before, haven’t needed to, haven’t really been around other kids who do.”

She continued, “they facetime grandparents and that’s it. so for us, tablet use at school is in direct opposition to our family culture in a way that feels unhelpful. our school is awesome and understands  (i mean we’re the weird parents who started #ospreykids) and let us pick her up early on digital education days. i love that so much. we use that time to go to daddy’s woodshop or play on the farm or do art at home.”

Erin concluded her Story by sharing, “if you want your child to have a low tech education, schedule a meeting with your school administration and share the facts that are becoming increasingly apparent: it doesn’t benefit most students until they’re older, and then in limited amounts.”

Erin Napier Replies to Fans’ Questions & Says ‘Baby Shark’ is a No-Go in Their Household

Some skeptical and curious fans asked specific questions about the Napiers’ technology rules and tactics, which Erin then posted in her Stories and replied to publicly.

The first asked, “What do you do for toddlers and long car rides? I’m looking to remove screen time!!”

Erin replied, “we keep books and magnetic drawing boards in the backseat pockets and let them pick the songs we listen to. we also didn’t let them listen to music we didn’t like too so no baby shark, but the disney classics and 60s-90s singer songwriters”

Another follower shared “a little pushback,” asking about parents who “don’t have flexible jobs that allow time for picking up kids early?”

To that, Erin responded, “i work full time. we are lucky to have an awesome sitter and grandparents who can pick her up early.”

When someone else asked if the Napiers’ no screens rules also applied to television, Erin explained, “we watch TV! the bigger the screen, the smaller the addiction, say the experts. that is to say, TV is one way engagement. no like controlling a device in your hands.”

In response to a teacher who asked how the Napiers’ daughters will take government-mandated tests that are given digitally, Erin wrote that Helen had participated in some.

She wrote, “yes, she has done the STAR literacy test on a tablet. she scored 56 on her first try because she wasn’t used to it. on her second try, she scored 94. that’s how fast kids learn tech and why I don’t worry at ALL about any disadvantage.”

When another fan wrote that they supported a “low tech” home but felt that “avoiding learning with a device seems overboard,” Erin pushed back, writing, “you didn’t learn to use tech in elementary school and yet here you are… using it just fine as an adult.”

Erin posted one last Story after answering fans’ questions with “final thoughts on the fear of disadvantaging your child with later tech use.”

She posted a quote from Dr Adriana Stacey, an Arkansas psychiatrist who works primarily with teens and college students, that said, “The tech companies spend billions of dollars a year to make the technology intuitive. There is no way a human could be ‘behind’ in using it. Even my 90-year-old grandpa learned how to use an iPad in less than two hours! In addition, it changes constantly. So the ‘learning to use it’ today will be completely different than when that four year old is an adult!”