A friend of mine doesn’t let her kids go near her ipad/phone/tv etc. because she doesn’t believe in her kids being so tuned into technology. She actually doesn’t even own a tv anyways because she never watches it herself but she does have a laptop and ipad and her kids who are about 2 and 4 are allowed nowhere near it. I get her point.
In the meantime though my 2 year old nephew can navigate an ipad better than I can. I’ve always wondered if my friends kids when they grow up will be a little behind because they’ve never been exposed to the technology before. A lot of people argue that ipads/iphones etc. are actually learning mediums where kids can play informative games, read, interact, etc.
What rules do you set for the use of technology at a young age?
That doesn’t demonstrate anything apart from how easy these devices are to use. I am trying to find it but I remember a few years back there was some research published that showed that low cognition parts of the brain are required to use these devices. Motor skills, verbal skills, social skills, etc, none of these are developed by using these devices.
Personally, I think there’s no benefit (and likewise no harm, if done conscientiously) in introducing this particular technology at an early age because when children are exposed to it later, it’s not difficult to catch up. That’s not to say I’m against technology (far from it) but it depends what kind and what you do with it. I’d rather have my child, when slightly older, do something useful on the computer like learn how to programme.
I guess for me it’s like rather than ‘educational’ games on one of these devices which I’ve always found pointless and irritating, I’d rather my child read from actual books, play with physical toys like lego etc, and then if they want to play games on a device, they can play properly designed games on proper gaming devices… which don’t purport to be educational but can be truly challenging because in their complexity they require other skills; like thinking ahead and planning, being logical etc. Which perhaps one wouldn’t appreciate unless one was a gamer themselves. Having said that, I personally would introduce gaming until a later age when other skills have developed anyway.
As with everything, it’s all about moderation.
Take for example this: A Learning Secret: Don
I think it shows that sometimes the tech-free way of doing things is actually better/more beneficial but if children are growing up without learning how to do things in a tech-free way then that may be detrimental to them later. I think the transition to fitting technology into your life where it is useful is easier than trying to go back to old-fashioned methods as an adult when you have been completely reliant on tech your whole life.
Anyway, I don’t own an iPad or similar device and my TV doesn’t get any channels (it’s hooked up to the PC).. I don’t think that’s gonna change so I’m not too worried.
I managed to develop severe ADD when I started reading books on my computer and phone. I couldn’t read paper books any more which was strange because it wasn’t as if i had lost all passion for reading or anything. Turns out between chapters I switch tabs, maybe check Facebook, play a game on my phone. I couldn’t read a long span of words without multitasking with 5 different thing. Extremely difficult when you’re trying to study. I can’t look at any of my text books for more than 5 minutes. Thank goodness I’m at the end of my education. If I was a 2nd grader my education would have been so messed up.
So i would definitely suggest keeping tabs and virtual games for a limited time that is used wisely.
interesting article. well yeh obviously we grew up without these things as well and I think I was 10 when we got a computer at home and around age 8/9 we started having computer classes at school, I can’t say that it was that much more difficult to learn at that age then if I had started at 2, but it’s hard to tell. I doubt kids are going to be using these devices for programming until a little later on anyways.
Most young kids just seem to watch videos, my 3 year old nephew plays fruit ninja, things like that. When we were kids we were allowed 30 mins of TV a day max, these days kids don’t necessarily watch TV but they’re watching videos on phone or ipads, some of my nephews and nieces won’t even eat food until they’re watching something.
These don’t seem like the best habits but of course I’m not a parent so I can’t say. It’s just really funny to me when a 3 year old can go and pull up a specific video on youtube and I can barely figure out how to navigate the thing sometimes, especially when there’s software updates,hehe. I also don’t have an ipad myself, my husband does but I do have a smartphone and once again these kids know how to do everything on the phone and sometimes the only thing that will stop them from crying is handing them a phone.
We’re a tech-friendly family. For us, allowing the 3 year old access to the computer, phone and iPad isn’t abnormal BUT he is closely supervised, can only access certain games and shows, and has strict time limits. Everything in moderation, imho. He recently started playing on the PS4 too and the same rules apply.
And yes, he gets plenty of outside playtime too, and if he uses any one device, he isn’t allowed anything else. So if he’s watched a show on Netflix on my iPhone, for eg, he’s not allowed any other screen time that day including TV.