Calling all parents! I am in need of your advice and first hand experience on the matter of toddlers becoming addicted to smart devices (Tablets, Smart phones ect.)
There's a lot of media and scary news stories knocking around at the moment, but the media do tend to emphasis certain points, so I'm reaching out to real parents who know some real world first hand experience with children using smart devices. More so with their current behavior towards such devices than the speculated long term effects.
My questions are as followed:
- Do you believe your children could become "Addicted" to these items? And perhaps even show signs of withdrawal symptoms when separated from the devices.
- Do you have set times when your child can use the devices supervised by an adult, or do you feel safe enough to leave a smart device alone with a young child at any time (eg. owning his/her own tablet)?
- What do they do with the tablet? Is it simply play learning games or watch Youtube? Can you sync up the device so two or more can play together on certain games? (Genuinely curious is all)
- And lastly any stories or opinions on the matter are greatly welcome! I'm aiming to get a good rounded view on the idea from all angles and perspectives.
Thank you for your time and I hope to get back lots of stories and opinions! Looking forward to checking back soon, Thanks again!
As soon as she sees the phone she wants it so he has to hide it. Interestingly, she doesn't do this with my phone despite knowing it also has the capability. Presumably because I don't let her do it so she knows not to bother trying. When she gets a hold of DH's phone, she becomes incredibly focussed on it and blocks the rest of the world out. I don't like it, which is why I don't ordinarily let her use it, but it is very useful when needing her to wait patiently (like for a doctors appointment, or waiting for our meal in a restaurant). I severely limit her time to times when it suits my needs, DH will give her a bit of time on it at weekends. She can be trusted to use it alone, as really is just interested in her favourite programmes. She has once accidentally called someone but nothing since.