Why oh why are people giving their under 12s tablets?

I have three. They have no devices.

I have no idea about your child's individual needs. I do know that the iPad was invented less than a couple of decades ago, the ill impact is well documented and that there is absolutely no need for your child to use one whatsoever.

I also know that basic critical thinking indicates that 50% of children (ref Wales) do not have special needs, and that clearly there is something going on around overdiagnosis for incentive-based reasons here.

The real issues come in with a high number of hours in front of the screen and/or completely unsupervised access.

Let’s face it, the kids that spend hours and hours on an ipad aren’t that many. They will mostly fall in two categories. Kids that need that time due to SENDs or kids who have parents that can’t or won’t spend quality time with them.

With the first category it is what it is, and in fact the iPad can be extremely beneficial and expand that child’s world (for example communication ). Plus , some of those children would struggle anyway in certain areas.

The second category, let’s face it, with or without an iPad, the outcomes would be the same , particularly for the parents that won’t. They’d just send their kids out, put them in front of the telly, ignore them or whatever. Again, very likely for those children to have some issues there with or without the iPad.

I'm talking specifically about my 7 yr old who has several developmental issues including a seizure disorder. Strongly suspect if I let him out to play and he drowned or was hit by a car due to lack of impulse control you'd be the first to say 'why on earth would you let a child like that out to play unsupervised at only 7'

Yes my son spends 3-4 hours a day outside every day, supervised. Parks, woodlands, cycling, dog walks. Every single day. You want to send a child with no impulse control to a riverside alone?

I thought that this was about medication and I was going to say “because my kids could swallow tablets before they age of 12” 🤦🏻‍♀️

So to be clear you don't have children? Have neverpareinted a child? Let alone a child with additional needs? Yet think you know more than my child's neurologist, neuropsychologist, occupational therapist and specialist SEN educators?

Diagnosis does not = DLA.

There are likely no trucks out in the woods or riverside. We obviously aren't talking about sending kids to play out on the M4

Ok! Go well! :)

You understand that getting hurt like breaking an arm is one thing, a child who will impulsively run in front of a truck getting hurt is something else entirely. You understand that right?

You are ignorant and ableist.

Critical thinking around ADHD and the explosion in diagnosis involves suspension of "empathy".

In Wales at one point, 50% of kids were listed as SEN. What total BS that renders any diagnosis meaningless. Most people get these diagnoses in order to access the benefits that go with it, let's be honest. For example, extra time in exams. Or, as an adult, cushier office equipment.

So your children are homeschooled, yes?

Being street-raised clearly doesn't lead to good critical thinking and empathy.

Shocking.

It is honestly insane how hysterical we are as a culture now about allowing kids some independence to play freely. People shoving an iPad in their kid's face is apparently "safer". You're probably likely creating or exacerbating any neurodevelopmental problems by doing this if anything. It is better to send your kid off to play out and they come home with a grazed knee.

Yes! My brother has got an ADHD diagnosis in adulthood mainly to get work perks. He has coped fine without all the hysterical pandering that is typical today. Mostly it's just pathologising completely typical boyish behaviour.

So what? "Getting hurt" when out playing was just part of life and often educational for kids in the vast majority of cases. Yes, literally my Mum would send the seven of us off out after breakfast and we would drop in for lunch then go out playing again until the evening? There were no mass deaths from children playing outside.

And don't shoot the messenger. It is a documented fact that ipads and smart device screen time negatively impacts child development. It is your choice to allow your child to use these. It is absolutely not inevitable that children should be on these devices.

Oh aye. Out of sight out of mind is the perfect way to parent a child with ADHD.

No wonder adult mental health services are overrun right now. There was fuck all support for ND children in the 90's.

God forbid @Barnbrack actually does what's best for her child.

You were and dyou know what happened to kids like mine? Their lack of impulse control led them into situations where they got hurt. But that was ok, they were out of the way. Imagine if just sent my 7 yr old out to play unsupervised, that would be better? Just off you go, see you when the streetlights come on? Romanticized nonsense and genuine lazy parenting. Do you actually have children? I'm willing to be every bone in my body you don't.

In a longitudinal study tracking over 200 children from the age of 2 years to 5 years old, children with higher levels of screen time showed greater delays in development across a range of important measures, including language, problem-solving, and social interaction. Analyses indicated that the level of screen time was significantly linked to the specific level of developmental delay 12 -14 months later. This is a critical period in a child's life: as the researchers note, the current data indicates that exposure to excessive screen time during these early years can have serious effects "impinging on children's ability to develop optimally".

Source: Madigan, S., Browne, D. T., Racine, N., & Mori, C., 2019. JAMA Pediatrics ↗ (jamanetwork.com/journals/jamapediatrics/fullarticle/2722666)
Via: Ledger of Harms (https://ledger.humanetech.com/#study_19)

Preschoolers who use screen-based media for more than 1 hour each day have been shown to have significantly less development in core brain regions involved in language and literacy. Brain scans indicate that the more time spent on screens, the lower the child's language skills, and the less structural integrity in key brain areas responsible for language. This is one of the first studies to assess the structural neurobiological impacts of screen-based media use in preschoolers; it raises serious questions as to how screen use may affect the basic development of young children's brains.

Source: Hutton, J. S., Dudley, J., & Horowitz-Kraus, T., 2019. JAMA Pediatrics ↗ (jamanetwork.com/journals/jamapediatrics/fullarticle/2754101)
Via: Ledger of Harms (https://ledger.humanetech.com/#study_15)

How did I just know it would be a "my child has ADHD" response? These devices have only existed for a few decades, the innumerable negative effects on development and cognition are very well documented. Your child simply doesn't need to be on one, at any time. In the 90s, we were sent outside and told to entertain ourselves, and guess what, we all did! ADHD or no ADHD

We spend 2-3 hours a day outside (2 hours if he has an indoor sporting activity, 3 if an unstructured evening) the 2 kids play together all round the house, my eldest gets dysregulated and needs a break from everyone but due to his ADHD, epilepsy, possible autism and sleep initiation disorder his brain doesn't switch off to rest so to rest his body his brain needs a task. So he spends 20-30 minutes stints gaming several times a day. We also play boardgames, do Play-Doh, do slime activities, do other sensory activities, there are 24 hours a day and he has a neurologist diagnoses sleep disorder (which to be diagnosed with you need to prove activity and sleep hygiene which we have) he has an hour long bedtime routine involving sensory circuits, a bath, storytime, a weighted blanket and other deep pressure. I guarantee you that you wouldn't live a day in my life and think 'ooft what a lazy woman I'm so rested' every part of our day, screen access included is carefully planned to support his sensory needs based on I put from neurology, neuropsychologist and occupational therapists. But if you saw us out, and he was trying to survive the sensory nightmare of a crowded bus you'd see a lazy woman shoving a Nintendo switch at a growling child. He also has an insanely high IQ and does extremely well at school

Get up. Eat. Go out in nature. Lunch. Play/ help Mummy with laundry or Daddy with the garden etc. Dinner. Bath. Story. Bed. Pretty typical day