To ask if you shield your kids from technology?

[fuzzypicklehead]

Had an interesting visit from some relatives this week, with a much different approach to education and child-rearing than my own and it's left me pondering.

I let my own kids (2 and 4) watch (selective)tv, and probably have it on more than we should in the winter when the weather is crap. They have some Leapfrog type reading and writing toys, and I will also let them have limited, supervised use of my laptop, ipod and wii. I try to balance it with arts/crafts/sensory activities, board games and traditional toys (cars, dolls, cookers, etc) and plenty of running around and playing time.

Our relatives have a much different view of technology. They don't have a TV, or use battery operated toys, video games, etc. Their children attend a non-traditional school (I think we're not supposed to mention them on mumsnet) where there is also no technology and exposure to reading/writing is delayed until 7.

I guess I was just struck by the Mum's reaction when the kids wanted to share their toys and especially when they asked to play together on the wii. She was visibly uncomfortable, almost anxious when her kids were trying out these things which were obviously completely new to them. Almost as though the technology was dirty and she was worried her kids would be damaged or corrupted by it.

I know it's not recommended to let kids watch TV before 2 years old, but is it that weird to let toddlers access technology after 2 as a part of a balanced routine?

I was having lunch in an Italian restaurant the other day and next to me was a mum, her toddler and an iPad which was running some kid of pre-school app. The mum was explaining to the DC what to do to change the colour of her 'paintbrush'.

Mother-DC Quality Time. DC was doing something creative.

I don't really understand parents who have a blanket opinion that technology stiffles creativity etc. I wonder whether this opinion arises because the parent isn't that IT literate.

my dd (8)uses technology and she recently bought a wii with her birthday money. however we limit what she is allowed to play and for how long. same with computer games and tv programmes

last summer she was in the garden with her bicyle upside down, it was resting on the handlebars and the seat. she was using the pedals to dispense 'icecream' to us all.

not worried about 'technology' impingeing on her phyiscal or mental development here.

I AM worried about 'moral values' that technology brings, for example the effect of soap operas where everything is a big deal, everyone shouts at each other, and generally disrespects each other on a routine basis. we are very selective about the christmas films that we watch - all those that involve a dad going to criminal lengths to get a promised toy are banned. Jackie Wilson books - banned. 'mean girl' films are banned. I HATE the film of where the wild things are.

Programmes that support loving and caring are promoted -
if i'm not sure of what a programme is actually saying then i will watch it first, and we will discuss issues if it is necessary.

having said all that we watch the news every morning together and if she has any questions we answer them in a relevant way that i know she will understand.

I've limited my dc's access to technology when they were younger, yes. Of course they could watch tv, but I thought it was pointless to have a 3 yr old in front of the computer, when they were totally satisfied with other activities.

The fact that I grew up without technology (I was born in 1970) hasn't prevented me to learn how to use a computer, or an ipad. Honestly, I really can't think why it is so amazing that a 2 yr old can operate a touch screen, hardly a sign of geniality.

Mine are now 9 and 7 and can play on the pc, on my ipad etc.

I went to a "S" school. I'm not sure the technophobia makes much of a difference re the modern age - my brother, who also went there, is a software developer and I co-founded a successful web startup in my late twenties. I still don't own a TV though and don't miss it. There are other things about said schools that maybe don't prepare you very well for the modern world but I think the technology thing is pretty minor and anyway that's a whole other thread that's been done to gory bunfighty death many times already.

Having said that, I find it a bit when children learn to use CAD software or painting programmes instead of using pencils, brushes and paper.

Each to their own though.

But why Manatee? If you have a DS who physically finds holding a brush and pencil very challenging and fights and kicks not to do traditional 'table-top' activities, surely the fact he loves making pictures on the pc is a good thing? (Geniune question!)

TBH I don't have a very strong opinion about it Wilson. If anything I guess it's the simple and very biased fact that I absolutely loved, loved, loved stuff like that as a child and would have gone a bit nuts at some points in my childhood without a creative outlet. It doesn't take much thinking though to realise that people are all different, and of course if a child of mine absolutely hated painting and was itching to do CAD or similar I'd encourage them.

I suppose it's a personal prejudice of mine that would be keen to see said child making physical models as well as CAD ones - something about the tactile quality and getting to know the properties of materials and planes physically as well as schematically on a computer. It's hard to explain and as I said it's a personal prejudice and possibly quite out of fashion these days.

I think the "No Tech" approach is dumb, but so also is the "let them have all they can eat" because computer games are designed to be totally absorbing.

Moderation in all things....

DD spends much of her time at home making things, sewing, painting, knitting etc. She is extremely creative. But she often likes to do it with half an eye on the TV

I don't think it's all or nothing, either, like chocolate etc.

And I can't stand the identikit uninidividual fuzzy Steiner painting style but that's another topic

I think also it's to do with basic skills that we all probably need to use in our lives.
Technology is great but it won't put up a picture, paint a window frame, bake a cake or plant a vegetable patch.

Most humans lives will be improved by being dextrous and physically able to manipulate their environment.

As for creativity, I think some technology can be highly beneficial. However let's be very honest the vast majority of techie stuff that most young children encounter is not of this kind...yes there might be interaction and decision making but we shouldn't pretend to ourselves that it's the same as creativity.

We love technology here.

All the usual embracing of techological babysitters family items, but we've also encouraged and fostered an interest in things that aren't 'toys'... our telescope for example, using the internet to find things out rather than playing games on, day trips to Jodrell Bank...

We also ambrace more traditional pursuits like talking, playing in the garden, preparing meals together etc etc.,

It doesn't have to be a case or either or.

My job is to bring my children to adulthood, and to prepare them for their adult life as best I can. Technology and gardening are part of it

*wordfactory - "yes there might be interaction and decision making but we shouldn't pretend to ourselves that it's the same as creativity"

Isn't creativity 'creativity'? I didn't realise that the medium determines whether something is 'creative'. Its a bit like saying that using a hammer and chisel is 'creative' but using a power tool isn't.

Anyway, hands all those parents that had TV and tech stuff as kids AND still ended up being well-rounded adults? :o

We limit tech time quite a lot with our dc, despite, or perhaps because, our jobs both have a lot to do with technology. I worry about sedentary lifestyles as much as anything else, the obesity epidemic, a generation of children used to sitting too much rather than playing in 3-d reality.

And before everyone jumps up saying how slim and active (and perfect at self-regulating their time, good at turning the ds off without a tantrum and moving on to outdoor pursuits, art, homework etc with just a happy chuckle) their own child is, I'm quite convinced by the research that shows how much parents underestimate how much time their child spends gawping at a screen, and how much time their child is physically active form.

Also I know that if I spend all day online, I feel worse - grumpier, more lethargic - for it than if I've gone out, met people physically, gone for a walk or a run, etc. I can feel it in me so why would children be different?

Anyway, hands all those parents that had TV and tech stuff as kids AND still ended up being well-rounded adults

Pushydad - the height of technology when I was at secondary was having a huge calculator with led numbers!
They bought computers into the first company I worked for after about 2 years

if by 'technology' you mean a hoover and a twin tub. Oh, and as bruffin says - A CALCULATOR . I grew up in the 70's and still remember black and white TVs!

led numbers. Those were the days [looks wistfully out the window] I had one of the first quartz watches where you had to press a button for the LED to light up. Jeeze. I suddenly feel so old :(

Some people didn't get the joke when I started a thread about not allowing kids to play Angry Birds. If I were to start a thread about how 'technology' like hoovers and twin tubs make us fat and lazy then it will probably meet the same crowd.

I think that's the thing.
As a child the telly was only worth watching for an hour a day (Grange Hill anyone). No video. No PC. That was it.

So we played a lot outside. We talked a lot. We hung around our parents learning how to cook, fix plugs etc. We lay on our beds and daydreamed about becoming pop stars (or was that just me?).

And whilst I do let my DC enertain themselves with technology I am very aware how much time it can take up. How easily it is to get sucked in ot the next level of a game, or another check on an FB update. Hours and hours can go by.

The DC at the primary I used to volunteer in often played on their XBoxes from the second they got home to the second they went to bed. They were beyond pasty faced, completley unfit, uncommunicative etc etc.
Their parents would have done far better to insist they have a little potter in the kitchen or played a game of pegs in the street.

No. I find it madness. I'm sure you can function without technology but it is becoming more and more essential and my children are exposed to it a lot. My three year old DD knows how to use the camera on my phone, our digital camera, the TV, the CD player etc. We still have traditional toys, books, pens, paper, paint, crafty things etc but I see no harm in age appropriate TV and games.

I think t's a bit different if your children are little because they wont really ask much about technology 9apart from the tv) when they get older though it's much harder. I always said I wouldn't let mine have mobile phones until a certain age etc but one of older ones has started middle school now and has to catch a bus to and from a few miles away and we all just feel safer with him having a phone but he is onloy 10yo and it still doesn't seem right somehow!

I agree with wordfactory and fennel!

I haven't been on your Angry Birds thread Pushydad, but lets face it, while I think it is quite important than a 9 yr old child knows how to do basic stuff with a pc, I really think that it is not essential to play Angry Birds. It is good fun, yes, but hardly unmissable.
My dc finish school at 4.30, there are other activities that are more interesting than Angry Birds, imho.

I I tend to think the less the better for little ones, I don't like the insular nature of interacting with a screen, I actually prefer tv or a dvd as entertainment vs. an electronic game. We have vowed never to have a games console.

I agree it ultimately has a big role in our children's lives but I don't think there is much danger of a child being left behind for not having used it from birth - as demonstrated by 2 year olds able to use smartphones. It doesnt take advanced skill.

My sister (pre-school teacher_ went tp a training session where they showed an 18 month old puzzlen given a book - she kept swiping the front of the book with her finger but the picture didn't change!

I'm afraid I am a person who is genuinely grateful to have been born at time when iphones and ipads were invented.

My daughter is at a Steiner school. We allow extremely limited access to technology, not because we think it's bad, but because we'd rather interact with each other and have conversations. The TV doesn't get switched on except for specific programmes that we want to watch. DD doesn't watch any children's programmes, but does like to watch dance and music. She has an electronic piano to play but no other battery powered toys because I personally find tinny music and voices annoying.

When I first started work, PCs were still in their infancy, and a tape-driven BBC model was state of the art. My boss is even older, yet he has managed to become an Excel whizz, and I managed to get a few computer letters after my name before I allowed them to expire. I guess my point is that all of my peers were around pre-Microsoft and apple, and all of us have managed to be computer-literate enough to succeed in a modern environment.

As an ex-Steiner person upthread has also pointed out, it didn't stop either her or her sibling being rather good at IT stuff.

Interestingly this guy was Steiner educated.

Indeed Worldgonecrazy... I was born when telephones were <a class="break-all" href="http://www.google.it/imgres?imgurl=farm2.staticflickr.com/1244/853542516_c09cbc4800.jpg&imgrefurl=www.flickr.com/photos/xelisax/853542516/&h=393&w=500&sz=170&tbnid=422beyvTGnRIsM:&tbnh=94&tbnw=119&prev=/search%3Fq%3Dtelefono%2Bvecchio%26tbm%3Disch%26tbo%3Du&zoom=1&q=telefono+vecchio&docid=2oC_9qiv_kkykM&sa=X&ei=jt0vT43LBOak4gSgtfiqDg&ved=0CE8Q9QEwAw&dur=320" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">like this one and yet I've learnt to use my smartphone without many problems... and look I can even do links !