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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To think that IPads/laptops for younger children are just ridiculous

424 replies

MummyGalore · 17/09/2012 14:19

I don't know if this has been covered before as not on here often so sorry if so.
But AIBU to be getting increasingly riled/concerned with the amount of mums who are talking about getting their children (I'm talking under 10s but some i know are buying them for children as young as 4!!!) Ipads and laptops for christmas. It riles me as i think that they are starving their children of their opportunity to learn through imaginative play. Simple toys are the best at that age, surely ipads are not a good option especially at 4.
What do others think?

OP posts:
Francagoestohollywood · 17/09/2012 19:59

No, I don't do classic music. We are incredibly low brow here Grin... in fact while mumsnetters children educate themselves with sophisticated apps, mine tend to faff with angry birds...

Lambethlil · 17/09/2012 19:59

Hula you're right, maybe access to this technology has no damaging effect. But we don't know. And any supporting evidence to the contrary is anecdotal.

hazeyjane · 17/09/2012 19:59

We are saving up for an ipad for ds (2.2), he has sn, he uses one with his portage visitor and SALT, and it seems like a useful tool that may help in some way with his development. But reading this thread has made me feel like I might be a complete idiot for thinking this!!

McPhee · 17/09/2012 20:00

Children don't need their own Ipad or any other adult machine, any more than they need their own coffee maker, washing machine or lawn mower. A shared family laptop/Ipad is one thing, but to buy one for a child? Really?? When that child goes out and earns a crust then imo that's when they get one.

My Dd has none of this to look forward to in her very young life, as I'm so against it it's unreal. Children are given too much too young. And for what? Because parents have no idea what else to spend their money on, and because Jo bloggs has one? I've had many heated debates with friends and family over this, they all know I don't approve Blush.

Childhood is for toys, playing outdoors, board games, baking, drawing, running around........and don't give the line of 'my child does that too' Hmm I stand by what I said, in that the adult world and child world have got too uncomfortably close in recent years. And it's nothing to do with progress. It's a lot to do with pressure, and I understand that. But do you know what? I'm fairly sure the word 'no' hasn't become extinct.

It's really not that difficult to understand.

bowerbird · 17/09/2012 20:02

Lambethlil I totally agree.

The evidence is mounting that the overwhelming amount of screen time is changing the way we think and altering brain chemistry. Should we not at least pause and think about how this affects our children and, yes our society before rushing to justify (but it's educational!) or deny (my DC only spends 10 minutes per month on his own Ipad).

And no, it's not the same as the printing press.

Francagoestohollywood · 17/09/2012 20:03

I agree Bowerbird.

onceortwice · 17/09/2012 20:03

Hazey - Please ignore the OP. My DS has SN. He is now 4. His IPAD is BRILLIANT!!! I cannot rate it highly enough. It is not desperately fragile (Obviously, care needs to be taken and they need to be kept out of water) but the APPs are BRILLIANT - You need to look at which ones would benefit your DS but they are great.

Seriously, I cannot recommend them highly enough. my DD has one too now (SHe is NT) and again I cannot recommend it highly enough.

Please don't listen to those people who feel it ought not be allowed and don't know any better because (thankfully for them) they've never been put in a posistion where traditional education isn't sufficient/

I also feel that people who are so negative about it know that emerging ideas / trends might put other kids at an advantage (over theirs) and they don't want that to happen, so they are desperate to maintain the status quo. xx

DowagersHump · 17/09/2012 20:03

I wish DS were a bit fatter :o

I think you have a point re concentration spans and I limit on that basis. But otherwise, you're sounding like a bit of a luddite lambeth. Why would touch screens be inherently 'worse' for a child than the computer games I had as a kid (I had one of those 2D tennis game things on the TV)

An under 5 isn't a toddler either. DS started school long before he was 5 and he has been using a computer at school (and all the things hulababy lists) since he started

Lambethlil · 17/09/2012 20:05

My problem once is that this is an unproven technology. I've not claimed any superior parenting, quite the opposite, I would have been the mum using it for a quiet life.
If those of you who do allow toddlers on laptops and touch screens are so happy with the choice, good luck. Still think you're whistling in the dark.

onceortwice · 17/09/2012 20:06

oh, McPhee... Are you children allowed any toys? Do they have to WORK for them? PLEASE!! If I am happy to fund it and I think it's a benefit, I do believe it's MY choice.

Hulababy · 17/09/2012 20:06

McPhee - but I don't want to share my laptop! I want my laptop for me, to use when I need to do my work or to use when I just want to sit and relax with it. DD would need to use it for homework at the same time I need to use it for my work.

Hence DD has her own computer in her "play"room.

She actually doesn't have her own iPad because I don't mind sharing that.

Alibabaandthe40nappies · 17/09/2012 20:06

McPhee what do you mean 'don't give the line' Hmm
You sound narrow minded in the extreme. What about when your daughter is 14/15 and needs a laptop for school, will you hold to your outdated ideals then?

GoldPedanticPanda · 17/09/2012 20:07

Don't think that you're an idiot hazeyjane, I'm sure the posters disagreeing with children using iPads would think twice if they had a child with developmental difficulties.

orangeandlemons · 17/09/2012 20:07

I think it is becoming the norm for youngchildren to have access to this stuff

igeneration. 4th Paragraph onwards.

Francagoestohollywood · 17/09/2012 20:07

I have said already that ipads are great for people with sn. They are great for pretty much anyone.
But there is no need for a 5 yr old to own one. They can share the family's technology and yes, I am concerned for yhe same reasons Bowerbird stated.
And I am not worried my dc are being left out, even my computer illiterate 70 yrs old mother loves her ipad.

Hulababy · 17/09/2012 20:08

Also - if it is about the money issue too McPhee - how would you feel about DD being bought a piano for her Christmas present one year (at 6y I think it was)? That cost FAR more than an iPad or laptop costs.

onceortwice · 17/09/2012 20:09

Lambethlil - Are you even listening / reading a think I say? my son has autism. To say I am whistling in the dark is the fucking understatement of the century. Excuse the language.

I have to be led by what he can deal with. And he gets computers / IPADS.

Do you really think I should just force him to be deeply unhappy in social groups because the alternative hasn't been proven?

PLEASE read what I am saying.

MAYBE this isn't right for your kids. But, I am DAMNFUL SURE that your way isn't right for mine. I'm not saying your way is wrong, I am saying you are wrong for telling me I shouldn't do it.

Hulababy · 17/09/2012 20:11

Childhood is for toys, playing outdoors, board games, baking, drawing, running around........and don't give the line of 'my child does that too'

But what do you mean? Does the Hmm mean you don't believe parents who say their children are perfectly able to manage all those things? Or does the presence of an iPad or laptop mean all good doing from the other stuff is wiped out?

Original poster
MummyGalore · 17/09/2012 20:12

Crikey this kicked off..... I posted this for discussion and i admit to not thinking about the uses of an ipad/laptop for children with special needs.It is clearly a very useful tool for these children. My main issue however is more buying them for 4 year olds for sake of buying and also the developmental issues that could occur when they are used incorrectly eg as a babysitting tool. For every parent that uses them in a supervised educational way there will be a parent who doesn't.

OP posts:
McPhee · 17/09/2012 20:12

14/15 is hugely different to 5

And yes my Dd does have toys....that are toys

Hmm
onceortwice · 17/09/2012 20:13

ANd I think you are wrong to tell others they shouldn't.

ReindeersGoldenBollocks · 17/09/2012 20:13

McPhee, why can't those of us whose children have access to an iPad do all of those things that you have listed with your DD?

Does owning an iPad mean that I am not able to do these things with my children? Or does the fact that I do all of the things you listed and have a wonderfully developing DD, who also happens to be able to use an iPad, mean that all of a sudden I'm an inadequate parent?

onceortwice · 17/09/2012 20:14

My child has a toy. It's pretty cool. It's called an IPAD.

I refuse to feel bad about that.

He's 4.

orangeandlemons · 17/09/2012 20:15

When my 18 year old ds was young computer gameswere the work of the devil. They affected development etc etc etc.

Ds had a play station at 5. He is now a very intelligent, articulate person who reads non stop. He is just starting uni. He has a massive social life through social networking and is so savvy with computers he amazes me. Despite computer games being devil's spawn. Hmm

We live in the 21st century, computers and IT are a fact of life, and not something to be protected from. I think the word is Luddites. It is fearof change that drives some of these attitudes. A whole generation have grown up with IT with no discernable problems. In fact it has widened their social circles and interests

onceortwice · 17/09/2012 20:15

He still plays, runs around outside, bakes, draws (not that much), does a bit more running around.

Amazing child that he is: He can do ALL of that AND STILL PLAY ON AN IPAD.

Child is a genius, I tell you