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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:
Redknickerswillstoptrains · 17/09/2012 18:49

My son is 6 tomorrow and he is getting a netbook for his birthday,his brother is 9 and has a laptop this is especially useful as he has dypraxia and ASD,they are both active boys,at 6 he is old enough to be responsible for something that will break and understand the consequences if it does get broken.By the way we are buying a reconditioned netbook,it is the only thing he asked for and is the only present we are giving him.

Squeegle · 17/09/2012 18:52

I think it is fine for kids to play on them, but iPads for v young children are accidents waiting to happen. And they're so expensive! Isn't the issue more about giving really expensive stuff to young children who haven't fully developed the responsibility to look after them properly.

I don't let our children take their iPods on holiday. Mean I may be- but I know who will be picking up the pieces if one gets left!
I wouldn't have enough money to buy another, neither could I cope with the trauma it would cause- and mine are 10 and 8, never mind 4!

And I think it does concern us all because of PEER PRESSURE! However, each to their own!

Strawhatpirate · 17/09/2012 18:55

I think you are right hulababy it is a lot to do with the parenting. I think her parents use it as an electronic parent alternitive. I have literaly never seen that child not on some form of expensive rectangle. Also they have to replace the ipads because she trashes them regularly. But she's an extreme case most people don't use ipads and stuff like that

Glittertwins · 17/09/2012 18:55

If you teach your children to be careful with things, they will respond. My two have been using an iPad, under light supervision since they were 3.5. They know to sit still with it and put it down before getting off the sofa.
On the subject of imagination/bored, I let them get on with playing together and they come up with all sorts. Their imagination is not being stifled by use of an iPad and they can easily manage car journeys over 5 hours long by looking at books or out of the window.

GoldPedanticPanda · 17/09/2012 19:00

iPads have been a tool to help children with autism reach out to the world. There are charities that help provide iPads for children with ASD for use in schools to help.

My son uses an iPhone (an old one with no sim as we can't afford an iPad yet) and it has been a lifesaver to limit his meltdowns when we're out.

Craftyone · 17/09/2012 19:10

MummyGalore - Great thread BTW. There?s never one answer.

chihiro · 17/09/2012 19:11

Isn't the issue more about giving really expensive stuff to young children who haven't fully developed the responsibility to look after them properly

Well that was the point I was trying to make but I got my parenting criticised for my trouble.

Lambethlil · 17/09/2012 19:12

alibaba I am so far from perfect... It's one of the reasons I'm very grateful that there wasn't even ceebeebies when my dcs were toddlers. There was half an hour of tellytubbies mid morning, then that was it. I found that there were so many situations where I had to impose my will- food sleep, road safety tooth brushing etc. that I found it very refreshing not to have to parent over tv.
That support isn't there if your toddlers have access to their own screen. You have to monitor/ nag. And those posters who don't manage their dcs usage are doing them no favours. It may be more relaxing to sit your dc down with a screen at a restaurant, but they're missing out.

Traceymac2 · 17/09/2012 19:14

My of 2 and 4 are always on mine, I have to hide it! My dd2 was able to unlock it and find her apps at 20 months! They only play memory and various other kids apps. I am quite impressed that they are so computer literate! I wouldn't buy them one though because they would destroy it!

Lavenderhoney · 17/09/2012 19:15

my ds uses my ipad- he is 5 and he loves the language apps and the maths apps. His learns 2 languages at school as well as speaking his mother tongue and the teachers both have a password protected website where we can check vocab and use the appropriate tools provided. its great as we don't have loads of paper wafting about (enviroment).

i hark back to the "good old days" when all you needed was a cardboard box- but technology and the world dictates my dc's need to have a reasonable amount of access or they will miss out on the alternative methods of learning available. they still like cardboard boxes!

its a bit like calculators- i remember when we weren't allowed them in maths, and they were the preserve of teachers and parents. My dad went mad if i touched it. I remember his disbelief at how the price dropped so fast and they were being given away with a tank of petrol:)

onceortwice · 17/09/2012 19:16

My now 3 and 4 YO have one each. They have them both for well over a year.

Go have a hissy fit about that if you would like.

If you haven't ever used an IPAD with a toddler, you have no clue what benefits they can bring.

My DS (4) is HFA and he totally gets stuff on an IPDA he would struggle to get in circle time.

YABU

Glittertwins · 17/09/2012 19:18

I'd be putting a pass code on it Tracey! Both of ours are locked down when we don't want them playing on them plus they are also in quite sturdy covers protecting front and back. Not quite as hardcore as RusyBear's link but good enough.

Francagoestohollywood · 17/09/2012 19:19

As a matter of fact, I don't worry about my children breaking the Ipad, nor I am against MY dc playing with it, now that they are 10 and 8.

But like Chihiro said, it is a question of value. And just as I wouldn't give ds the equivalent of 600 euros in Lego for Christmas, I wouldn't give him an Ipad. Not until he appreciates the value of it and the fact that - as fun as it is - it is still a luxury.

onceortwice · 17/09/2012 19:21

I really don't get what people think is so fragile about an IPAD.

Both of my children have them in reasonable covers, nothing out of the ordinary. Both have dropped them and stood on them at times. Never had a problem with them.

I can't see the problem as long as you secure the internet access and their ability to download new apps (yep... even at 3). My DS has a kids suduko one which he adores. ANd the phonics apps are great.

Lambethlil · 17/09/2012 19:24

onceortwice I'm not having a hissy fit. Just pointing out that not having had access to screens as toddlers puts my dcs at an advantage to yours.

onceortwice · 17/09/2012 19:25

Your child not having autism puts them at an advantage to mine.

Want to continue the pissing contest?

Glittertwins · 17/09/2012 19:25

I don't see how you can say your children are at an advantage over mine who use an iPad as part of their learning.

surfingluby · 17/09/2012 19:27

My 11 year old is on her 4th laptop now, she needs it for school but I've told her if she breaks another one then it's the library from then on as I can't afford to keep replacing them!!
I agree it's a nessesaty now a days but I also think it should be death with in schools as not all parents can afford them and not all parents want their children using them at home.......I certainly don't like technology as I think children should be children, I like books and board games and I feel computers isolate a child. I see them in the park or in a shop on their games consoles and I think it's sad, my daughter won't go and play at certain children's houses because she says all they want to do is play on the wii. I'm so lucky as mine would rather play outside :-)
I'm shocked at the amount of young children who play on their iPads at swimming lessons, mine can have one when they buy it themselves!!!

onceortwice · 17/09/2012 19:30

And, OP, I really fail to see how not having access to a tool they WILL be required to use as an adult puts them at an advantage.

But, I really don't give too much of a stuff.

The point is YOU are missing that IPADS and such like can play an important role when a child doesn't cope with 'traditional' methods.

I think you will find Bill Gates falls into that catagory. I don't suppose he's worrying too much about feeling disadvantaged.

lljkk · 17/09/2012 19:30

Oh, I dunno, Might be the person above to admits to having smashed her own. Might be dozens (?hundreds) of IPad ads sold for "Parts/Not Working" on Ebay. Might be the clever & sensitive electronics that didn't even exist 20 years ago. Might be story of the one taken on a trampoline, or the mention of putting it on the house insurance. Or the £330 price tag (that's 2nd hand on Ebay, dread to think what they cost new).

I dunno, something about all that makes me think "expensive and fragile."

Traceymac2 · 17/09/2012 19:31

My dd1 has already destroyed my itouch, she sucked and slobbered all over it, unfortunately the bods at apple knew this as the indicator inside was positive for contact with water! Don't want to risk it with the iPad, it has already been flung during fights and walked on!

lisad123 · 17/09/2012 19:31

We got one this year, both gis have autism and it's a god send especially for dd2 who is 5 this week.
It's a great communication and learning tool for her and is set up in a way that is easier for her to understand.

DowagersHump · 17/09/2012 19:32

Am I right in thinking lambertlil that you have no experience of parenting young children in the 2010s?

Just when you said 'when my children were small, there was no cbeebies'

The world has changed massively. Before I had a young child, I probably would have thought the same as you but now I've realised how much DS has learnt through using technology. It's improved his handwriting (fine motor control), his spelling, his numeracy. It pretty much builds on everything he learns about at school.

I can't speak for how anyone else uses technology but I largely use it to enhance his learning - those are the apps that are loaded on.

I am v old incidentally - I'm learning as I go with a small child!

Lambethlil · 17/09/2012 19:32

Glitter If it's part of their learning at a time when they're still working out their place in the world and don't have the headspace to sit and be bored or look out of the window or struggle to follow an adult conversation over dinner without the distraction of a virtual world, then yes you are disadvantaging your dcs over those who grew up without them.

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