To Think that Tablets (computers) ARE ok for young ish children ie maybe 5 on wards?

[TheHouseonHauntedHill]

Just a few comments on a few threads regarding the Hudl recently, I noticed some people mentioned that they would not get one for "young" children.

Why?

My DC have have a leap pad thing, and its been most educational.

I didn't read the thread you refer to, but I think young children can get a lot of benefit from things like iPads. There are some fabulous apps out there for children, my school uses them with reception children and above.

There shouldn't be any need to give them their own though, as if they are going to get any real benefit from them then a parent needs to be doing it with them.

Otherwise the only benefit is to the parent who gets peace while their child is playing on the iPad.

My children share an iPad, they contributed birthay money towards it and got it last Christmas.

We are very tight though when it is taken out, as a relative had their iPad stolen from their bag last year.

I am going to leave it as long as possible before getting DC their own tablets.

They use my phone for apps ( with me)

My dc are 3 and 5 and getting them for Christmas.

They use tablets in school from Nursery age. IMO they are a good mix of being educational and allowing games (most of which are educational for young children anyway IMO)

I find them infinitely more preferable to a playstation/wii/ds, none of which I would allow my child until closer to teen years.

We're getting my 3 year year old the Leap pad ultra for Christmas. At the moment he uses our tablets or IPhones but with constant supervision. In getting him his own one with a child safe browser etc, we no longer have to worry about him breaking ours.

My son is getting a leappad for Xmas. He's 4.

My 5 year old had an Innoteb but now has a tablet, and gets so much out of it. I think it's doing your children a dis-service to not keep up with technology.

Some people don't like their kids having much screen time, which is fair enough. Or maybe they worry young children would break a tablet.

Personally I let my three year old use my iPad and have for at least a year. He learnt to do jigsaw games on there and now can do 50+ piece ones in real life so I've found it quite educational. And he has learned loads of songs from a music app. But then he only uses it occasionally in the car on long journeys and so on, so I don't feel it is having much of a negative effect on his life.

I'm sure no young child needs a tablet but I don't really need mine either - find it useful now I have it though.

Yes I don't see why some people are so fearful of and horrified by technology. They seem to think it make you a better parent, the longer you shun technology.

woowoo

I am thinking about getting one Dc the Hudl like most of MN it seems and I have noticed a few comments here and there, for instance, that they can be bad for a childs' imagination development, that screen time in terms of a Pad is different to that of TV time. And just comments that they would not get a small child one.

I got the impression it was more about their brains than breaking the actual Hudl/tablet.

I don't think they need to have their own tablet. We've got a laptop, a desktop and a tablet in our house. Our children are allowed supervised and limited access. I do not like young children having their own when they're allowed on them all the time. It stifles creative play.

I think the decision is down to lifestyle, age and character of the kids rather than some blanket decision. It is also incumbent on the adult/person in charge to be an active participant

Some Infant schools are getting ipads for the classrooms.

www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/patientinstructions/000355.htm

"Screen time" is any time that is spent in front of a screen, such as a TV, computer, or video game player. Screen time is sedentary activity, or being inactive while sitting down. Very little energy is used during screen time.

Most children spend about 3 hours a day watching TV. When you add in other screen time activities, it is closer to 5 - 7 hours a day.

Too much screen time can:

Increase your child’s risk of becoming obese
Make it harder to get your child to go to bed and fall asleep at night
Increase the chance that your child will develop attention problems, anxiety, and depression
Screen time increases your child’s risk of obesity because:

Sitting and watching a screen is time that is not spent being physically active.
TV commercials and other screen ads can teach children to make less healthy food choices. Most of the time, the food in ads aimed at kids is high in sugar, salt, or fats. It is not nutritious.
Children eat more when they are watching TV, especially if they see ads for food.
Computers can be helpful when kids are using them to do schoolwork. But surfing the internet, spending time on Facebook, or watching YouTube videos is considered unhealthy screen time.

But more importantly screen time is only safe when monitored closely and you won't, after time you'll just enjoy the peace

bound thanks for your link, but I have to laugh.

MY DD is having screen time now, watching The Fox and Hounds on TV and I do not think she has sat down yet for a moment of it! She has been bounding round on the sofas, climbing, jumping....

My daughter has had her iPad since she was five and it's a god send. Especially since she is ASD. If we are in a difficult situation for example a hospital appointment I can plug her earphones in and block out the very loud sounds of the hospital with Charlie and Lola. Obviously she can't use it as school but she uses ear defenders there.
All my kids have iPads and they absolutely love them. I love mine too. Great for watching movies in the bath with a glass of vino on a Sunday night

7 hours a day? Really? Mine don't. By the time we've got home, had a snack, done homework, had dinner, jumped around on the trampoline, and ds1 has been to Cubs, there could have been no tv at all.
Other days there is lots.
But I do do something called parenting. So they don't regularly get anywhere near 7 hours.

Well, technically, they are getting all the screen time in the world at school.

But I don't really care. He is fit and healthy and never sits still unless I make him when using my tablet.

So I'm giving him his own tablet. Yes. So he won't use mine.

So shoot me. Or give me a bad mother award. I don't really care what you think.

With the price of android tablets in particular now being much lower, I believe they represent fantastic tools for developing your DC's imagination as well as their hand-eye coordination skills..... There are also an increasing number of educational apps aimed at children ages 2 years plus - See goo.gl/0Ha3uE ... I would agree however that for very young children the use of tablet PC's should be supervised, at least until they appreciate their delicacy and how to handle them.

Don't think IPads are better than DSs or XBoxes.

There are far more controls on the above.Xboxes are public and DSs can only run games you buy.

iPads have the Internet and all manner of apps,many of which can be utter shite.

iPads are the in thing,they're no better than any other screen.They are also pretty passive and not half as educational as say a Rapberry Pi.

Sorry 3 and 5 year olds don't need IPads.At that age they need masses of fine motor,gross motor toys,real books etc.Th odd half hour of screens fine but why on earth would you waste best part of a grand on the odd half hour that needs strict controls re time,supervision(they are fragile)and content?

It's sad.Think of the books,Playmobil or bike you could get for that.They have all the time in the world for an Ipad.

We are a very techy family but sadly I think parents are using tablets more and more as babysitters.Fed up with seeing kids on them everywhere.Is it that impossible to go to a cafe,wait in a waiting room or go on a journey without them?

I've look at those leap pad things they are rubbish £100 + £15 ongames. we let our two use our phones there are lots of good educational apps on android. They are 6&3, the 6 year old now use a tablet at school.

And we intended to get them hudl to share for Christmas (I mite get my phone back then).

It's funny IPads remind me of how DVDs used to be held in high esteem over TV.Then it was TV over laptops.Now it's IPads over any other screen.

They're all screens and bar the Raspberry Pi quite limited(although Minecraft is fab).Quite like the XBox Kinect for getting everybody together and active.There are some useful apps on the Ipad in amongst the shite.

My just turned 6 and 8 year old share my Kindle Fire - it's fab for them. They mainly play games, read, do wordsearches, watch a bit of tv, use CBeebies website, learn to play the piano and dd2 (6) has been playing Patience on it all day (she's not very well).

Dd1 (8) is getting a huddl for Christmas, already bought - I've absolutely no qualms about it all.

"There are far more controls on the above.Xboxes are public and DSs can only run games you buy."

Not true. Xboxes can get films, downloads and games you haven't purchased. They are totally connected to the internet.

You don't have to be connected to the Internet on the Xbox.