To think 4 years shouldn't get tablets

[uptheauntie]

DD just turned 4. Got given an android tablet. We have a ipad in the house already that she gets supervised, restricted time on, perhaps once a week, to play a game.

AIBU to think a 4 year shouldn't have a tablet like this?By the time she is anywhere near old enough to use most of it it will be so out of date.

YABU. Just DL interactive books and children's games. They have apps for babies.

As per always, supervise her on it and don't let her play too much on it if you feel it's important.

We got a new game console as kids and our parents still limited game time. It wasn't a big deal and we still loved playing our games.

YABU.

It's a tablet, not cyanide. Set grounds rules, make sure it is ina. Decent case, and download appropriate apps. It's simple.

But then my (then) 5 year old had her own iPad. And my (then) 3 year old had use of my iPod touch. They are now 10 and 7 and each have their own iPads, whilst my 2 year old uses dd1's old ipad. And guess what? They haven't grown an extra head, or exploded, or anything odd like that.

YABU as this is preparing them for the technical age they are lei inch and growing up in. Being tablet/computer/ tech savvy is a huge advantage. There are lots of educational apps out there also to help with language, numeracy, literacy, writing etc, as well as getting them used to researching on the internet.

My 4 almost 5yo DD who has just started school has access to iPads and Apple Macs and they are used as part of their education.

YANBU though if using the tablet is all she does, it's a fine balance and it should be interspersed with other games, outdoor play etc.

Just carry on as you are - supervised, restricted time in whatever pattern you would otherwise give her. And if she breaks it, because she is only 4, don't get cross.

DS got 'learning pad' daily at school in the early days of YR, and school encourages them to use the learning resources online from home. Fill it with decent stuff and it could be a very positive thing. But no need to let her have free access just because it's hers.

I don't agree with a four year old having one. I'd like to see them learning through interacting with things and people not staring at a screen. In my opinion YANBU.

YABU.

It's not finite and unevolving. Nor is your child.

I think YANBU too, 4 is very young. No problem with my older DSS using one for schoolwork but no way would he get his own one, let alone his much younger sister! But then I've never really liked computer stuff aimed at kiddies, even those weird leapfrog things that used to be quite popular.

My 4yo go one for Christmas, when she was still 3 . She plays on it maybe once a week, she has the cbeebies app, some phonics apps, peppa pig jigsaw, and a couple of pre-school learning apps. We bought it for her because we wanted her to have something interesting to do on longer car journeys and it was either a tablet or a portable dvd player, and the tablet seemed more versatile without being much more expensive. We don't have a family tablet though, I have a work laptop and dp has a desktop that she has access to but that's hardly portable.

As long as she's not on it all the time it's just one more toy in the house (albeit an expensive toy).

YANBU, I hate tablets with a passion. My DCs spend all their lives either on them or trying to get on them. They are much harder to police than a PC or a laptop.

Yanbu. No need at 4. Let her imagination develop.

YANBU

YADNBU, at the age of 4 they most certainly do NOT need their own tablet. Especially when you say they have access to an Ipad in the house!
Which completely craps upon the argument of "but 4 year old's neeeeeeeed a tablet of their own in this day and age."
Yes, computer skills and knowledge is essential in this day and age. They're 4 though, not even properly started school yet and can use an Ipad in your house!
At that age there's SO much more to life than cabbaging on tablets and computers.

Yanbu I personally think 4 is too young. My ds's use my mums iPad and iphone but don't have anything at home. Dss is 13 and got his 2 Christmases ago. Mainly because I know if they had them they'd be pestering me all the time to be on them and I want them to use their time in other ways while they're still young.

Miuchoos I don't think anyone's saying she needs it. Different question to whether she should have it though.

It constantly baffles me that anyone thinks that a small child having their own tablet means that child will do nothing but use the tablet constantly.

My children have access to TV, and eat cake and sweets occasionally, the one that is obsessed with cutting and sticking (and i really do mean properly obsessed, to the exclusion of everything else, if I were to let it happen) gets to cut and stick sometimes. The one who would spend all day (again, quite literally) playing the piano is allowed to play the piano. All things that they would do all day long if I let them, but guess what? I'm the parent and I don't let them It's not rocket science.

and neither is ensuring my 2 year old doesn't play on 'his' iPad all day long.

Owning something does not mean you have to play with it all day long.

Having access to something does not mean you will never look at another toy again.

Why do 4 year olds need their own device if there's a perfectly functioning Ipad in the household in the first place though?!

Roll on Christmas when dd gets her own pad.

It means that I can reclaim mine back