Why oh why are people giving their under 12s tablets?

[Bigpinksweater]

The evidence regarding the effects of tablets on developing brains is damning. They are absolutely not necessary and barely existed 15 years ago. We are seeing huge rises in behavioural and developmental issues while steadfastly ignoring the fact screen time and in particular tablets can contribute to virtually all of them.

Why oh why are people still handing their toddlers and primary school children tablets?

I read that article. Very interesting.

My DC had tablets from a young age and there have been no ill effects. Both achieving well at school and uni respectively

My kids has a shared one from a young age. They also had iPhones quite young. They’re all perfectly functional and at university doing hugely competitive degrees that would have been totally beyond me.

But if I had my time again, there would absolutely be no personal screens until maybe 14 or 15.

We share one iPad between 3 children (13,11 and 8). It's meant to be "just" for school work but of course it isn't. The older 2 are allowed a set amount of time for fucking Roblox An hour a day / x3 days a week.

I am sorely tempted to stamp on the damn thing to be honest.

It really is so difficult to go back once they have been given access.

I have mine in hobbies and clubs almost everyday, we go out, we are active, there are strict limits to screen time etc but still I feel it's way too dominant in our lives. When at home and bored it seems to be the default (they ask but don't get!)

And yes the 13yo has a phone but this is only used at weekends to make arrangements with friends / to let me know they have arrived somewhere or are leaving somewhere. It's never taken to school or used on a school day.

I don’t think it’s so much of the device but what is being shown. A Disney film on a long car journey, fine. YouTube every night before bed, not okay for me.

Gosh if your 2 or 3 year old was, not only walking before they were one but also, ambushing you to discuss the finer points of WW1 politics you were dealing with a completely different raw material that I was as despite their books they managed neither of those things.
My post was in response to very young children having them and I have yet to hear any child that age watching a WW1 documentary when I am being deafened by what they are listening to in shops/restaurants and public transport.
Unless you are implying that your children were quietly reading at that advance level at 3 and under?

Like everything moderation is the key. Screen usage should be monitored and restricted by the parents.
Electronics - TV. games consoles and tablets have always been shared and kept downstairs. That way we could control how long they played on them for etc. We did not have strict limits but took it on a dad by day basis eg if they had been out and about for several days and then had a day inside while it was pouring with rain they would have more screen time. On a sunny day we would go to the park or whatever. I think because we did not have very restrictive usage they learnt to self regulate themselves and whilst may have had the TV on they would normally be playing with a toy as well.
Phones were for secondary school and we did have more restrictions for those eg left downstairs at night at first and then phone access was cut off at bedtime so only things like alarm clock etc could be accessed.

My children have grown up with tech and DH is a tech nerd so understands them and so we were able to put suitable controls in place. DS1 is now at Uni, DD is final year of A-levels and DS2 is starting GCSEs all of them doing really well so I don't think it has harmed them to have access.

Back along TV, rock and roll music and other things were going to ruin childrens lives....

First, I am honestly not picking up on you - sounds like we parent in similar ways frankly,

just a thought about this: but still I feel it's way too dominant in our lives. When at home and bored it seems to be the default (they ask but don't get!)

you write this on MN yourself... I think us parents , in general, need to be honest about the way they live and what example they show.

I am on my phone to check their school things, to do my online shop, to book appointments, message about clubs (and a million other things). But it means my child seems me ON MY PHONE a lot. While I would have seen my mum using catalogues or the landline

The OP complaining about tablets, but using similar herself, is unreasonable in that way. If you have screens, a phone, tablets etc.. yourself, then you are being an hypocrite.

My kids are not allowed tv in the evening, but I read a book in bed myself, I am not in front of the tv or a screen unless I am working, and they know it's work, the same way they do their homework.

I never gave my children a phone or tablet when they were in the buggy; it wasn’t commonplace when they were small and I don’t think it would have even occurred to me. BUT my AuDHD oldest child hated walking and hated the buggy only slightly less and used to bawl whenever he was in it. I needed to go places or walk the dog with him in the buggy so I just had to put up with the crying but, having read about self-regulation on this thread, I’m wondering whether a screen might actually have helped him.

You're not alone. This is just how it was before screens were commonplace and online deliveries didn't exist. I think a lot of people forget that.

As parents with vocally uncomfortable children we are just expected to stay at home with them and put up with it so not to cause a nuisance for anybody else because heaven forbid we use a tool that works. We are outwardly judged for finding solutions that work with our children's neurological landscape that don't require us isolating at home all of the time, by people who don't understand the mechanics behind regulation.

I have to say - might go against what you believe but my DD who has significant Sen and medical issues from birth.
she really struggled with reading / socialising etc
she could not for the life of her pick up reading.
in year 4 she was reading at reception level. She got a tablet at the end of year 4 and spent far too much time on it, more than I would have liked however it helped massively with her sight reading and the apps for her maths. Socialising also improved she is 11 now and it’s so nice hearing her stay in contact with her friends and maintain the relationships at school when she is away long periods by being able to talk to them and remain social.
I have had no issue with her using a tablet.

If tablets are so damaging, can you explain why so many schools are using them as a learning tool?

because people like to jump at "all or nothing"

and can't bother to think about the difference between someone using a tablet for specific things, for fixed amount of times, and children left with a tablet all day and night.

Get up. Eat. Go out in nature. Lunch. Play/ help Mummy with laundry or Daddy with the garden etc. Dinner. Bath. Story. Bed. Pretty typical day

We spend 2-3 hours a day outside (2 hours if he has an indoor sporting activity, 3 if an unstructured evening) the 2 kids play together all round the house, my eldest gets dysregulated and needs a break from everyone but due to his ADHD, epilepsy, possible autism and sleep initiation disorder his brain doesn't switch off to rest so to rest his body his brain needs a task. So he spends 20-30 minutes stints gaming several times a day. We also play boardgames, do Play-Doh, do slime activities, do other sensory activities, there are 24 hours a day and he has a neurologist diagnoses sleep disorder (which to be diagnosed with you need to prove activity and sleep hygiene which we have) he has an hour long bedtime routine involving sensory circuits, a bath, storytime, a weighted blanket and other deep pressure. I guarantee you that you wouldn't live a day in my life and think 'ooft what a lazy woman I'm so rested' every part of our day, screen access included is carefully planned to support his sensory needs based on I put from neurology, neuropsychologist and occupational therapists. But if you saw us out, and he was trying to survive the sensory nightmare of a crowded bus you'd see a lazy woman shoving a Nintendo switch at a growling child. He also has an insanely high IQ and does extremely well at school

How did I just know it would be a "my child has ADHD" response? These devices have only existed for a few decades, the innumerable negative effects on development and cognition are very well documented. Your child simply doesn't need to be on one, at any time. In the 90s, we were sent outside and told to entertain ourselves, and guess what, we all did! ADHD or no ADHD

In a longitudinal study tracking over 200 children from the age of 2 years to 5 years old, children with higher levels of screen time showed greater delays in development across a range of important measures, including language, problem-solving, and social interaction. Analyses indicated that the level of screen time was significantly linked to the specific level of developmental delay 12 -14 months later. This is a critical period in a child's life: as the researchers note, the current data indicates that exposure to excessive screen time during these early years can have serious effects "impinging on children's ability to develop optimally".

Source: Madigan, S., Browne, D. T., Racine, N., & Mori, C., 2019. JAMA Pediatrics ↗ (jamanetwork.com/journals/jamapediatrics/fullarticle/2722666)
Via: Ledger of Harms (https://ledger.humanetech.com/#study_19)

Preschoolers who use screen-based media for more than 1 hour each day have been shown to have significantly less development in core brain regions involved in language and literacy. Brain scans indicate that the more time spent on screens, the lower the child's language skills, and the less structural integrity in key brain areas responsible for language. This is one of the first studies to assess the structural neurobiological impacts of screen-based media use in preschoolers; it raises serious questions as to how screen use may affect the basic development of young children's brains.

Source: Hutton, J. S., Dudley, J., & Horowitz-Kraus, T., 2019. JAMA Pediatrics ↗ (jamanetwork.com/journals/jamapediatrics/fullarticle/2754101)
Via: Ledger of Harms (https://ledger.humanetech.com/#study_15)

You were and dyou know what happened to kids like mine? Their lack of impulse control led them into situations where they got hurt. But that was ok, they were out of the way. Imagine if just sent my 7 yr old out to play unsupervised, that would be better? Just off you go, see you when the streetlights come on? Romanticized nonsense and genuine lazy parenting. Do you actually have children? I'm willing to be every bone in my body you don't.

Oh aye. Out of sight out of mind is the perfect way to parent a child with ADHD.

No wonder adult mental health services are overrun right now. There was fuck all support for ND children in the 90's.

God forbid @Barnbrack actually does what's best for her child.

So what? "Getting hurt" when out playing was just part of life and often educational for kids in the vast majority of cases. Yes, literally my Mum would send the seven of us off out after breakfast and we would drop in for lunch then go out playing again until the evening? There were no mass deaths from children playing outside.

And don't shoot the messenger. It is a documented fact that ipads and smart device screen time negatively impacts child development. It is your choice to allow your child to use these. It is absolutely not inevitable that children should be on these devices.

Yes! My brother has got an ADHD diagnosis in adulthood mainly to get work perks. He has coped fine without all the hysterical pandering that is typical today. Mostly it's just pathologising completely typical boyish behaviour.

Agree. I’m amazed to see people think 7 is too old to play unsupervised as ‘they’ll get hurt’.

It is honestly insane how hysterical we are as a culture now about allowing kids some independence to play freely. People shoving an iPad in their kid's face is apparently "safer". You're probably likely creating or exacerbating any neurodevelopmental problems by doing this if anything. It is better to send your kid off to play out and they come home with a grazed knee.

Are schools suddenly now a paradigm of optimal child development? Because they’re often slated on here as being the opposite!

Being street-raised clearly doesn't lead to good critical thinking and empathy.

Shocking.

So your children are homeschooled, yes?