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?

As the parent of a child with ADHD I’m really fed up of the rise in rates being blamed on tablets/phone use. I’m so tired of arguing the point and just let people think what they want to. My child would still have ADHD if a) they had never seen a tablet or b) if they had spent loads of time on a tablet.

I am generally with you but I think we need to separate out tablets in general from unregulated social media use/screen time. Very different a 12 year old using a tablet for homework versus a 5 year old using it to watch YouTube

DC1 is 14yo and she can use AI naively. She doesn't prompt properly. She does not know how to describe her questions properly to LLM, and then question its output. The prompt I could do vs hers is vastly different. For example, when she did her infographics on ChatGPT, it's not what I would accept at work. I showed her how to prompt to generate good infographics for her geography homework.

There is a difference.

I found most kids are computer illiterate. FYI, I'm a mddle aged software developer, and most kids, even the Y12/13 ones who came to my work place for work experience who are interested in software can barely use LLM or a computer. There only a few I've seen who are good at it.

If your kids love coding, like the ones I've seen at work experience, I don't know how good they are at command line and prompting Claude. They might be the rare ones who do it well.

And I think it’s a shame that said breather = iPad. It’s so easy to shove an iPad at a child that they then become used to.
Would you seriously not prefer your child to be reading or drawing or doing a puzzle book or a Rubik’s cube or something than watching or playing on an iPad? But that requires some groundwork/effort early on for that to become a child’s norm.

Google is your friend. There is loads of academic research highlighting that increasing technology is linked to higher depression and anxiety.
How do kids learn how to behave in a social situation and feel comfortable with it if they are zoned out? It's a skill you learn.

lol.

Why is 'being able to use AI' seen as a skill? It is literally designed to become the default option for internet searches. It's quite surprising if most teenagers are unable to use computers or AI, given that most mainstream types seem to be making videos and posting to social media nonstop.

Primary school homework is on tablet. The maths homework rewards for time spent, you can do a limitless amount and it's awarded in assembly, so the more you do, the better...

My oldest had an iPad from when he was 10, youngest used one from when she was about 6. They both spent lots of time playing outside and doing lots of other activities so having some time on an iPad was never an issue.

Eh, nope.

Whole heartedly agree.
I always say it was the wolves or Disney who brought me up, I turned out fine. I have a highly energetic DC like unbelievably, everyone comments on it. I take my DC to softplay/swimming in the morning and the park/zoo/farm (so they can ride their bike, play on the climbing frame and then we play football) we are out twice a day come rain or shine between 4-8hrs. I give them a tablet to play games and watch Bluey whilst I clean up and cook. My DC is out more than any other child I know and super bright. We play games at home, read books but sometimes I give them a tablet which I'm in the same room monitoring to allow me to get things done without them climbing in the dishwasher/zooming around the house etc.

My six year old gets given her homework and weekly spellings on an app. I said we don't do screen time and could we get given paper based work instead and everyone looked at me like some kind of freak.

Yup

What do you mean, did they allow it? Did they allow a household to not buy a tablet? What on earth could they do about it??
I’d think very very poorly of a school that only allowed a child to get their house points if their parents bought them a tablet. Not just the screen time thing but financially as well “sorry, no house points for you, your parents can’t afford a tablet”,. We can afford one but it would rule a school out for me being so fucking ridiculous.

If it was true!

Awww, thanks, I've never been called 'groovy' before. 😆

I'm not the only poster who has said something like this though. And I do have a point. There is always SOMEone who berates - and gripes about 'modern technology' and the effect it has on the kids, when in reality, the effect is minimal.

Times change, technology moves on, get over it. 😎 There's nothing you can do about it!!! Chill yer boots! 👢👢

You are making an enormous leap that my children didn't do all those things. The iPad was one of the things in my bag of tricks to keep my kids engaged but it wasn't the only time.

I used to be judgey like you. Then I had kids and changed my tone and realised that not everyone who gives their kids a screen is a bad parent.

Yes I hate all this extra screen time the schools give. Mine is 5 too and think we'd both rather sit at the table with a pen and paper!
I still refuse to give him a tablet, we just use my phone for it. Some might say that's the same, but I think it's easier to control over giving them their own device with other apps on that will interest them.
I like to save screens for end of the day burnout! 🙈

Awwww, you sound like you're groovy too! 😆

Yup all this was said about gaming, tv, music, radio and books at some point or another.

Rotting brains and corrupting the youth.

Think they're being issued out gradually across schools. Some already have theirs. P6 onwards. Not sure what areas of Scotland but I think it's to make learning inclusive for all.

Agree with this. When we limit overly limit our ND DC's screen use she doesn't magically become a mature, socially skilled 12 year who helps with chores and goes off to visit friends. She may instead spend hours looking at picture books, graphic novels and drawing - as she craves visual input 🙂

This. ^

The other day I saw a baby lying flat in their pram with an iPad propped up in front of them.

I honestly love that my 7 year old can (with supervision) Google stuff she wants to know on the iPad, or ask ChatGPT. She doesn’t just ask me/her dad or her Alexa any more. I think that’s a great skill to have, as technology moves on. She knows where she can find information quickly.

The other day she saw geese migrating and she disappeared down a Google rabbit hole trying to learn about it. That’s a good thing, in my view. No one is going to the library and looking up reference books any more…