To not understand why anyone would buy these for a child (tech related)

[Gheesesndbuscuits]

I don’t understand why anyone would get their child an iPad or tablet. Especially under ten and while a toddler even!

I know this sounds like I think I’m superior having not done it, but however I asked the question it would have come across like that. I’m far from a perfect parent and rely on the tv far too much for childcare when I’m making dinner or need to drink my tea in peace.

But iPads and tablets I don’t get, they’re so interactive and addictive. I genuinely can’t understand why you’d get one for a child. Especially when there’s tv that is more passive (though I accept not good either!).

My boy clearly didn’t get the memo on that one. I dreamt of happy hours spent crafting and colouring and was able to provide materials I would have killed for at his age. No interest whatsoever.

My child was another who starting using our tablet during lockdown at around 8. Then went on to get his own as needed for homework. To be honest I eye rolled myself as we had struggled through several flights age 3/4/5 with no tablet on the basis we didn’t want the genie out the bottle but the struggle was futile. With hindsight he may as well have had the tablet then.

Hopefully as an educator you can easily figure out a reason why people give these to kids! Otherwise Id worry about your lack of thinking skills.

You’ve contradicted yourself, saying tablets are interactive (positive) and TV is passive (negative) so that doesn’t fit your narrative. You started by saying why would anyone do this then two replies later said your might be tempted 🤷🏻‍♀️

Yes poor kids, they’re on every sports team at school, they’re fit and sharp, one is on an academic scholarship at their private school they’re well travelled and cultured and can talk to any adult confidently and interestingly.

Yep, they’ve really suffered because we’ve talked to them and they’ve read books instead of plonking them on an iPad or PlayStation.

What about people with ND kids? Tablets are a godsend to disregulated child who has been forced to sit at a desk all day. Everyone’s family is different. There are plenty of educational apps and games so you can monitor what they play. My son watches science videos on his tablet. He doesn’t have it all day, he often puts it down voluntarily and goes to play with his toys. We go on walks, to the park, on holidays. It’s not and never will be a negative thing for us. It comes down to being a decent parent, moderation and monitoring. They learn on tablets at school, and the vast majority of their friends have tablets. They’re also growing up in an increasingly technologically advanced world and it’s our job to prepare them for it. People need to stop judging others because they think they know best. You do you, and as long as you’re doing your best as a parent, that’s what matters.

Im the opposite end, I dont understand the issue with them, no different to reading books or magazines. I can absolutely see the issue with social media and bullying, peer pressure etc. But not at all with what is essentially an interactive book. My grandsons have them and have reasonably free access to them and because of this they dont crave them and dont use them that often. We live in a world where navigating online, google, ai etc are essential skills and like any language the earlier children start to learn these skills the better.

Of course they are, I knew you were going to say that 😂

Let's be honest, parents who are genuinely against screens and tech do not spend ages on their own phone to explain on an internet forum how they are against tech and social media 😂

So you’re aware that children can have successful childhoods without screens. It used to happen before they were invented, and it can still happen now.

@Gheesesndbuscuits Out of interest how old are your children? My eldest started primary school September 2020 (now 10 years old). We went back into lockdown January 2021 and all the school work was set via an app. They also had Facetime every morning. It soon became clear she needed her own device to do this on. Also the school use Spellingshed for their weekly spellings and TT Rock stars for timestables. I don't sit with the kids while doing these, partly because I don't have the time and partly because they need to learn to do their homework independently. Obviously they could have laptops to do this, but this would be expensive. They also need to learn how to use a tablet. All kids have a National timestables test in year 4 which is done on tablets. They need to be able to use a tablet instinctively to be able to answer the questions quick enough.

I will say neither of my kids are that bothered about their tablets. So definitely not addictive for all kids. My Dds have lots of hobbies and rarely pick up their tablets for anything outside of school work.

This is such a weird generalisation.

My four year old played games on a tablet for about an hour yesterday morning. I shouldn't need to justify anything, but for your information, they're educational games which help her learn her letters and words.

She spent about 6 hours outside playing after that, helped me with the shopping, played in her toy kitchen and did some drawing.

This morning, she's watched TV for a bit, has done some drawing, played with playdoh, played outside and we're off for a bike ride after lunch.

Devices don't turn children into zombies.

When you see a child absorbed in a device, you're seeing a snapshot in time.

The child could have been building a fort in the woods, or helping with housework, or a million other things.

You have zero knowledge of what they're doing for the 11 hours and 30 minutes of the rest of their waking day.

It's a real shame that mothers are so judgemental of each other. Whatever happened to empathy and being kind.

Children can have equally successful childhoods with screens.

Why judge others?

My 8 year old nephew doesn’t have his own iPad but borrows his mum’s one if he wants to watch stuff he can’t watch on tv.

I’ve actually been trying to get him to watch Pink Panther cartoons or the Littlest Hobo but he likes some bizarre kids space sort of thing (with real actors).

My nephew (8) watches and copies drawing videos on iPad/iMac. Educational stuff not really.

Me and DB as kids had weekend morning kids tv and after school kids tv (The Adventure Game was on at the right time for mum to cook dinner and was also educational, problem solving). We still had a normal childhood with lots of museums and art galleries and amusement parks too.

So you saw two parents doing "well" and it made you sad because you're assuming they're an anomaly?

Why would you assume that they're doing anything different to thousands of others?

I think that’s a little unfair…If you look at the quote history, she wasn’t being judgmental, she stated a fact that it’s possible to be screen free and got a sarcy comment back.

i understand the strong feelings though, I hear lots of people on here talking about limits and saying ‘you do you’ but in practice, there are many children with unfettered access and it makes it difficult for those trying to set boundaries. I try and keep my kids screen free but it’s virtually impossible. For example, at a summer bbq, lots of friends and kids around, inevitably a few kids will get their parents phone or a tablet out and it kills the vibe….theres no ‘you do you’ because it changes the whole atmosphere with kids stopping play and congregating around a phone. There’s no reason for kids to be on a phone when there’s 10 other kids around. There’s a time and a place for these things and unfortunately many parents don’t get that and it’s frustrating. Especially when there growing evidence that this kind of unfettered access is detrimental to kids health.

Good for you! I think you’ve done really well. Any top tips?

So much this.

Our school too. Every school in our borough does this.

I haven’t bought ours one yet but we will. I live a 8 hour drive from my family. The first 5 hours they can nap or eat or play eye spy. The second 5 they ask for our phones which can make things difficult if traffic updates are needed or we to contact someone. An iPad or Amazon fire would be game changing. It sounds like you don’t really travel - we’ll be investing as soon as our youngest is in school.

I do not like seeing young ones with pads, however, my sister & 5 y.o nephew stayed with us this weekend, whilst I was cooking this afternoon, my sister was washing her car and nephew sat outside in the shade on his iPad and over dinner educated us about honey badgers and snow crabs, his attention to detail blew us away, so for that reason, I'll say it can be a great educational tool

We got our 6yo an iPad. It is not kept in their room but in a place that they can’t have it without checking with us. They get their iPad for about 20-30mins max a day and that’s to do their maths homework (school homework is on app) and to practice on an app a second language they try to learn. We also use it when we travel (plane) they watch some educational children’s programs in iPlayer.

The thing is they’re still colouring, although with their finger, they’re reading, listening to stories, play brain teaser games, have unlimited access to a particular subject that they are interested in.
My DS is like an encyclopaedia on things that he is interested in, he probably need to read 100 books to gather the vast information.
Used in moderation they’re educational.

We needed them during Covid when it was the only way children could access school, any semblance of social life, see wider family and entertain themselves while parents wfh. After that it was just embedded.

My children are 9 and 7, we got them a tablet at Christmas. My youngest uses it for TTRockStars, my eldest for her homework, other than this the only time they are allowed to use it is when we are on long car journeys and on the plane usually to watch something. I am not sure what is meant to be wrong with this.