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!).

I think theres a difference between letting your child sit on a device all day on you tube than using it occasionally for homework or watching films on long journeys, if you have time limits and rules set up I think its fine.

I got my eldest a laptop because all home work comes through online and my younger one has an old iPhone with no sim that they just use for Spotify as she likes to listen to music, however if we let her have YouTube etc no doubt she’d probably love to
be on it all day!

My son is non verbal autistic and his tablet is incredibly empowering for him, he can make choices about music to listen to, or movies to watch. We tried teaching him to press buttons on a remote but he really struggled.

Sounds like you’re the one who’s believed any shite fed to them! 🙄😆

I haven’t met many parents who genuinely enjoy spending time with their children, I mean actually having fun with them.

Read my comment after that one. We’re top of the times tables league over here. The smaller screen makes it easier to quickly press the buttons

Also, I grew up in the 90s, yes I played out lots and had a great childhood but it was also tonnes of mindless TV cartoons. Parents weren't constantly interacting with us like the pressure on modern parents. I got a first class honours degree and a masters so obviously didn't rot my brain too much!!

It definitely depends on what the iPad is being used for. Ours is almost exclusively used for audiobooks, sometimes Scratch (a programming app, the use of which we limit), and some fairly tedious multiplication tables and reading apps.

Spotify too. YouTube only for audiobooks - there’s loads on there btw

I played out in the 90s. I also spent an ungodly amount of time on my Gameboy and Sega Megadrive playing sonic 😂 the tech changes but the habits don’t really.

I think most people would agree that sticking an iPad in front of a toddler for 8 hours a day is bad for them. But there’s a vast chasm between that and occasional use. There are many topics on MN that are massively OTT and not reflective of real life. Screens is one of them.

I am aware they can be used positively, and I don’t think screens are evil, I think they are a step in the wrong direction in the classroom however and have seen and felt the impacts of them becoming more common over my career. I find them an unnecessary addition to childhood, use takes away from time running around, playing with toys, interacting with others, doing crafts and being kids. I think there is plenty of time for screens when they are a tween/teen/adult.

You can see the difference between children that have no screens/very limited screens and the children that have heavy use, that’s all I’ll say.

We have two family kindle fire tablets.

We have these mainly because:

• the primary school set homework on 3 different apps. We often do these "on the go" eg DC1 does his maths app while waiting while DC2 is in swimming lesson so can't use the family desktop pc. The only laptops DH and I have are work owned & the DC are not allowed on them.
• DC1 does a coding club & likes to work on projects from that.
• we do a 5 hour car journey followed by a 3 hour ferry every year for the family holiday. We allow them to watch a film/program for some of this time because its just hours and hours bored, the ferry can be choppy and its not always a good idea to walk round the boat exploring when it is. They read/colour etc the rest of the time.
• its a 2.5 hour journey to my parents. On the tablet they can listen to an audio book or watch a film for some of it.
• an older cousin set up a family only private minecraft server. About once every 2-3 months or so the cousins "meet" to play minecraft together. Its nice for them to do this as they dont all live close by.

They are not allowed:
-Youtube, tiktok or any social media whatsoever

• roblox
• any online games with any form of function to communicate with people you dont know
• anything with in game purchasing and addictive features like a daily reward

the size of the screen?

Parents can't even read an email from school on their phone properly, if they start letting their kids do "homework" on a phone, the kids have no chance.

Are you using a Nokia brick from 2002? My kids do their timestables homework on my phone and are top of the leaderboard. The smaller screen actually makes it easier to quickly press the buttons

Oh and in my house there are no tablets:
Mon - fri
In bedrooms
Unsupervised
Or for periods longer than one hour

I forgot that the other reason we got them is DC2 had a few medical things as a kid where she was in hospital for a day or two with cannulas and stuff or not really allowed out of bed. Having a tablet was a bit of a godsend as she was bored but a bit ill, on medication with side effects or in pain etc & couldnt really play with much else.

Maybe DD has freakishly big fingers?😬

Oh for goodness sake. Tech is absolutely everywhere and like it or not it’s just part of how we live nowadays. Not saying supervision and controls aren’t required for kids but they will have access to these things in school, so yes, YABU.

Not necessarily

I think it rather depends on where the data comes from.
This makes interesting reading.
https://readingagency.org.uk/our-work/our-research/reading-facts/

Wow that's terrible.

I work for a Trust, every child in the trust from primary up is issued an iPad..

Out of curiosity, when did that start?

This. My parents were often asked disapprovingly "why she (me) has always got her head in a book?" I wasn't the child who never took exercise or did other things but I was and still am a voracious reader.

Same. Put Sonic in front of me now and I would still know my way around. We were up at stupid o'clock in the morning watching TV every day, I know some of the films we had on video off by heart we watched them so much. We played out too but the idea that screens are some new fangled thing and childhoods were spent playing outside with rocks hasn't been true for many decades.

Ha! I had that too.

And years before that, mum would get told off for listening to the radio too much.

I think it’s a generational thing. When I was a child in the sixties we’d knock for our friends and go off and play in the woods. As long as we turned up for meals and bedtime curfew our parents were happy.