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!).

Are you talking about teenagers?

My kids are 8,7 and 5 my older two use my phone for their spelling and maths homework which is set on an app. Even if I didn’t think giving young kids iPads was a terrible idea I wouldn’t have the money to buy three iPads lol my job is minimum wage.

Access to tech and access to SM are not the same thing.

I think you can have a happy medium.

Mine both have tablets, having had absolutely no screens whatsoever until they were 3. The eldest uses it for homework and to play Minecraft with their friends, but it's limited to a few specific times a week. We also use them for long car journeys and on the plane. The latter are because I like to read and don't want to be entertaining them for the whole journey or breaking up fights. The eldest now also reads so we use less screens. The youngest can't read yet (she's 7 but severely dyslexic).

We strictly limit what they watch.
They never have screens in public or at the dinner table or while doing other activities, which really limits how much they use them as well.

Covid was six years ago. People who home school might use a laptop or tablet for educational purposes, they are unlikely to shove a tablet or a smartphone into the hands of the occupant of a pushchair in order to get them to stfu.

Ds is 11 and just got a tablet, he does Duolingo and brain teasers but we have to take it away from him when he’s allowed game as he’d stay on. I’d guess people have a lovely expectation of it being like a book and them doing puzzles or Duolingo instead of the reality (saying that ds is beating me in Duolingo on the scoreboard!!)

No teachers told the kids not to use phone in Primary. In secondary even more so, strictly reminded that phones are not suitable for homework, but by then the kids are glued to their phone anyway

(and secondary school kids have to be, their homework, timetable, school messages, emails, reports, lunch details.. everything is on their phone)

They might be able to read the few words of spelling, but it's not suitable for anything else.

You’re being disingenuous to deny the link. ‘Tech’, in the form of a family shared PC to do homework and access the internet is one form.

Devices such as the tablets that the OP references for young children are another - and are largely impossible to prevent access to SM, or adult users masquerading as children as several people I know have had issues with - one even had their y5 child groomed and encouraged to sneak out of school to meet them on a school promoted learning app.

It’s a you do you argument really.

I get what you’re saying. It’s the easy option a lot of the time. I feel society has a part to play. The world seems to tolerate kids being kids less and less now so some parents feel like they have to keep their kids silent in public for fear of being shamed. Being antisocial, rude, ‘naughty’ I understand is not on and shouldn’t be Halle inf but that’s very different to kids being kids but even that is labelled as bad behaviour nowadays.
But yes, some parents are lazy and use it to make their lives easier. I’m a primary school teacher and we can clearly see who has too much access and who doesn’t.

Everything in moderation for us. Our nearly 5 year old has a tablet. We use it for long journeys (we travel to see family quite a lot and it is a 4 hour drive). She is allowed around 30 mins a day on it and we regulate what she watches. We don’t use them at meal times or when we go out to a restaurant.

I am in my 50s so my children didn’t have them. A lovely friend has two children who are 11 and 9. They are very creative, grounded, engaged, play beautifully. They reminded me of my own kids when they were younger and gave me happy memories.
I was thinking the other day how impressed I am by them just due to something they had been doing, and then it occurred to me that they have no tablets or consoles. Mum and Dad have phones but are rarely using them.
I thought to myself, it spoke volumes of what kids now miss out on. Nothing specific that parents now are specifically doing ‘wrong’ just how childhood has changed, and if you are able to look back on your own kids, and your own childhood that didn’t have these things, you realise how much kids are missing out on today.
It just made me feel sad really.

My child is home educated and a lot of his education is online based, not all of course but there's a lot of useful apps and websites for children to learn on, my 7 year old can code many styles of games. We use a tablet because it's easily portable and we can use it wherever learning is taking place. My youngest now has one as she is always seeing her brother on one but she mainly uses it to look at herself in the camera and stick her finger up her nose🤷🏼‍♀️

I did let my child have one when she was little but limited her use on it. She has a severely disabled brother who has one so at the time it seemed unfair not to let her have one too. Not sure if this was the right decision though. Hindsight is a wonderful thing! There are a few things I would do differently if I had my time again.

I don’t understand this either. I have an iPad for work. It’s switched off in my work bag almost all the time that the kids are around so they don’t ask for it. Our school sets homework via Google classroom so I just print out the worksheets at home give them to the kids to do and then take a photograph to submit. At some point, when it’s absolutely necessary for schoolwork, I will buy them a cheap laptop to use, probably a Chrome book type of thing.

Occasionally on a long journey, I will let them watch something on a phone or iPad, but it’s very much the exception not the rule. I try and keep it as a last resort when stuck in an airport for several hours etc.

I voted YANBU. My DSS9 has one and has for a few years now. He is obsessed with it now. We monitor his time on it when here but some weekends when he is with his mum the screen time can be 13+ hours in one day sometimes! It is hard though, as like many PPs have said homework is set online. He has no imagination now, is bored within 10 minutes if he’s not on it despite a large garden to play in, books to read, toys to play with here he always asks for his iPad. However his behaviour is better here than at his mums (from what she tells dh) and personally I think it’s because of too much screen time and endless pointless YT videos.

However, I do think they can have a place for long journeys etc. I charged up my old iPad for a plane journey recently in case our toddler got bored with a few games and iPlayer on. She didn’t reach for it once and we didn’t encourage her to. It’s sad when you see very young children glued to their screens and not interacting with their families. We normally take colouring or a few books if we go out for a meal etc but no judgement if parents decide to use them.

What learning app was that? And of course you can have a tablet and no social media. That’s what parental controls are for. That’s what supervising the child and the device are for.

Mind ya business and just don’t buy them for your kids. Simple as that

Yanbu. If my dc primary school told me to buy an iPad or tablet for my kid I’d politely explain that isn’t happening and look for an alternative option. My youngest is 18 so not a problem now but none of my kids had tech before high school.

I was at a pub garden yesterday there was a couple with 2 children around 2 and 3 they each had a phone to watch. They didn't even look up once and the couple didn't speak to them at all. It is so sad to watch.
I also see a lot of mums and dads with their child in a pushchair and they mostly have headphones on or just looking at their phones so not interacting with their child at all.
Then again with all the threads on here with parents saying they don't like spending time with their children it's not surprising.

Seems silly, reminds me that some people I know who make a big thing about being shocked that a child has a smart phone but will give their toddler an iPad even though it’s basically the same thing and has all the same apps on. Like people think they can’t message strangers on an iPad. Some parents definitely need educating on this themselves.
Like I said though my kids do their homework on my phone and they’re top of the leaderboards if anything the smaller screen is an advantage in timestables where you’re racing the clock.
And I don’t have the money for three iPads even if I didn’t think it would be a terrible idea

I can’t bear seeing children on tablets. Little zombies staring at a screen. What happened to crayons and paper and reading books? No wonder children starting school have poor fine and gross motor skills as well as poor speech.

We recently did a 8 hour car journey with 2 young children to attend a family wedding. Should we have played I Spy the entire way? Yes they had books and a Tonie box but they did also watch a film on a tablet.

But we survived this in the past!

It’s the new aged book, calendar, organiser, dictionary, encyclopaedia, schools use them, teachers use them, adults use them and with the right settings they can be very educational, especially for children who don’t pick it up naturally in main stream.

Kids survived for years without all this technology. If they weren't given it to start with they wouldnt miss it.