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We have 1 tablet and 2 laptops....the children are very, very rarely allowed to use them. If they are, it's usually to read children's stories or practice math on my older laptop. Never to just watch youtube videos or play mindless games. They do not touch the tablet or my newer laptop. I really hope you don't just hand the kid an iPad and then leave him be to go do your own thing...
We have 1 tablet and 2 laptops....the children are very, very rarely allowed to use them. If they are, it's usually to read children's stories or practice math on my older laptop. Never to just watch youtube videos or play mindless games. They do not touch the tablet or my newer laptop. I really hope you don't just hand the kid an iPad and then leave him be to go do your own thing...
Why not starve them and then dangle a carrot in front of their face to direct them outdoors.
Tablets are just another learning/teaching tool used by savvy parents. It's not the devil as many people on this forum would lead you to believe.
Why not starve them and then dangle a carrot in front of their face to direct them outdoors.
Tablets are just another learning/teaching tool used by savvy parents. It's not the devil as many people on this forum would lead you to believe.
I don't let them touch the tablet and new laptop because they are expensive and don't want anything happening to them. That's sort of an exaggeration anyway, they've used them plenty of times under my supervision but not nearly as often as the older laptop. Simple as that. The "old" laptop works perfectly fine and suits their entertainment/screen cravings just fine. If you think letting them use 1 laptop instead of all 3 devices is starving them or whatever point you're trying to make....yeesh.
I don't agree. The AAP says no screen time before age 2 (source).
I don't have anything to back this up, but I strongly believe that you're going to "give your kids ADHD". I don't think they'll be able to function in school. You're also damaging their eyes.
Pretty much daily my kids play with the iPad or my Android phone or watch YouTube videos for a bit on the laptop. Pluto.TV is a great free resource of kids entertainment and has a setting on the web where you can lock out the non-child focused content... at least I thought it was a great thing until my sister criticized me and told me that kids brains are damaged by screens. What do you think? Good? Bad? Fine in moderation (the last is my opinion)?
The OP does not say how old his children are, they could be 2 and 4 or 14 and 16. He says that they play with the iPad or watch You tube videos "for a bit". A bit could be 15 minutes or 3 hours or 10 hours a day.
So, we know very little about the situation.
He could have a 2 year old and four year old having hours and hours of screen time each day. Horrors!
Or, he could have two teenagers who only play video games, watch You tube videos & use an Android phone for 15 minutes a day. ------- Is that even possible in 2014?
Too Little Information. Maybe his sister is right to criticize him and maybe not.
Pretty much daily my kids play with the iPad or my Android phone or watch YouTube videos for a bit on the laptop. Pluto.TV is a great free resource of kids entertainment and has a setting on the web where you can lock out the non-child focused content... at least I thought it was a great thing until my sister criticized me and told me that kids brains are damaged by screens. What do you think? Good? Bad? Fine in moderation (the last is my opinion)?
I think that iPads, smartphones, computers and TV are part of the world. Part of a parent's responsibility to children is to teach them to function in the real world. Being addicted to devices 24/7 is not healthy for anyone. However, using these devices is a perfectly normal part of the world.
I don't think these devices are good for babies and young toddlers. However, after that age it is normal for parents to incorporate devices/screens into a child's life. It is also normal to make sure a child has exposure to activities that do not involve screens. My kids are older (20, 18, 15) so I don't really control what the older two do wrt screens. I still supervise the youngest when he goes online but he is not a big user of social media.
Kids need to grow up to be functional in the adult world. That means learning how to incorporate technology into life. While I think it is wise to limit screen time when kids seem to be addicted to them, I don't think banning screens is advisable for older kids.
The bottom line is that technology is not the devil. It can be disruptive to life if it is allowed to dominate life but that doesn't mean kids should be prevented from using it at all.
My kids, to answer the question, are 4 and 7. They didn't get screen time before the age of 2 - but now they get it pretty regularly. They also play outside, they also have social time - there are boundaries and limits around the amount of time they spend in front of it - but honestly I don't need them, they're able to put them down themselves because it's just normal for my family to be seen in front of a screen - I haven't made these things a special privilege, instead I've tried to focus on the cool stuff that is "non screen related" to make it more exciting to them. Anyway, I just didn't really think too hard about it and it's interesting to see you almost all come out against it, or at least saying there should be strict boundaries.
My kids, to answer the question, are 4 and 7. They didn't get screen time before the age of 2 - but now they get it pretty regularly. They also play outside, they also have social time - there are boundaries and limits around the amount of time they spend in front of it - but honestly I don't need them, they're able to put them down themselves because it's just normal for my family to be seen in front of a screen - I haven't made these things a special privilege, instead I've tried to focus on the cool stuff that is "non screen related" to make it more exciting to them. Anyway, I just didn't really think too hard about it and it's interesting to see you almost all come out against it, or at least saying there should be strict boundaries.
That's how my kids were raised. They watched tv, played video games and they were allowed on the computer. We didn't really set hard limits because we didn't need to do so. As they were growing up they liked sports, had friends to the house, took music lessons, played outside, watched tv, and played video games. If they had seemed to be dominated by screens we would have placed limits on them but we never needed to do so because they had enough other things going on in their lives.
They are the same now. My oldest (20) likes the sports video games and the Halo series. He brought his xbox to college with him. My middle (18) is not even taking his video game console to school. My youngest (15) likes the sports video games but not much else. He prefers to read Grantland and other sports sites online. However, they are not addicted to screens.
Edited to add: When there were problems with technology as they were growing up we dealt with them as they popped up.
I'm working with a psychologist for parenting issues (hard headed adhd kid) and he really pressed on me about how screen time is entertaining the kid, not teaching the kid to entertain themselves. Learning how to entertain themselves is really important for frustration tolerance and emotional regulation ...and just being a good citizen.
I'm an ipad parent I think I was using it too much for a while but have cut back a lot. Its funny, they tried to drive me nuts so I would throw the ipad back at them but I figured that out and now they just go play.
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I think I was using it too much for a while but have cut back a lot. Its funny, they tried to drive me nuts so I would throw the ipad back at them but I figured that out and now they just go play.
