The Touch Screen Generation

[Deleted]

H and I have iPhones and Edmund has a leappad. Edmund plays educational games on both and I swear he knows how to use an iPhone better than my H. He only gets the iPhone or leappad when at home or in the car because there are times it's the only thing that will calm him down until we get home so I can concentrate on driving and not on him screaming. As long as he has something to eat in front of him when we are at a restaurant he is fine.

Honestly I don't mind kids sitting and playing on an iPhone or a tablet as long as you teach them that their life doesn't revolve around the object.

[jennlin]

i haven't read the article yet, but i'll describe our relationship with touch screens. h and i both have touch screen phones, as do all her grandparents, we all have tablets, and h and i also have a touch screen universal remote (logitech harmony).

needless to say, bjl loves them all. sometimes she gets really fussy if she sees the phone/tablet, and we're not letting her play with it, and really, the only way *is* to give it to her. we give her our phones if she's being rolly-polly when we are changing her diaper.

when she sees h and i on our phones, she reaches for it. i have all the fisher price games downloaded on my phone, and she *loves* the sound as soon as the apps start. i don't really see a huge issue with it bc *every* (most) kid is doing it now, and we're not using the phones as a baby-sitter, just an occasional distraction. maybe 10 minutes a day, tops.

[Deleted]

We don't let T play with our phones which is the only touch screen items in our house at this time. We also don't plan to let her start using a computer until she is at school age.

[niq]

My parents got me an NES when I was in 2nd grade. I was limited to 40 minutes of video game time on weekdays and I think 2 hours on weekends, and only after homework was done. They also limited the amount of TV I could watch, even before I had an NES. As I got older (and I got friends whose parents didn't limit video games as strictly) they got laxer about this and then later clamped back down, then loosened back up again.

I heard the author on NPR this Sunday. I think I worry about really little kids spending a lot of time on phones/tablets. But I'm not surprised at her experience that once she put the tablet in the toy bin, the kid used it constantly for about 2 weeks and then it was Just Another Toy. So, who knows.

I expect that we'll limit TV/video game time, at least for a while. Board games, card games, reading time, etc.

[sarack]

I am adamant that I don't want our babies watching tv or using video games or anything like that. I'm hoping to instill in our babies that playing with their toys is enough. we shall see what the future brings. h loves video games and technology.. and our nephews have had it since they were literally less than 1.

[niq]

Semi on topic: friend's eighteen month old picks up the land line phone, asks mommy to make it play her favorite song.

... I was talking more for school age children in my first post. I think for young ones, no tv at all until they can understand Blue's Clues or something at that level. I don't think it's the end of the world if they end up watching a little, but no regular diet.

I blame all wring words on Swype

[jennlin]

Mar 25, 2013 20:46:36 GMT -5 niq said:

Semi on topic: friend's eighteen month old picks up the land line phone, asks mommy to make it play her favorite song.

my friend's son once asked me (a few years ago, before i had a blackberry), "auntie jenn, do you have your phone?" "yes" "can you google something for me?". he was about 5.