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125 Comments

I was always going to be THAT parent, you know, the one who gets her child to play outdoors in the sunshine. The perfect little child is laughing and loving every minute and not getting caught up in technology. I was wrong and my little miss isn’t even 1…..

 

So where did I go wrong, or is it right?

 

I suppose I always looked at kids playing on Mum or Dad’s smartphone or computer and thought it was the easy way out, how to amuse your child for five minutes whilst trying to get something done. Maybe it was in the haze of pregnancy where you imagine yourself to be the perfect parent who has all the time in the world that I didn’t look to understand WHY all these kids were playing on smartphones.

 

WHY? Well the simple fact is they are AMAZING tools for learning. The world of apps is growing on a daily basis and with it so are children’s learning capacities.

 

There are apps for everything, my little girl has 6 apps on my iPhone just for her, and since using them has learnt skills that I didn’t acquire until at least high school, and some that my parents may never master…. Computer skills!

 

Now don’t get me wrong, she doesn’t sit down to play the iPhone all day, we play with her toys, go for walks, go to playgroup, swimming, visit friends, go to the park…. The list goes on, but now that I understand what is available for little ones on smart phones, I also ensure there is time spent playing the learning games each week. I believe it will help her in the future as everything is moving at such a quick pace, the earlier you are involved the better off you are.

 

Do your kids play with smartphones? What do they learn from it? How much is too much?

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  • Who would have thought babies, smart phones and computers would be seen in the same sentence!? A scarey world we are moving into for sure

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  • Nope, my kids were always the playing outdoors types. I guess we shouldn’t make judgement calls till we have experience of it

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  • That was an interesting article! Thanks for sharing that knowledge!

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  • According to articles I have read recently. because of the way they tilt their heads or shouch over when using the screen they can get neck and shoulder injuries. Also it is not good for a baby or toddler’s eyes. When they watch them they should nor be close enough anyway.
    Re. TV it should not be used as a babysitter. The older the baby/toddler is before watching TV the better. Keep them well back from the screen. We were advised by several eye specialists. Over the years it seemed some of the best ones retired in quick succession. Some of them were getting elderly, others decided to retire at retirement age or a little earlier so they could enjoy a leisurely life with their families and travel before it became a burden or made unpractical for medical or other personal reasons.

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  • Yes they’re introduced at a young age, yes technology is everywhere, but no, I don’t think they’ll be left behind if I don’t allow them to play on my smart-phone.

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  • That’s life. Embrace technology, fabulous learning tools for the young.

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  • Kids are introduced to technology at such a young age these days, and it becomes an integral part of their lives very early. But I don’t know that I like the idea of babies under 12 months playing with phones & tablets. Not because they won’t learn things from them, but because there’s too much chance of the items getting damaged, because the kids are too young to know how to treat them with care.

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  • It’s about getting the right balance

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  • I’m waiting to see what happens about technology with my third grandson aged five months. With a big brother and sister who are big fans of smart phone, tablet and computer he’ll just think it’s something everybody does.

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  • I too was someone that always said i would be outside playing and reading to the kids.. But i found trying to read that they have the attention span of a fly!

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  • the internet connected devices can be great for finding the information you need on quickly

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  • I agree. It’s too hard to keep them away when they watch their parents on their phones.. And they do learn a lot through the apps and will need computer skills growing up surrounded by technology.

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  • Good read thanks for the information

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  • Thanks for the article

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  • I let my kids and grandkids use technology and they are smart and on par with other kids, as well as having their sports too

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