If you aren’t familiar with the term, an iPad kid is a child in today’s tech-filled world who is practically addicted to a tablet and/or phone. At home, tech is used to distract the child and keep them quiet and busy. And in theory, this is great! Parents get a much-needed respite and can get things done around the house without tiny hands grabbing at them every two seconds.
But by using tablets as babysitters for our kids, they’re missing out on some important life skills and developmental milestones, in addition to not being physically active enough.
- The constant stimulation attained through tech means that as soon as the iPad is taken away, kids are bored bored BORED! They’re expecting that same continual influx of entertainment that simply cannot be sustained at all times, neither in the home nor at school, and they react poorly because they haven’t learned to sit with themselves and just be.
- Kids nowadays are doing everything online, and although you can do art and learn things on a screen, it simply isn’t the same as offline creativity. There is no better way to learn about the world around you than by experiencing it firsthand! Colouring in a real colouring book, for example, practices dexterity, creativity, visual recognition, and more. Digging a hole in the yard to find worms teaches kids that getting your hands dirty is okay and that life, no matter how small, has value.
- Attention spans are suffering! The internet feeds us bite-sized pieces of info, often in video form, and it’s impeding kids from actually making an effort to learn or pay attention. Ages ago, you had to go to the library and check out a book to find out about the life cycle of a butterfly. Then, you could look it up online—easy! But now, if the answer takes longer than .5 seconds to read/hear, kids tend to give up entirely. They’re looking for an easy solution, a quick answer, and are forgoing the information that lies beyond.
- Of course, handing a child an iPad also exposes them to the various dangers of internet—online predators, false advertising and misinformation, discrimination and cyberbullying, internet addiction, and more. They’re also subjected to info that isn’t necessarily age-appropriate or simply shouldn’t be a consideration for young kids especially, such as beauty standards and diet culture.
- Recently, the province of Ontario, Canada, banned cell phones from elementary schools COMPLETELY and from high schools during class. Anecdotally, I’ve heard that the difference in the students is already staggering. They’re connecting with each other and happily interacting in the halls rather than staying glued to a screen whenever possible. I wouldn’t be surprised to hear that grades are improving as well.
Okay, so this sounds awful now that I type it all out! But I have faith that we can still turn things around for the next generations. The simplest solution, of course, is to severely limit screen time for older kids and forbid all (or nearly all) screens for younger kids. Watching a movie with your two-year-old? Good. Letting the same toddler watch YouTube while you make dinner every night? Maybe not…
When kids are using tech, make sure parental controls are set and that you’ve had meaningful discussions about online safety and the sort of toxicity you can find online. And when they aren’t… well, now you can have some fun! Think of all the things you can do offline together, from chatting during dinner to going to the park. Imagine everything your kids could create when given even the most basic art materials or the contents of your paper recycling bin and some duct tape. Picture the stacks of children’s books you could read together or they could read alone—there is so much to learn through books!
Hopefully this post has given you some food for thought (and maybe even inspired you to do some research!). If your kids are already addicted, it’s not too late! And remember, children mirror adult behaviour; if we want them offline, it surely won’t hurt to reevaluate how much time WE spend glued to our phones!
