Can you hear me now? Make good choices, Mamas …
Read about it here and then decide where you would draw the line.
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When I was a nanny, I would always advise parents not to let their children play with their keys or cellphone. They get lost. Baby or kiddo locks mom and dad out of the car with the keys and cell inside,so forget calling Triple A, etc. Phones and keys are like beer and wine– grown-up things, not for children. For me, it’s easy to draw that line.
But I think this article missed a bigger point, which is this: what would have happened if the parents had just held off and let the child find something else to do on their own? We seem to be in such a hurry to shut our kids up when they get fixated on something (and whiny), that we set up bad habits.
Add to this that Mommy and Daddy are likely engaged and staring at this screen quite a bit. That makes it even more attractive to little ones. Sad thing is, it takes our eyes off them.
In our home, my husband and I both have pay-as-you-go cell phones which Kiddo (3.5 years) isn’t allowed to use. He talks on the landline with grandparents, etc. and has no computer time. 2 hours of tv maximum per week. Some would call us extremely conservative, but he has no trouble entertaining himself, and tends to be busy on his own. I wouldn’t want to impede that tendency. Giving our kids media on demand is a lot like giving them candy when they whine for it. It’s not good for the parent/child relationship, and it’s especially unhealthy for our kids.
Thanks, Hazel, you articulated our thoughts beautifully. It will be interesting to see if things shift for you when school enters the picture.
I am a mom with an iphone and I have to say, I agree and disagree. I agree that letting your child use your iphone for 6 hours straight in the car or finding your iphone in your child’s bed is a problem. However, I don’t see a problem with using apps on the phone from time to time with my daughter. Everything in moderation. Some of the apps I think are educational and some are just plain funny – we sit around together and laugh as a talking cat repeats everything we say in a funny voice. Our family is together and we are all laughing together. I don’t think that interaction is ruined because a phone is involved. I have let my daughter watch a Dora episode on my phone while in the car a few times and it saved my sanity. I unserstand the attraction to the phone and see how it can easily become the “go to” toy but I guess I live by the “everything in moderation” rule.