iPad Parenting
My 6-yo son is a digital native. He has an old but working iPad with a proper child-proof case. He uses it mainly for watching YouTube Kids and Netflix Kids. He browses for some kids crafts and ideas on Pinterest in my wife’s phone. He occasionally plays, Angry Birds or Candy Crush in my mom’s device. He always checks my, and my wife’s fitness rings in the Apple Watch. Because of him, me and my wife, compete in closing all the rings.
General advice we get is to reduce the screen time for kids. But I don’t follow it. Simply because I think we don’t have enough data to prove the ill-effects for the gadgets on kids. We really don’t restrict on time spent on devices. But we are extremely careful about the kind of content he watches.
We have a few videos/channels that are blacklisted. Some of the Indian cartoon series for kids are blacklisted. Indian cartoons, like Chotta Bheem, are very insensitive to many issues. They do fat-shaming, gender stereotyping, minor violence and so much crap, in kids’ cartoon, as it is very natural for us Indians.
We have also blacklisted Ryan’s Toys Review. I root for the kid Ryan as he has made huge money out of the YouTube platform. But for me, my kid watching his videos has a high probability of a dent in my wallet.
Other than that he can watch anything, anytime for however long he wants. I love the impact of YouTube videos and Netflix kids on my son. He can enjoy stories, articulate his feelings, empathise with many subtle situations easily. I am grateful to the makes of fantastic shows like Peppa Pig, Ben and Holly, Masha and the Bear, Alphablocks, Porroro, Pocoyo and so many others. Because of them, my son’s language has improved a lot.
Surprisingly, my son’s screen time is really minimal. His watches videos only when he has food, which is approximately 60 to 75 minutes a day. In the weekend it might be for around 90 to 120 minutes, as we both play Nintendo Switch together. Super Mario Odyssey is our current favourite. It is super fun.
I find it quite relaxing not to have this rule of screen time strictly imposed on the next generation. Our kids definitely cannot avoid technology or gadgets. As a parent, we can teach them how to be a boss of the tech or gadgets, instead of being bossed by them.
More thoughts on this:
I find the current obsession of “limiting screen time” is similar to the paranoia against “fat” a few decades ago. Now many studies have shown that “fat” as a macronutrient is not a villain or doesn’t cause cardiovascular diseases. Instead, they say sugar and excessive carbs consumption might be the problem.
I frankly don’t know any studies that are statistically significant which shows the ill-effects of gadgets usage on human beings. Hold on.
But studies have shown that sleep and play are important for healthy living. Play for kids and exercise or physical activities for adults. In recent years, sleep has been recognized as a superpower. Many activists are proposing the idea of changing the school start time to 10 a.m instead of early mornings.
My point is: instead of focusing on limiting gadget usage, we should let kids know the importance of sleep and play.
If my kid is to say that he is going to watch/play with iPad, I will say: “Fine, you can watch but in the living room. But I am going to go and sleep because I value sleep and rest immensely. It’s up to you on when you want to sleep. Good night”.
In real life, I have never faced this situation, because whenever I say that I am going to bed, my son tries to rush into bed before me. Gleefully he says that he was the first to reach to bed. We chat sometimes and his bedtime routine starts.
Kids imitate and learn for the parents. More than what we want to teach, they learn from how we are actually doing things.