The Touch-Screen Generation

Didn't the wheel come before fire?

 

You have to do laundry at some point, right?

You have to cook dinner at some point, right?

You have to make a phone call at some point, right?

During these periods, the child has to be engaged somehow. Is an iPad app a lesser option than an episode of "Wonderpets"? Than a puzzle? Than a picture book?

 

Ah, no. It's not an either-or thing. My 10-year-old talks to friends through a headset while he plays Xbox, and my 7-year-old knows how to FaceTime. And yet, we still are able to have actual conversations.

 

My approach comes from discussions with his doctors and his speech therapist. They said it's very important that he have educational "me time" for roughly half the time he's home, otherwise the constant stream of instruction will start to overload him and he'll tune out.

Not to mention, it's pretty rare that he actually sits by himself. He's big on grabbing your finger and trying to get you to play it with him. Maybe not all toddlers are that way, but that's how it works for me.

 

What about engaging themselves in pretend play? Pretend play is proven to increase empathy. Increased empathy is proven to enhance self-control. Self-control is proven to increase test scores, income as an adult, productivity... all the good stuff. Intelligence has much less of a correlation to all those good things.

I actually don't believe it's an all-or-nothing. Both my kids play with the iPad, iPhone, etc. Every kid I know who has access to an iPad knows how to use it, and well.

My daughter's 1st grade teacher tells me she's seeing mean girl behavior start earlier and earlier. She's having to teach compassion in the classroom because the kids aren't getting it at home. Apparently, there's NOT an app for that.

You know what, guys? I know I sound like an asshole. I'm doing that on purpose. Some of you need reeling in on this shit, and you know it.

 

Hey, I don't even own an iPad. Or a video game console.

I'm actually asking the questions because I seek answers.

 

Are you saying parents were more compassionate before technology?

 

Fire predates the wheel by quite a bit.

archaeology.about.com/od/ancientdailylife/qt/fire_control.htm

listverse.com/2007/10/07/top-10-ancient-inventions/

www.historicaltimeline.com/ht_inventions.htm

www.explainthatstuff.com/timeline.html

 

Thanks. I would have kicked ass at caveman shit if they didn't kill and eat me first.

 

Yeah, but what's the best we've done since then?

 

The downfall began with hair bands, although a case could be made for disco, which predates hair bands.

 

You don't sound like an asshole. You sound like a person making stuff up based on feelings and anecdotes.