Tech Time for Kids

We love our smart phones and computers! I use mine more times in a day than I can count. In fact, I’d probably be embarrassed to know how often I actually pick it up. Already well versed in the benefits of modern day tech, we quickly realized there were some awesome parenting benefits too.

Kid screaming in the restaurant? You can have them fill up on the diaper bag stash of Cheerios before dinner arrives or you can keep their appetite intact and entertain them with any number of free educational toddler apps on your smart phone. Better still, give them their own smart phone in one of those handy kid proof covers and enjoy the peace and quiet!

Trying to keep your squirming little one from crawling across the germ infested floor of the doctor’s waiting room? A 15 minute video of cute characters singing nursery rhymes usually does the trick. Sure you might get a few sanctimonious glances from the moms who disagree with letting kids have screen time, but isn’t that worth it if it means avoiding the super bugs on the floor?

Not sure how you’ll survive the three hour car ride to grandma’s house with a hyper three year old? Technology to the rescue! Sure there are other ways to occupy your kiddo in the car, but this one doesn’t involve feeding them junk food, singing The Wheels on The Bus a hundred times, or listening to “Are We There Yet?”

I know, I know. Letting the kids have tablets and other technology does have drawbacks. We’ve experienced those too.

I worry about what staring at a screen might do to his eyes. Will he have bad vision when he’s older because I surrendered to the technology demons before he was even a year old?

There are certainly plenty of studies about the ill effects of screen time before age two. It’s easy to ignore the studies when you’re watching your one year old be-bop along to the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse “Hot Dog Dance.”

Other side effects I worry about a little more. For instance, my toddler has lots of issues sleeping. I read that screen time before bed can decrease levels of melatonin in your body, making it harder for you to sleep. Once I turned off the guilty mommy voice blaming me for my son’s insomnia, I put a limit on the tech time at night. Now we just avoid screen time for an hour before bed. So far, that has solved the problem for us.

I have one more somewhat irrational fear about letting our toddler interact with technology on a regular basis. What if we are stunting his imagination or turning him into a couch potato?

I suppose for some that wouldn’t seem irrational, but when I look at the facts, I’m not worried anymore. We read to our son a lot. We play a lot without any tech involved. He loves to get up and be active, he loves to spend time outside, he loves to make up stories and tell us all about them. I think as long as we keep nurturing those parts of him we will be okay.

In the end, we believe that if we just maintain a balance he’ll be fine. We’ll just take everything in moderation. Technology isn’t inherently bad. It has the potential to be a bad thing just like anything else. I think that our approach is teaching our son to enjoy the benefits tech has to offer without letting it become his central focus. Sometimes that means telling him to take a break, turning the tech off, and even a little extra work on our part. I think it’s totally worth it.

So what are your thoughts about kids using tech?

Written by: Sara Parise