There was a time when parents waited eagerly to hear what their baby’s first word might be. Was that an oddly muffled belch, or did she just say “daderooo?” I remember the day when my son first blatted out the word “ball” and I was suddenly having daydreams of a boy with an NBA career and backboard-breaking slam-dunks.
Of course, that sort of early wordplay was for yesteryear’s kids. Today’s tiny tots are sure to be saying things like “Bluetooth compatible” long before Mama gets a verbal nod.
I’m only half joking.
A recent article in Great Britain’s The Telegraph suggests that not only are more and more kids being raised and weaned on the Apple iPad, a sizable number are potentially becoming addicted to the little techy things. That’s right, I said addicted. The Telegraph reports that there’s even a new version of therapy aimed at iPad-obsessed tykes who just can’t do without their colorful mini-screen fix.
The youngest reported patient in the UK is a 4-year-old girl. She was reportedly spending about four hours a day on the device—which is quite a bit for someone who’s only awake for 10 hours per. (In fact, the article says that she wasn’t all that uncommon: One in seven parents in an online babiesco.uk survey said they allowed their kids on the iPad for four or more hours a day, too.) “Her parents enrolled her for compulsive behavior therapy after she became increasingly ‘distressed and inconsolable’ when the iPad was taken away from her,” the article stated.
Now, before you go snorting, think about it. One of the big challenges of early child-rearing is figuring out how to best keep the little ones busy. Of course, being “busy” can sometimes translate to, “just shut them up so I can have a moment’s peace.” And what better tool do we have than the ever-handy iPad? Sure TV used to rule the roost in this department, but that colorful, game-filled, app-abundant, hand-held Apple wonder puts the old tube to shame.
A noted psychiatrist, Dr. Richard Graham who runs the Capio Nightingale Clinic in London, warns that the laptop kid-keeper could become a pretty big problem. “Children have access to the Internet almost from birth,” Graham told The Mirror. “They see their parents playing on their mobile devices and they want to play too. It’s difficult, because having a device can also be very useful in terms of having a reward, having a pacifier. But if you don’t get the balance right it can be very dangerous.”
Now, don’t get me wrong: iPads can be tremendously educational and entertaining tools for the wee ones. But I do fret that spending too much time with these techy tablets could create an identity crisis of sorts, where kids won’t feel quite like themselves unless they’re clutching one of these gizmos in their tiny hands. As the (new) old saying goes: iPad, therefore I am!
Recent Comments