I am dismayed how many young parents use their phones and tablets as distracting devices for children as young as 2 years old--you see kids in shopping carts mesmerized by a screen while the parent(s) peruse the grocery or department store aisles. There has been a massive decrease in the cognitive abilities of school age students as well as an increase in the signs and symptoms of attention deficits over the years. There has also been a marked decrease in the physical fitness of the younger generations, decreased athletic skills, decreased outdoor activity, as well as decreased real life physical interactions (this started well before Covid).
Much of the blame can be laid at the feet of hand held electronic devices like smart phones, tablets as well as gaming consoles.
If one hasn't seen it, I highly recommend viewing "Social Dilemma" available on Netflix--it should put a pause on providing young kids with smart devices. For much deeper dive I recommend reading "The Shallows--What the Internet is Doing to Our Brains" by Nicholas Carr.
Not sure what the appropriate age would be for children to have smart phones or other electronic devices in an unsupervised environment, but I heard someone give an answer in a form of a question--"At what age to you want your child to have access to porn?"
I guess I am taken aback by the OP's concern not by the image but the fact that young kids are allowed to interact with electronic devices without supervision.
Personally, I think the fact that everyone’s mind jumps to porn whenever it’s even thought of letting a child use an iPhone or iPad really says more about them than it does the child or the Internet.
First of all, it is insanely easy to set up an iPhone or an iPad in such a way where those sites will never find their way on the screen.
Focus, ScreenTime, parental restrictions, children safe applications… All of these things exist!
Use them!
The problem isn’t children having access to technology. Children *should* have access, not unrestricted access, but access nonetheless, to technology.
It’s just the world that we live in, technology is everywhere, used for almost everything, restricting children from it is frankly extremely stupid.
It’s a major part of society, it’s important to show children the proper ways of using it, getting them interested in it, because who knows. Maybe in the future, it’ll be them developing and introducing new technology.
Steve Jobs didn’t get into computers by not using them, and neither will future generations.
Also, it’s just the way of life. It’s how people interact, it’s how people get from place to place, etc.
I would honestly feel safer if I had a child with a smart phone then if I didn’t. I can see where they are, I can more easily keep tabs on what they’re up to, and I know that if I or they ever need to get in contact, we always can immediately.
But the thing is, as you say, a lot of parents these days have a completely hands off approach to how they treat technology with their children. They give them a phone with absolutely no restrictions on it and say “go nuts”. And that’s where the problem is.
As for what age, i’m also not entirely sure. But one thing I do know is that these days the Apple Watch can be set up for a child, and they can use it to make calls, send messages, and I can still see where they’re at at all times. And I know they’re not using an Apple Watch to browse the web completely unrestricted, I don’t even think that’s possible on the Apple Watch.
The point is, there are solutions to these problems. There are responsible things you can do while still allowing your child to live in our modern world.
Keeping them safe from the Internet does not mean forcing them to live like it’s still 1977.
