How using gadgets have affected my son’s development
Ren was just around 3 years old when he started playing with his dad’s iPod touch.
cute little Ren with his old gadget
I admit we are one of the guilty parents for introducing our son to gadgets at an early age. But we think that by doing that, it had a positive impact on his reading skills because he learned to read at an early age (even ahead with other kids his age), but the negative impact was that he struggles with communicating with other people.
When the iPod touch got broken, he had no choice but to became aware of his surroundings which helped him to be more talkative and learned how to interact (he is learning this slowly, but we believe that he will get there soon).
I have read somewhere that children should not use any gadgets as early as 2 years old, because it might cause attention deficit disorder. Well I can’t go back time and yes I think somehow the gadgets have affected my son’s language development.
Now that he is already in preschool, my main concern is when he is using the computer. We let him use the computer as a reward for doing a good job at school or when I need to do something important and need not to be disturbed. The computer helps me keep him stay and occupied for a few hours. What he usually do in front of the computer is watch cartoon series or movies that we have.
I remembered a few months ago, I heard him saying the sh*t word. I was shocked where he heard it. It might be on a video clip he was watching online.
I know he doesn’t know what it means and I think he just repeated what he heard. I told him that it is a bad word and he should not say it again. But from then on, I monitored the things that he can do while in front of the computer.
Yes, Noel and I are work-at-home parents but we admit that we still can’t monitor the activities of my son every now and then. So, what more if the parents are working in the office and the kids are just left with their yayas or other people, how can they make sure that the kids are safe in using the internet?
Thanks to Green Cross Mommy Pros, they have posted an article about some controls that we parents can put on our computers and gadgets to help restrict the kinds of content our kids can access.
Here are some of their suggestions:
DESKTOP/PCs -Norton and Windows both have parental control systems which can let you set times when your kids are allowed to use the computer and block access to sites by type (crime, pornography, drugs, mature content) and even social networking sites.
- For Android, K9 Web Protection Browser is free for download. It has preset filters based on age group.
- On the other hand, a paid app like McAfee Family Protection blocks websites up to 35 categories.
- A top paid parental control software for iOS is AVG Family Safety. It can block a wide array of inappropriate content and malware. It also goes a step further by letting you monitor your child’s browsing behavior.
I can’t blame parents for letting kids use their gadgets. For us, it is one of our reinforcement for Ren to be motivated to do what is being asked. His dad was also like that when he was at his age. Also besides reading books, gadgets is one of the things he uses to keep him busy or occupied for a few hours while we do some important things.
What I suggest is to just limit their usage of these gadgets. Remember that too much of anything can be harmful, the key is balance.
How about you, did you ever experienced the same thing with your kids?
My kids are visual and auditory learners. They can’t help but be fascinated by gadgets and computers. I let them play at most an hour a day. They learned a lot from online games and kids websites and I use online sites that have reading lessons for them. Their activities are heavily monitored and they have their own user accounts where they can’t download and do stuff without my permission. But yes, socialization I think is affected a bit and needs to be balanced out.
my nephews are 12 and 13yo and during vacations, they stay with us. we had no gadgets when they were younger but they were exposed to too much tv. there was a delay in speech and communication skills but they are okay now. with their younger brother, their parents are now controlling the use of computers and tablets. it’s only on weekends and there’s time limit 🙂
ung mga anak ko po kase pinapagamit ko lang po ng gadgets during weekdays lang po
That’s good mommy Helen 🙂
i let my son use the tablet but in moderation only, sometimes when i need to finish something or he’s having tantrums it’s may savior.
Children tend to be lazy because of gadgets. they need to exercise still and do some physical activities.
my eldest learned to use the mouse at 1 1/2yo. learned to read too using the pc. i guess it depends on what the parent is feeding the child.
I think Ykaie began using gadgets when she was three years old. We also use that as a motivation for her and to keep her busy.
Its nice to see that parents like you take time to know about parental control on devices such as PC, tablets and smartphones.
Everything should be in moderation. For us, Gwen can use our phone when we’re at home, she learns through the educational apps installed. And yes, gadgets can be used as a savior when she’s having tantrums.
I guess using gadgets will surely help kids to brighten their future as this current world is full of technology based.
my cousin had also the same problem. her son learned new words easily but the problem is the real socialization with classmates. Atleast now, someday if I would have one, I’d know that I wouldnt hand them gadgets until they reach age of 2. 🙂
My son learned to use the tablet as early as 2 years old. It helped him a lot especially in recognizing alphabets. He loves watching cartoons from youtube. The only problem that I encountered was his fast adaptation of explicit words that he still don’t know the meaning. Masakit sa tenga marining na nasabi nya yung bad words dahil narining nya yun.
I think nowadays, kids are more “tech savvy” than we want them to be. They seldom go out anymore and get to socialize with other kids. I don’t have kids yet but what I do with my nephews and niece is controlled usage (only on certain times) and yes, the the parental control features is really an advantage! =)
both of my 2 sons are gadget conscious at an early age, I just implement time restriction on gadget use at the same I availed net nanny to restrict access on adult and porn sites 🙂
Your kid is so pre-occupied of using his ipod. This is could be of great help for him especially in improving his manipulative skill and mental analysis.
It’s nice that there are filters Parents can use. My take, I think kids gets to be creative being exposed to gadgets.
The use of gadgets by children at a very young age definitely has pros and cons. But I believe a healthy mix of technology and old-school activities is best.
My cousin who’s 3 years old already has attention deficit disorder because of using the iPad and iPhone too much. He even knows how to buy apps from the AppStore and research information on Google.