It’s very likely that I’ve already written about smartphones, tablets, and kids spending gazillions of their childhood minutes glued to those devices. I feel very strongly about that subject and always have. I believe in the power of humongous negative influence all those “smart” devices have on kids and parents-children relationships. What kind of relationship are parents expecting to have with their kids, if from the very young age their best friend is their parent’s smartphone or a tablet?
Yes, I’m in strong opposition to tablets and smartphones being used by small kids while shopping at Tesco’s, changing a nappy or merely having a stroll up and down the high street. Seriously people, what is wrong with you? I am trying not to be judgmental, but it is very hard not to stare and make unkind, frankly pretty nasty comments towards parents who chose electric babysitters to have peace of their minds. Why the fuck do you even have kids if the only thing you want from them is to be quiet and pretend not to exist?
My son is over nine years old, asks millions of questions daily to which I have very few answers, and he insists on having a conversation during our dinner time; he asks what we are going to talk about. He only got a tablet when we decided to home-educate him, and he began animation and coding weekly classes. But he doesn’t spend hours upon hours staring at his tablet and playing games. We talk, play card games together, read together or cook together; we go for walks, and when we go shopping, he is an integral part of the shopping experience, choosing everything together with us. He doesn’t need a bloody phone to go on a two-hour plane trip or 30 min. a train ride to central London. Instead, he looks out of the window or plays with his Lego.
People, I beg of you! Wake the fuck up! Those devices make your kids stupid, uncommunicative and frankly Zombie-like. If you don’t feel you can handle kids or handle more than one child, maybe you shouldn’t have that many. The time you spend with your kids is what they will treasure and what is going to influence them for life; not some stupid, mindless games you expect them to play from the moment they open their eyes.
The excuse that the children will miss out on new technology and not learn about computers is bullshit. What are they suppose to learn about new technologies if the only thing they do on those devices is mindlessly playing games?
When I see parents neglecting their children this way, I want to smack them and give them time out for as long as they need to realise what harm they are doing to their precious little ones. So don’t be an idiot and do your parenting job; the days and years we have our children with us are very short; don’t fuck it up.
Tech can work beautifully for kids Magda after kids use their imaginations versus staring at a screen. My niece is 2 and already wants to use smart phones and my Chromebook. My sister in law makes her use her imagination instead; all toys and books and play-time. I dig your message.