Are tablets appropriate for children?
Regarding to children of an age from 4 -6 years, the common awareness of adults believes that children like more to read on a digital advice. However, in a study of children from 4 to 6 years, the majority of those who had regular access to digital devices, tend not to use their devices for reading, even when there existed daily book readers on the device (Merga and Roni, 2017). Moreover, it was found that children read less in general, the more digital devices a child had access to.
The Guardian showed 2014 another point of view in their article “Are iPads and tablets bad for young children?”, where they interview the director of the BabyLab Swinburne University at Melbourne, Jordy Kaufmann. In this interview Jordy Kaufmann mentioned, that when most of the scientists and peadiatricians have talked about the danger of screen time for kids, they do not distinguish between the type of digital media screens. Generally said, most of the research is based on the relation between children and the television. For Jordy Kaufmann it seemed misguided to assume, that tablet apps are going to have the same impact as the program of the television has. He added in his interview “it all depends what you are using it for” (Cocozza, 2014).
There is no real right or wrong. Out of my point of view adults should find their own way how to deal with digital advices and their children. But especially in the first years of life, where the child isn’t able to distinguish between real-life object and digital objects, I wouldn’t advice any parents to buy their children their own tablets. Neither, if they are crying less afterwards…
Merga, M. K. and Roni, S. M. (2017) Children prefer to read books on paper rather than screens, The Conversation. Available at: http://theconversation.com/children-prefer-to-read-books-on-paper-rather-than-screens-74171 (Accessed: 8 November 2018).
Cocozza, P. (2014) ‘Are iPads and tablets bad for young children?’, The Guardian, 8 January. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/society/2014/jan/08/are-tablet-computers-bad-young-children (Accessed: 8 November 2018).