General Chat

Reading the DM yesterday, as I do because I am what Rollo describes as 'an old dear'. I found two articles quite concerning.

The first article was written by Sue Palmer who ten years ago predicted the toxic effects of social media in her book Toxic Childhood. Her article yesterday was titled Why the IPad is a far bigger threat to our children than anyone realises. I am not going to quote chunks from the article as it is available to anyone to find on line. However, it made me realise how many times I have seen young children, toddlers and even babies being kept occupied by having an ipad thrust in front of them. I do know my Great Grandson uses his Mum's IPad, but I am pretty sure she rations his use.

One paragraph that did catch my eye was that 'if the neural pathways that control social and imaginative responses aren't developed in early childhood, it is difficult to revive them later. A whole generation could grow up without the mental ability to create their own fun, devise their own games and enjoy real friendships - all because of endless screen time........ real play develops intitiative, problem solvingskills and many other positive traits such as a can-do attitude, perseverance and emotional resilience, plus social skills.'

I am pretty certain that we on here are mostly informed about this. But isn't it worrying that something that has done so much good. i.e. the advance of technology, should have the potential to damage today's young children's lives. The article concludes by saying that if the next generation is to grow up bright, balanced and healthy enough to use technology wisely parents need to take action. And that means limiting screen time as well as spending time together as a family.



The second article I will put on a separate thread.

Overuse of anything is damaging. The trouble is screens have become baby sitters for parents who can't be bothered to engage with their children. I hate seeing toddlers with their noses in tablets when we're in restaurants etc. Why don't they just talk to their children?

Because their children are accessories. Just like the tablets.

The problem is that the adults usually have their phones in front of them as well. I sometimes wonder why these families bother to go out together if they don't want to talk to each other.

Why do they even bother to be a family?

True.

A young friend recently started teaching and told me that several in her reception class tried to "swipe" books. Awful for them to get to school without knowing how books work.

Oh that is terrible Gwynne, how sad that they have obviously never seen a book. Which means there are no books in their house. difficult to imagine life without books.

There is concern that children won't be able to communicate with each other as adults to form relationships or relate to employers or their customers too. Employers are already saying that many job applicants lack social skills for work, so what will it be like when today's youngsters grow up? Mind you, I don't think spending more time with some parents would help either. I remember feeling distressed myself in a cafe a few years ago when a little boy sitting in his pushchair had been so good for so long became badly upset at his young mother completely ignoring him talking to her as he became more and more distressed while she just texted away on her phone as oblivious as if he didn't exist!! The other night I witnessed a young teenage girl standing quietly at a supermarket looking upset and embarrassed while her mother was shouting the most vile and unecessary swear words at her!! Too many people don't deserve the human beings they have created, if they can't be bothered to care for their wellbeing properly.

Many children have lost the exercise they used to get walking to school, playing out or riding their bikes etc. Now it seems they are losing communication skills too. Parents have a huge influence over both.

Our grandchildren both have tablets, we bought granddaughter one for her 2nd birthday.

Both children are very tech savvy and they will need to be HOWEVER, their time is monitored and the tablets are only used in kid mode. Youngest loves to watch how things are made.

They will happily play together making up games as they go along. Both have very advanced vocabulary and are bi-lingual. She loves her dolls, doll's house, lego and hosting pretend tea parties, he loves his lego, cars, trampoline and looking after his sister in the playhouse.

They will spend hours with paper, glue, scissors, stickers and glitter.

I believe young children do need to have access to the latest technology but only in conjunction with 'normal' play. We will watch a video on YouTube and then replicate the construction of something that triggered their interest.

Nobody swears in front of my grandkids neither are 'baby' words tolerated.

I hope that they will grow up to be just like their Mum and Dad (and their grandparents lolol).

Sue

Children who are denied access to tablets, ipads etc will actually be at a distinct disadvantage once they start school.

"Overuse" is the key to this as with anything in this life.

Our youngest grandson is just two and is adept at using his tablet. However we look after him daily from 9 to 4 when he is equally at ease "reading" books, talking to us and playing with his train set and other traditional toys.

There you have it, moderation in the use of the Ipad and interactive play, plus access to books. But not all children are getting this. Which is sad.

I love my iPad and it has made a difference to my life since I
lost my husband almost 5 years ago....
But....I agree that parents use it to keep children occupied.
I was in a very rainy Guernsey over New Year with family who live there and ones over from Oz with my 11 year old granddaughter.
I took presents.,a big present each and I took some annuals which I thought would occupy her...she never looked at them...was on her iPad most of the time when she wasn't watching a film on TV.
Tried to play cards,but gets bored with that.
I find it hard to understand...it is a modern day problem I'm afraid.

A funny little ditty from our family week:-

My daughter loves to crack me up laughing with her silly nonsense..

Me with my weak bladder was desperately trying to hold on but couldn't!!

Five minutes later I emerged from the bathroom and sat on the sofa minus trousers (as one does!).

Grandson aged 2yrs 4mths comes up to me all confiding and puts his hand on my arm saying, "Grandma, why haven't you got your trousers on?"

"I had a little accident" I replied.

Taking my hand he whispers, "Well never mind Grandma, put the remote controller down and I'll take you to the toilet". :-D :-D :-D

If you check back over the years ....

printing would cause political disruption and educate the working class ( seen as a bad thing)

typewriters were going to cause mass unemployment of copy writers and remove the population's ability to write

radios would also create unemployment, be politically disruptive and break up family life; the BBC was invented while the radio (expensive) became the focus of family life 1925-55.

the TV was certainly slated by right wing journalists and left wing teachers as a very bad thing which had all the faults of radio plus it would damage the mental development of children. Instead tv became a window on the world and remains the no.1 source of entertainment. It has stunted the mental development of politicians trying to project a false image via TV. Both Cameron and Corbyn avoid it like the plague.

Which brings us to smart phones and tablets.
The no.1 reason why smart phones are so popular with the young is they make yakking / texting with their friends so easy, no need for old style steam phone calls. Far from damaging children's social skills the many group apps and games do quite the opposite. Yes, like anything else parents need to keep on eye on things. That is normal parenting.

The games are good fun and if anything are a challenge to developing minds. So what if chess and board games are not current choices ?

Poor parenting is poor parenting. It has been a problem long before smart phones, computers or even the TV were thought off. Blaming social problems on the current technology is sloppy thinking of the first order.

The DM has been consistently plain wrong, out of touch and regressive on just about anything going back 80 years. It appeals to a certain mind set epitomised by Melanie Philips, Simon Heffer and Kate Hopkins.

I buy a copy most days for my mum. After she had done with it the DM makes excellent cat litter :-)

You never miss a trick Rollo do you. This was about babies and toddlers being left to play on a tablet instead of parents interacting with them. Not about older children playing games. This piece may have been printed in your much hated newspaper but it was written by a respected author. I am not quite sure what makes you an authority on everything but it gets boring. Although I have to say I was waiting for your post.

Lavender :-D :-D bless him.

I do confess to a little DM online addiction :-0

… but then we subscribe to the online Times and Telegraph, too

So that's ok then :-D :-D :-D

Oh dear, I read the Telegraph but have a real time news feed from sources worldwide, this also includes headlines from the DM. I have been known to read what appear to be interesting news reports (Fox News excluded) and that obviously includes gutter press rags.

Sometimes they report accurately *shocked face*.

If I had a cat I wouldn't let it wee on my laptop, ipad or mobile where the news feeds are read

;-)