The endless variety of advanced electronic devices today is unprecedented and offers an especially unique experience for modern children. This is perhaps the first era where children from birth can grow up around technology, such as the smartphone and advanced PDA devices. These devices can do wonders for the imagination and are great learning tools, but they’re also very expensive and come with their own security and privacy issues. Does your child need an iPad, or putting devices like this in the hands of children could cause more harm than good?
First, there is no doubt that the iPad can act as one of the best modern learning devices on the planet. With new iPad “apps” constantly being developed and big-name developers now coming on board, it’s fairly certain that the iPad will continue to house an excellent range of learning tools for your child. Apps range from those that teach children to read and count to those that offer educational simulations, such as cooking basics or gardening. Before touch technology, applications like these were practically non-existent; Especially for children’s use.
The iPad works in more ways than one as a great learning device. Kids love cool technology, and the iPad is arguably one of the coolest technologies on the market today. By marketing the iPad to kids as a “cool” way to read (as with e-books) and do their homework, they can jump at the chance, since kids find it fun to use the iPad for just about anything.
While these are certainly great reasons to introduce your kids to the iPad, there are plenty of reasons why you might want to wait. Perhaps most obvious is the fact that the iPad isn’t a cheap piece of hardware, and it’s also not very break-resistant, especially in the hands of a child. Weighing just one pound, simply dropping the iPad from a low surface is enough to damage it, sometimes even permanently. Children may see the iPad as a toy and not realize how fragile it was or how expensive it was to buy. If you have reason to believe that your child may be careless with an iPad, it’s best to keep it to yourself or at least invest in a high-quality case to protect it.
Many parents are also concerned about the websites that children visit when using the Internet, which is another potential problem when allowing children to access an iPad. The iPad is capable of surfing the web like any home computer or laptop, bringing with it the same threats one might encounter while on a computer, such as pornography, graphic violence, and chat rooms. While it’s possible to block kids from using the internet in this way on iPad, it’s still not ideal to give your child unlimited access to the web. Even good kids can find themselves in bad neighborhoods online.
In the end, it all depends on you and your children. If you think they are caring and responsible “young adults” who are ready to experience and learn from touch technology, then take the opportunity to let them use the iPad. If you are on the other side of the fence, it is best to wait.
