Dear Mr. Dad: I’m thinking of giving my 18-month-old my old iPad. She loves playing with it and I think she should have her own. My husband disagrees. What do you think?
A: I’d hold off for a while. There’s a lot of information out there on technology’s effect on children, but very little on toddlers as young as yours. What there is, however, paints a pretty grim picture. Here are the arguments in favor and against.
Pro #1: Our kids see us interacting with screens in every aspect of our lives. Kids who don’t have superior tech skills will be at a disadvantage as they grow up.
Con #1: Children are being pushed to grow up too quickly. What they need is time to relax, enjoy life, and be a kid. The research is clear: young children learn everything better by interacting with their parents than from a machine. They also need to physically interact with their world, something they can’t do with 2D images on a phone or tablet.
Pro #2: It’s only for a few minutes at a time. What harm could there be in that?
Con #2: Researcher Karin Archer found that 62% of children under one year old and 89% of children under 2½ had been introduced to at least one mobile device. Pediatrician Catherine Birken and her colleagues found that 20% of children under 18 months were using handheld devices an average of 28 minutes per day. They also found that the more time a child spent on a device, the higher the risk of an “expressive speech delay,” meaning that they have trouble using words and language.
