Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Status
Not open for further replies.

moneyman118

macrumors 6502
Jan 9, 2009
343
8
It seems to me that everyone in this thread has been acting like children. I think allowing a child of that age to interact with an iPad for a few moments is ok. I dont think anyone is going to get rid the building blocks or shapes that go in to buckets. How is an ipad any different than a book? One is looking at a page and viewing whats on it. Should we then take away all of the picture books made for children?
 

mike1450

macrumors member
Aug 17, 2008
67
50
It seems to me that everyone in this thread has been acting like children. I think allowing a child of that age to interact with an iPad for a few moments is ok. I dont think anyone is going to get rid the building blocks or shapes that go in to buckets. How is an ipad any different than a book? One is looking at a page and viewing whats on it. Should we then take away all of the picture books made for children?

A picture book is the same as an iPad if you read a book on it to your kid. It's a flat surface with pictures and text. It's the action of reading to your child, and the interaction that's important. it's why you could read your kid the newspaper and it would be good. (I'd go with a tabloid. better pictures) Reading an ibook to your child from an ipad is fantastic! However, if they're watching it like a TV or playing games on it without your interaction, that's where the problems start. In this case, and iPad could not be more dissimilar to a book.

But now that you mention it, they've shown that an over focusing on iconography without context will hinder a child's developmental progress. So for example, if you have the letters A,B,C,D and 1,2,3,4 on the nursery wall with not context (a is for apple and a picture of an apple) it has no discernible effect on their learning. Basically what I'm saying is that the pictures are very important in a picture book for kids. However, their brains cannot understand rapid movements and quick changes. It mesmerizes them, and then you have a problem.
 
Last edited:

derf36

macrumors newbie
Aug 1, 2010
27
1
Not that I'm keeping score but mike1450 is winning, Surely not so much.

Enjoying this discussion, keep at it.
 

wordoflife

macrumors 604
Jul 6, 2009
7,564
37
Just throwing it out there, but at that age, their eyes are still developing. Depending on what you use it for, it might not be the best idea.
 

mike1450

macrumors member
Aug 17, 2008
67
50
I was thinking about this and I think if we were talking about second hand smoking in the 60s this forum would have similar replies. (i guess submitted via punch card)

Person A: "I love shag carpeting and this new band called the Beatles, but is it ok to smoke around my kid?"

Person B would have answered, "well I do and no harm done."

And truly, many kids were raised in houses with second hand smoke who have no noticeable side effects. But at the time, the pediatric associations were recommending no second hand smoke for babies. And now that everyone knows that cigarette smoke is dangerous and we've had a generation of people aware of it, no one in their right mind would disagree. Even if they thought it was all just overreaction. I, for one, would have wanted to be one of the parents who aired on the side of caution.

This is a similar issue. It may be okay to have your kid play angry birds at 5 months (but there's no way they'd break the top 100 on game center) and there is lots more research to be done. But considering the iPad is a year old, wouldn't you hope everyone aired on the side of caution? It's not like the other 4 year olds will have these great IT jobs and your 4 year old is stuck working at the 7-11 until he finishes night school. If a kid can figure out an ipad at 2 it doesn't show you how smart the kid is, (though they may very well be quite advanced) it shows you how easy an iPad is to use.

Now if your two year old can replace the battery in an iPad. THAT'S something to be proud of.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Status
Not open for further replies.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.