Not allowing Electronic gadgets to kids. Is it good or bad?

nutty_witty · May 2, 2013

Hi, i have 2 kids ( 5yr and 2yr old). till now i have not allowed to play them in electronic gadgets like mobile, laptop, ipod or even video games. i have strict timings for TV also. Both my kids loves to play out with their friends. But if i see kids outside they are very much familiar with these gadgets, some time i am feeling bad that i am restricting from new technologies. but at the same time i am worried that they will get addicted and it affect their health also. otherwise my daughter like to play blocks, puzzles, coloring, painting.. is it anything i am stopping them from learning, please pour ur thoughts. thanks

happyness · May 3, 2013

Hey Nutty_witty,

What you are doing is right. No need to worry about the video games, electronic gadgets etc.
Recently there was a study done in kids to find out the effect of TV, iPhones and other gadgets. It was proven that kids exposed to these at an early age had language and cognition problems. If I remember correctly a parent or caretaker speaks about 900 words per hour with out any of these distractions and speaks only 200 words with these. Kids learn by direct interaction. It's recommended by AAP (American Academy of Pediatrics) that no TV, electronic gadgets until 2 yrs of age, and after that limit the screen time (includes TV, Phone, IPad, video games etc) to less than 2 hours per day.
There are a lot of videos etc advertising that they improve the IQ but none were proven so far. The only thing that was proven that increases the IQ by 3-5 points is blocks. So I guess you are doing the right thing.

Kids will eventually catch up with all the other gadgets.

Dinny · May 5, 2013

Hi nutty_witty
I agreee that electronic gadgets can be very addictive.Actaully we cant blame children even we grown ups are addicted to our smart phones and tablets.
But these days its important that children get INFOTAINMENT.i have seen that my son gets good amount of info from the cartoon that he watches...for example by 4 yrs of age he knew a lot about volcanoes and earthquake...he had seen the details of it in a cartoon called Dinosaur train...thenthings like counting and rhymes etc by watching Dora the explorer.
I let my son play computer games/iPad once in a week.He knows it that he has a day allotted for such games etc so on other days he doesnt ask for it.And on weekends when he plays i dont disturb him...i let him play for an hour or two by thenhe gets bored of it.