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ipod touch for kids?
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Anonymous
| In your opinion, how young is too young? Several of my kids' friends have them. My kids don't (and neither do I). I honestly have no idea how you use them or if it's even something appropriate for elementary age kids. Can anyone tell me more about them? Do your kids have them? |
Anonymous
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Do a search on this topic. It has been covered before (pretty recently).
My 5 yo has one and it is great. Lots of appropriate apps and videos for him. To be honest, my 3 yo has one too, but only b/c his older brother has one and it was getting old to hear the constant fighting. For both, we set pretty clear boundaries for them. They pretty much only use them (1) at restaurants or on vacations, car trips and (2) for about 20-30 minutes right before bed (after bath, reading, etc.). |
Anonymous
| I agree with PP. I think the Apps offer much more educational content than, say, a DSi. It's easier to use, and the Apps are much less expensive ($2, $1 or even free). It's got parental controls to make sure that internet content is not accessed unwittingly - Touch only uses WiFi, so no problem with usage fees. I say go for it. |
Anonymous
| Voice of dissent here: Don't kids get enough screen time? |
Anonymous
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Another voice of dissent: You are setting your kids up to be disappointed in life when they get their first job and they can't afford to buy the newest gadget. If you get an ipod touch at 3; what do you get at 12? Your very own Apple store?
You are also setting them up to be screen watching drones which probably won't help with getting the first job because they won't be as intelligent as the kid they made fun of in school because their parents didn't allow TV or toys with batteries. But who cares about all that. It's fun and we gotta stay cool! |
Anonymous
| My 2 DS are getting the iPod Touch for Christmas this year. We were not planning on buying it for them, but the youngest wanted a DS to keep up with his older brother, as his Leapster had broken. I was considering the DS w/ only educationsal games - a reading tutor, tanagram game, etc since I saw its value longer term than another Leapster. My neighbor with older kids clued me into the iPod Touch - mainly because of the cheap and free apps. Of course I cannot buy it for younger DS without getting one for older DS, so now both are getting one. It is there only big present for Christmas. |
Anonymous
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As an aside for anyone who has bought into the fantasy that ALL elementary school aged kids have an iPod Touch, my 4th grader knows exactly how many of her classmates (NW DC private school) have them: 5. And one very indulged child apparently has an iPhone. That's it! A tiny percentage.
I don't even know what to say about 5-year-olds and 3-year-olds who have them. To each her own, but it is hard to believe, honestly. They can't just play a game once in a while on YOUR phone? |
Anonymous
For all the anti-screen time people, those of us who embrace and encourage the use of technology are actually going to have children more advanced and prepared than yours who have only played with fair trade wooden blocks and pieces of cloth. Our kids will be prepared for the integration of new technologies into their schoolrooms and workplaces. Additionally, all of the kids who are avid gamers are preparing for their surgical residencies and flight school. Why? Surgeons and pilots need excellent hand eye coordination. You develop that skill with video games (small precise movements) and sports (large muscle groups and stamina). My kid is getting some variety of ipod/itouch and we are leaving the organic banana leaves at the store for you to buy for your kid to play with this year. 
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Anonymous
Funny! How cute to think of a 3-year-old with awesome cursor handling skills! My goodness, she can even hit "page down" and mute her laptop single-handledly! She can even--gasp--use a touch screen! And close an app! What a delightful child! |
Anonymous
Ah, so that's how you justify it. Thanks for clearing that up and LOL. |
Anonymous
Recent studies have shown that actually, children with too much screen time are much more likely to be easily distracted and have much shorter attention spans than children who are required to use their own brains to design and carry out their own play. If you think your kid is going to be a surgeon, dream on, darling. Surgeons need to be able to concentrate and focus for HOURS at a time. You also--not surprisingly--do not read the New York Times. There was an article this week about how children who play with video games score very poorly on tests that measure creativity. I have no doubt that my child will use current technology as a "native"--there is no way to avoid it--but in addition to that, he and his friends who are given real things to play with are going to be running circles around children who have no idea how to become MASTERS of technology, rather than mere users and slaves. |
Anonymous
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If I were going to buy my child something like a Nintendo DS/DSi for the holidays, I would definitely consider the Touch instead. IMO, they are equivalent types of devices. The DSi is cheaper than a Touch, but the cheapest games are $15 whereas the games and apps are free or very cheap for the Touch. It easily pays for itself in games. My 9 year old uses my old iPhone as a Touch and it works just fine for her. I know a lot of elementary kids who "inherited" an old iPhone when their parent upgraded to a newer version. It's kind of cool, because we downloaded her CD that uses for practicing her violin to the Touch. Much easier and more portable for her. She listens to music. She also listens to audio books. And yes, she plays games.
The discussion of whether or not an elementary age child should have any type of electronics/gaming system is different IMO. |
Anonymous
You are only setting them up for screen watching drones if you can't or choose not to limit screen time in its various forms. Our family does, and there is nothing in OP's post to suggest she won't. Also, it is certainly not the case that NOT watching television makes a child more intelligent. I watched hours and hours of television and had unlimited computer time (Apple II+, Mac etc.) growing up. I also read voraciously and did quite well in school. It is ridiculous to assume that intelligence follows lack of screen time, just like it's ridiculous to assume that screen time = less intelligence. Also, she said nothing about getting this for the child because it was the newest gadget (it's not) - she's trying to find something that he or she will like and enjoy going forward. She also didn't say how old her child was. It has nothing to do with "being cool." |
Anonymous
How is it ANY different from a Leapster - which is marketed to 3 and 5 year olds for goodness sake? Just because it is sleeker and better designed, you automatically assume that a young child shouldn't have it? Why not? You can get a used Itouch for $100 - As the PP said - it can actually be cheaper, given that there are many more cheaper, more educational, and just plain better apps out there for an itouch than for a Leapster or DSi for free or less than a couple bucks. AND, who says I WANT them playing on my brand new Iphone 4 - which did cost $$ and I don't want them messing up or calling someone or deleting apps or using inappropriate apps? Perhaps them having their own is a BETTER way of controlling the media that they do encounter. Having an all or nothing approach to anything - i.e. I will "NEVER" or I "ALWAYS" do X,Y, or Z for my child - be it regarding media, screen time, sports, school, food seems awfully extreme and should be viewed with skepticism. |
Anonymous
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My DD started using it at age 4. It's very intuitive and it's amazing how quickly she learned to maneuver where she wanted to get and find the games she wanted to play. It's not her personal iPod Touch but she gets to use it.
The games are cheap, too. |