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ipod touch for kids?
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Anonymous
| I just don't think kids that age need $300 toys that will keep them glued to a screen. |
Anonymous
Great for you - I am sure you and your children will be the saviors of the world. For all the reasons above your argument is extremist - a) not $300 - you can get them for less than $100 b) not ONLY a toy - many educational apps and 3) not "glued" - as screen time is generally limited. Happy to know that you are so good at listening and understanding the points the above people have made. Guess you must have had too much screen time as a child. |
Anonymous
| I want to read this post in 20 years! |
Anonymous
Sheesh! Perhaps the poster you're quoting thinks for her self and is smart enough to make her own value judgments rather than blindly accepting the opinions of others. Just a thought... |
Anonymous
| Where can you get an Pod Touch for less than $100? |
Anonymous
Perhaps, perhaps, perhaps. I don't think it's "blindly' accepting "opinions." I was pointing out facts - you can get one for less than $100. There are many educational apps. You are right, that person is entitled to her opinion. Differences make the world go 'round. I do hope, however, that if she sees my child with a touch ipod somewhere she won't a) automatically think that he's an entitled idiot (although she is entitled to make that judgment I guess) or that I am a negligent parent. Both, in my humble opinion, are far, far from the truth. I may have gotten snarky with the screen time comment, which I recognize. It happens on an anonymous board sometimes. |
Anonymous
|
21:06 here
My kids watch plenty of TV, and my 9 year old DD is playing Wii right now with her friend who's here for a sleepover -- and it's almost 10:30! I have an iPhone and occasionally let my children play with it in the car. I do set screen time limits but I'm not always that good at enforcing them. I do doubt that you can get an iPod Touch for less than $100. I looked around online and refurbished ones seem to be $150 at a minimum, and somehow I doubt most of these PPs are buying refurbished ones. With that said, I am not backing down: why would you give a small child a $300 toy (or even a $100 toy) that is easy to lose, keeps them from reading or interacting with other people, and possibly has negative effects on their development? I just don't get it. People make all sorts of excuses about kids and technology, and frequently they cite the "educational" value of video games or playing on the computer. I think it's hogwash. These aren't technology skills we're talking about (if they were, I could get a job where they'd pay me to play Bejeweled!). If you're going to give a kid an iPod touch, just be aware of what it is and don't kid yourself that it has educational value. |
Anonymous
|
I wouldn't get one for my kids until high school or so... if at all. It's not a toy, it's expensive, and it's breakable. Plus most kids can barely keep track of their mittens nevermind an iPod Touch.
I would let them use mine once in a while (if I had one) with supervision. |
Anonymous
|
I work with middle schoolers and high schoolers and have done so for the past five years. I work with different students each week, from all around the country.
I have noticed a HUGE difference in the students over the past five years. When I started, some cell phones were in use amongst the students, but not by all of them. Then it got to where almost all of them have cells. Originally it was rare to have students with smartphones - now it is rare to have one who doesn't. Now we are getting students with ipads. I have to say - I think the effects are terrible. We get students every week who cannot begin to comprehend why they should take their headphones out when listening to a lesson. We have tables of students who all sit there texting or listening to their ipods, never saying a word to one another. Kids have lost all sense of appropriate and inappropriate usage of electronics. It seems to be stifling their ability to socialize in person. I am aghast at the idea of 3 year olds with itouches. And I think it is silly to imply that such a situation would lead to a more technologically savvy adult. |
Anonymous
|
Both of my kids - 8 and 5 - have iPod nanos, and the 8 year old has had a cell phone since she was four. Why four? Because we had a nanny who refused to answer our home phone and it drove me crazy when I could not reach my daughter. In the intervening four years, she has not lost the phone (she's not allowed to take it out of her room), and neither child has lost his/her iPod. I realize the touch is not just an MP3 player, but the general principles of how I approach these things are the same.
I'm not a fan of unmonitored screen time, so we have the kids play games on a PC, and we will be getting a Wii for Christmas. But I do not think there is anything objectionable to buying a young kid an expensive gadget or something that is a screen. It's what rules the parents make AFTER the item is acquired that is key, IMO. My kids are given restrictions on when and where they can take their gadgets, and they understand if they lose them, there will not be a replacement. My kids also have very little screen time and almost never watch TV, so playing a computer game or a dance game seems pretty harmless to me. My older child has on-line math homework assigned by the school, so I can't very well say that screen time has to be zero or the homework would not be completed. |
Anonymous
|
Just curious, all of you no tv no battery toys parents, how old are your children?
We were never that extreme, but we do limit. I find it is very difficult as your child becomes elementary school age. I try to limit it (and do relatively successfully) but I can't imagine my kids never having a toy with batteries. They do outgrow the wooden toys at some point, you know. Also, I tend to think your child would be resentful at some point. The other kids all have this forbidden fruit and it it so much fun ( because your child plays with it at friends' houses so s/he knows that it's fun). Also, the other kids talk about the tv shows and games your child knows nothing about. Honestly, I think the extreme becomes unworkable at a certain age and counter productive. |
Anonymous
iPod touches are easily available for<$100 on ebay. It's the older ones, but they're perfect for little kids. |
Anonymous
|
The kids I know that are most interested in computer games and electronics are very smart. I think some games help with logic that can't be found with conventional toys. All of these kids taught themselves to read at 2, download and play games at 3 and learned spelling and typing super early. One 6 y/o updates wikipedia for fun. His brother types at 150wpm and has since he was 7. That may not be a skill that most people think is necessary, but it is very helpful to kids with ASDs. The same child now writes (via computer) fiction stories and some piano music, at 9.
Only parents know their own children well enough to weigh the pros and cons. |
Anonymous
| My husband has one and I would not recommend it for your child yet. Our kids (5 and 8) are allowed to use it under supervision in limited circumstances such as when stuck waiting somewhere unexpectedly). They love it, but I think it is too expensive and fragile a piece of equipment for a six year old -- even very careful ones. You don't want to put your kid in a position of feeling incredibly guilty if something should happen. Also, as kids get older, it gets harder to think of things to buy them as gifts, as they start to outgrow most toys. Six is such the perfect age for toys and you have so many other options; I would keep the nice electronic stuff in reserve. |
Anonymous
Why didn't you fire the nanny for not following your instructions OR give the NANNY a designated cell phone?!?!?! |