Are iPads Harmful?

Are iPads harmful to little kids? Of course they are: they can cause considerable brain damage, if you drop one on your child’s head.  But as regards actually using them – I don’t believe anyone knows about long term results because they haven’t been around long enough yet.

There’s an article in the weekend’s Herald about research that shows children can learn real stuff and real skills from iPads. That’s great and not that surprising.  And I’ve used them myself with a little toddler to read him stories and play games and it was just as good or better than reading a book together. I’m inclined to predict that tablet-style devices are going to be more  important and valuable than books to the kids growing up now.

My concern is not what tablets are but what they are not. They are not a physical and emotional connection with another human being. I really don’t mind kids playing with iPads – but I hate the idea that they are being used as a substitute for play and interaction. And sadly, I suspect that is what they are used for far too often. Just a cyber sitter.  We don’t really know what iPads do to their development, but we have a huge amount of evidence that kids learn and become emotionally healthy when they have lots of happy, face-to-face time with a loving adult. So the idea of an iPad mounted straight in front of a child’s face and just leaving them there is repugnant.

There’s an iPhone or iPad app for just about everything, but they still can’t replace quality time with a parent.