By Christie Richmond
Having trouble trying to figure out how to work your iPad? Hand it over to a toddler because they can crack the code of new technology.
iPads, smart phones and computers have become wildly popular in recent years. With each new technology advancement, parents say their children are figuring out how to work gadgets from a very young age.
“I looked over one day, he was nine months old and he…was just kind of playing with it and then I watched him and he just slid his finger across and I was like no way, I picked it up and he totally unlocked it,” said Austyn Smith, a mother of two young children.
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Smith said she and other parents believe there are good and bad things that can come from letting your kids play with electronics. She also said its important to keep a balance.
“I think there’s some value into actually holding a book and turning pages and looking at pictures and talking about it as you do it with your kids,” she said.
Some professors from the BYU School of Family Life report that even though technology can be a great tool in your children’s learning, it’s still important to take children out to play because too much exposure to electronics at too young of an age can cause problems.
“Maybe stifling imagination, obesity concerns if they’re stuck in front of a computer all day or an iPad or whatever. They’re not running around playing tag, chasing. [That’s] some of the stuff that we know that kids need,” said professor Sarah Coyne.
Coyne said she thinks we are raising the most technologically savvy generation that we have ever seen. She also says these kids will possibly grow up to become the computer geniuses of the next generation so they can “really” move the field of technology forward.
Smith believes there are great learning tools her children use on an iPad and kids will continue to rely more on technology.
“I definitely think that the kids are headed in that direction where face to face contact isn’t gonna be that big of a thing,” Smith said.
