PSA: Young Children Should Avoid Using Tablets

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Doctors are saying that children that use tablets risk serious long-term damage. Even worse, there is a serious risk that these children will eventually grow up to use Apple products, and we all know how that ends. ;)

Tablets and toddlers: A warning for parents of tech-savvy children. The American Academy of Pediatrics says children under two should avoid all screen time. Jessica Kartalija reports doctors and therapists fear too much time on touchscreens could cause long-term damage.
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Yeah, we keep using technology like this at younger and younger ages, never getting out in the sunlight, and we're likely to turn into short, grey skinned, skinny little wimps. Oh, gee, do you think those "alien" visitors we keep hearing about are actually future humans researching their past?
 
Learning to use a touch screen interface takes hours for someone with bad motor skills and no knowledge of computer interfaces. People are very wrong when they think they are giving their kids an edge handing them tablets too often. Diversity in stimuli is what is needed to promote intelligence.
 
"Who are we?"

"Where did we come from?"

If all these kids get fucked up, we can start calling them "Tap Babies".

He just walks around and taps on things with his finger like he's on a touch pad, it's pretty freaky, there's no screen but he's tapping, always tapping.
 
Thought that this was interesting:

“If they are always on the iPad and not actually doing those paper pencil activities that they should still be doing, those muscles are going to remain weaker,” said occupational therapist Lindsay Marzoli, Learning and Therapy Corner.
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heatlesssun said:
Thought that this was interesting:
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yeah, I doubted that one, too. The part I would worry about would be making the poor kid nearsighted because his eyes weren't exercised by focusing on things far away and nearby.
 
This is pretty stupid. I suppose if this is ALL the kid is doing maybe. But then, so is doing ALL of ANYTHING. I'm guessing it's just as easy to develop tennis elbow in 3 year olds, if all they're doing is playing tennis. :rolleyes: My daughter plays on my tablet for lengthy periods of time in the evening (when playing outside or the like is less of an option.) However, she's also hanging on things, climbing things, throwing things, etc.

And the scissors thing? I don't trust my 3 year old with scissors yet. :D
 
They said the same thing about television, no one cared. If a tablet or television watches your kid its cheaper than a baby sitter right?
 
This site is proof that no matter how much of our rights the government strips from us, as long as we have our TV and tablets, they can take whatever they want from us.

My wife works with children and is degreed in childhood development. She sees firsthand just how stupid TV and technology have made kids. I facepalmed pretty bad when she said she put a book in front of a kid whose parents let the kid zone out on a tablet. He was so confused by what he saw that he tried to operate the book the same way he did the tablet. I'm more inclined to agree with the AAP than a bunch of IT guys and computer hobbyists.

INB4 the "Well my kid plays on computers 24/7 and he gets straight A's in school".
 
shade91 said:
This site is proof that no matter how much of our rights the government strips from us, as long as we have our TV and tablets, they can take whatever they want from us.

My wife works with children and is degreed in childhood development. She sees firsthand just how stupid TV and technology have made kids. I facepalmed pretty bad when she said she put a book in front of a kid whose parents let the kid zone out on a tablet. He was so confused by what he saw that he tried to operate the book the same way he did the tablet. I'm more inclined to agree with the AAP than a bunch of IT guys and computer hobbyists.

INB4 the "Well my kid plays on computers 24/7 and he gets straight A's in school".
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So is an older person who tries to operate a computer like a physical object totally screwed up?
 
shade91 said:
This site is proof that no matter how much of our rights the government strips from us, as long as we have our TV and tablets, they can take whatever they want from us.

My wife works with children and is degreed in childhood development. She sees firsthand just how stupid TV and technology have made kids. I facepalmed pretty bad when she said she put a book in front of a kid whose parents let the kid zone out on a tablet. He was so confused by what he saw that he tried to operate the book the same way he did the tablet. I'm more inclined to agree with the AAP than a bunch of IT guys and computer hobbyists.

INB4 the "Well my kid plays on computers 24/7 and he gets straight A's in school".
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While some of this is troubling in a way it's not. How many kids know how to use a slide rule and does that even matter today? In time physical books and printed paper are going to die and become relics of our past like any number of things people wouldn't normally now how to use today.
 
Being born in 88, IMO this is true. I lived my life out normal without being glued to my phone or a tablet. Most kids didn't have a cell phone until I was in 9th grade. Now being pretty young still and seeing how much different a child's life is now and all of the other technological advances going on I can see it. I remember when we would walk/run/bike/whatever to a friends house just to see if they were home and wanted to hang. When I would actually call a friends house to speak to them and speak to their mother/father/whoever answered. I could go on all day, but that should give you an idea of where I'm going.
 
Tgrove said:
Being born in 88, IMO this is true. I lived my life out normal without being glued to my phone or a tablet. Most kids didn't have a cell phone until I was in 9th grade. Now being pretty young still and seeing how much different a child's life is now and all of the other technological advances going on I can see it. I remember when we would walk/run/bike/whatever to a friends house just to see if they were home and wanted to hang. When I would actually call a friends house to speak to them and speak to their mother/father/whoever answered. I could go on all day, but that should give you an idea of where I'm going.
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So you didn't notice that the fattest generations of Americans grew up with out tablets or that many of your friends spent most of their time glued to the TV on a couch in the living room? The way I see it is actually moving your fingers to hold and manipulate a tablet is more than staring at a TV. But you know no one here seems to be able to remember what actually happened before the mobile device explosion.
 
rudy said:
So you didn't notice that the fattest generations of Americans grew up with out tablets or that many of your friends spent most of their time glued to the TV on a couch in the living room?
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I think the obesity problem has more to do with the availability of cheap, high-calorie processed foods and soda. Americans eat more than they used to and sugary drink consumption has doubled since 1970. If the problem were mostly due to physical activity changes you wouldn't expect the obesity epidemic to be concentrated in the south and poor areas like it is.
 
DeathFromBelow said:
I think the obesity problem has more to do with the availability of cheap, high-calorie processed foods and soda. Americans eat more than they used to and sugary drink consumption has doubled since 1970. If the problem were mostly due to physical activity changes you wouldn't expect the obesity epidemic to be concentrated in the south and poor areas like it is.
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Agreed. It's hard to gain weight by eating a healthy diet even if one is physically inactive.
 
My son already calls his Kindle his "preciousssssss"

Should I be worried?
 
My daughter has been immersed in touch screen since six months old. She could wake up and unlock an iPhone before she had the coordination to put food in her own mouth. She has an iPad Mini now, in a rubber case specifically designed for toddlers. If anything it's improved her walking since she can now reasonably walk while looking at it. Without falling into a fountain.
 
DeathFromBelow said:
I think the obesity problem has more to do with the availability of cheap, high-calorie processed foods and soda. Americans eat more than they used to and sugary drink consumption has doubled since 1970. If the problem were mostly due to physical activity changes you wouldn't expect the obesity epidemic to be concentrated in the south and poor areas like it is.
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Damn near EVERYTHING we eat anymore comes out of a box, can or jar. Most of our meat has been processed and frozen and none of it has any real nutritional value.
We don't even get REAL sugar anymore, we get high fructose corn syrup, and when we do get sugar its been processed beyond being sugar to something... else....
Your body needs sugar, but when you use sugar substitutes you fail to satisfy those cravings and continue to eat and eat trying to get that sugar.
Same thing with the processed food, we're not getting the vitamins and minerals we crave and keep eating in an attempt to get them.
Then again, new technology where we don't bother to pry our asses off the couch isn't helping much either.
We need to stop eating by convenience and start eating healthy, realizing we're better off with a bigger food budget, not for portion sizes, but to get healthy whole foods instead of the shit we've been getting told is good for us.
Hell, the crap we feed kids in school is a joke. Processed to the point its just empty calories.
I don't give a damn about kids using tablets, this is just fluff taking the attention away from the real issue, huge companies making millions selling processed garbage to us and passing it off as real food.
 
Climber said:
My son already calls his Kindle his "preciousssssss"

Should I be worried?
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Did he also bite your finger off when you took it off him? If so, the best solution is to just throw him in to a river of lava.
 
heatlesssun said:
Rhetorical question right?;)
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haha very much a resounding yes. He isn't even two yet so he won't be getting a tablet anytime soon; however, he can somehow operate my Kindle. He seems to always end up on my music though. He prefers Bob Marley as whatever he does he always ends up on music and he always selects Bob Marley's greatest hits.

Tudz said:
Did he also bite your finger off when you took it off him? If so, the best solution is to just throw him in to a river of lava.
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Silly little hobbitses...
 
heatlesssun said:
While some of this is troubling in a way it's not. How many kids know how to use a slide rule and does that even matter today? In time physical books and printed paper are going to die and become relics of our past like any number of things people wouldn't normally now how to use today.
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Just wait until we get hit with an EM pulse that fries everything electronic.
I see millions of people walking around in a daze tapping their dead devices like zombies.....
 
nutzo said:
Just wait until we get hit with an EM pulse that fries everything electronic.
I see millions of people walking around in a daze tapping their dead devices like zombies.....
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Yeah! Just wait until there's a nuclear war! I see millions of...dead...people.
 
My 3 1/2 yr old only gets an hour a day on our ipad and it's strictly education apps that helps him better pronounce words and phrases.

They also only get about an hour of TV time watching cartoons or Disney movies.

Kids just need diversity in technology along with outdoors stuff and normal play with other children.

My family has been Paleo for years now, it's expensive but worth it imo, much more so than over saturation in technology.
 
shade91 said:
This site is proof that no matter how much of our rights the government strips from us, as long as we have our TV and tablets, they can take whatever they want from us.

My wife works with children and is degreed in childhood development. She sees firsthand just how stupid TV and technology have made kids. I facepalmed pretty bad when she said she put a book in front of a kid whose parents let the kid zone out on a tablet. He was so confused by what he saw that he tried to operate the book the same way he did the tablet. I'm more inclined to agree with the AAP than a bunch of IT guys and computer hobbyists.

INB4 the "Well my kid plays on computers 24/7 and he gets straight A's in school".
Click to expand...

So the kid was crippled for life and was never able to operate a book, or did the kid take the 47 seconds to figure it out when shown like most everyone else? Your anecdote isn't much worth without knowing what came next. We don't get all bent out of shape that people don't try to sit on the roof of a car and hitch a team of horses up to the front grill before giving up and driving it as it is meant to be.

Here's food for thought: bad parenting is bad parenting. I gave my kid a tablet at just under 2 years of age. He loves it in about 10-20 minute increments. He also likes having books read to him, playing at the park, going for walks, playing with toys, playing with his guitar, singing, painting, swimming, etc. It does manage to smooth out longer car trips and gives him something to do while potty training though.

I know, I'm a monster giving the kid a tablet along with attention and a variety of stimuli and experiences. I'm sure he'll be mentally crippled for life.

Honestly I think the bigger risk to kids are parents who are all too willing to ignore their kids in order to be obsessed with their smartphone or tablet. If the survey is right, and you jumped form 0% of toddlers using tablets to 40% and it just goes up as they get older, therapists should be buried in damaged kids, not just seeing a bit more.
 
I'd love to get my 8 month old started on some tablet games, and I have an iPad specifically sitting around for this purpose, but what games to use? I always find he has hit the home button, or clicked on one of the BUY GEMS FOR $50!!!! NOW ads that pop up every 2 seconds in any of the "kid" games.
 
My son has (turning 2 in a few weeks) used to love the tablet so we took it away from him for a few months. Now we let him play with it about 15 minutes a day.

The funny thing is that when he interfaces with other electronic devices such as a TV, he assumes it is a touch screen as well.

My wife went to change the volume (and an on-screen volume bar popped up) the other day, and he tried to swipe it to see what would happen.
 
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