Technology and Children- What Age is the Right Age?

At what age should a child receive his or her first electronic device?

Did you buy an iPad for your five year old for Christmas and if so what is he (she doing with it. Since there has been a major paradigm shift in the use of technology both in school and at home, the questions are legitimate. The current generation of children has not known life without electronic devices. The paced of innovation and implementation of new inventions is progressing at warp speed.

A recent article in the Rand Review Magazine (January 2015) took a serious look at giving iPads to toddlers. In this rapidly changing technological generation, children need to be introduced to technology especially as they reach school age or they run the risk of falling behind their peers. Researchers   found that youngsters between the ages of 3 and 5 spend about four hours a day with technology. The researcher wrote” technology literacy plays an important role in a child’s ability to succeed in school and later life.”

The Rand Corporation in conjunction with a PNC "Grow Up Great" grant of $350 million came up with five timely questions that all parents should ask regarding their children’s exposure to technology.

1)   Can the device help improve academic skills in math, reading and science?

2)   Is the technology use balances with a child’s other activities?

3)   Does the child interact with others while using devices?

4)   Are the activities free of violent or adult themes and are they interactive?

5)   Are the children sedentary while using these devices?

Additionally, educators and government officials need to look at the cost factors, which can remove from the equation those students whose parents cannot afford to buy the latest technological gadgets.

It is time for parents and teachers to take a look at the goals of technology and it use academically and not as a   baby sitter.  

For more information about this topic please access www.rand.org/t/RR673z2

C.2015 J. Margolis