Our children and iPads

Letter June 21, 2017
The long-term effect is not known

LAHORE: When the little boy asked for chocolate at the checkout, his mother said, “No, you already eat too many, and it’s bad for your teeth.” The boy, who looked to be about two-years-old, threw a tantrum in the middle of the lane.

What happened next perturbed me. The mortified mother found her iPad in her bag and thrust it into her son’s hands. Peace was restored instantaneously.

This incident, which I witnessed a few years ago, was the first time I saw a computer tablet used as a pacifier. Since then, I’ve seen many tiny children barely able to toddle expertly swiping an iPad. Today, on average, children spend five to six hours a day staring at screens. And they’re often on two or more screens at once, for example, watching TV while playing on an iPad.

Because technology moves so fast and children have embraced it so quickly, it’s been difficult for parents to control it. The proliferation of iPads and smart phones has been insidious. When it comes to spending a childhood in front of a screen, this generation is like lab rats. The long-term effect is not known.

Before giving a child an iPad, parents must be introspective and avoid handing it over for the wrong reasons, such as laziness on their own part.

Zubair Malik

Published in The Express Tribune, June 21st, 2017.

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