This is a question I’ve seen a lot of parents asking when they see all the cool learning apps available or they hear about how great they are from someone in their homeschool group. My answer is no! But… there’s always a but… if you already have one for business or personal use, I think you should have an app or two on there for the kids. I do not recommend getting one to add to their education – they don’t need it and they’ll grow up just fine without it. What do you use your electronic devices for? Are they an added extension of your body? Or are you responsible enough to put them down and only use them when you need them.
Pros & Cons of Kids & Electronics
First the Cons:
- Electronics take away from kids’ imaginations
- they can be time consuming
- the entertainment value is much too high
- they’re expensive
- they open up extreme dangers to the internet
- they’re mind-numbing
- many studies associate learning disabilities with electronics
- many studies associate hyper-activity and concentration problems with electronics
- some studies recommend children don’t have access to electronics prior to age 12
Now the Pros:
- can be more organized
- we’re in the “techno-age” and kids could be keeping up a bit – age depending
- some kids learn easier and better with apps/games
- can help with time-management – for you and your children
First of all, you own a computer, iPad or iPhone, etc., if you’re reading this. What do you use your computer for? What do your kids see you doing on your computer? Do you use it mainly for entertainment, or more as a tool? I’m sure you can see where I’m going with this, if you are using your computer mainly for entertainment, then no, absolutely do not get your kids an iPad, iPhone or computer or any other electronic device and tell them they have to use it for their education. Do your children have the discipline to use them for educational purposes? If you aren’t disciplined, you certainly can’t expect your children to be.
Secondly, don’t get anything like that for your elementary aged child that is specifically for them. And don’t get one for yourself using them as an excuse to have one, because they do not “need” such a thing, and obviously neither do you. I feel that high school students could make more use of them, but again, that’s better if they already are familiar with them and their purpose. It can open dangerous doors to anyone to have a device that has all that entertainment on it without having the self-discipline to use it otherwise.
Many parents don’t want their kids using electronics because they want to keep them protected from such things, and that’s fine too. But, if you have one and you use it as a tool for yourself, then you should allow them use it on a limited basis, only with you, because they will use it the same way that you do. I think it’s sick to see children as young as 4 sitting on a bench with iPhones and ignoring the world around them and they each have their own devices. It’s like the parents get them for them to occupy them just like the age-old “TV babysitter” which is just plain wrong. So after seeing things like that it’s very easy to say “oh, I don’t want my kids being like that” and shutting them off from the whole thing, but that’s not necessarily the best approach either. Then they grow up and become addicted to the things you were so adamant about “protecting” them from.
My kids play outside as much as they can, but they also use a computer and my 5 yr old uses a tracing/phonics app on my iPhone whenever she wants – which isn’t very often because she’d rather be outside. I think in this day and age they need to learn to use electronics, but their imagination should still be able to flourish by playing outside as much as possible. Most of what my kids like to use on my iPhone is the camera – taking loads of pictures of… you guessed it, everything outside! So, we got them cameras, and they use them and are learning to take care of their first electronic and use it for its intended purpose.
That’s one of the great things about homes education – the freedom to teach how you think is best. I think I fall in the middle on the whole subject – technology is good on a limited basis and when they’re using it for learning – then they’re also learning that it’s a tool – not for entertainment, which is why we don’t have a TV, but have game-free computers instead. We have a very limited (family) computer time where we have some math drill software, card-making software, language games/drills, including apps, typing software, Word, etc., but still my kids would rather play outside than anything in the world.
It is really nice to use the math drill software instead of flashcards sometimes with toddlers running around, it really cuts down on the scattered cards. Also, it gives me time to do one-on-one teaching with things like reading while one of the older kids are doing typing or drills on the computer.
As I said we do not have any games on our computer, none for me or the kids. I did have a Farmville on Facebook for awhile, it may still even be there, and I let the kids play on that a bit too after I had awhile. But that was a passing fancy, which I found to be a terrible waste of time, and I like to keep it that way.
Anytime you have anything like that you really have to exercise self-discipline and your kids need to see that you are doing that so they can learn too. I feel self-discipline is more important than most anything for a child to learn. Sometimes it might even be helpful to have a game for them to play so that they can learn to exercise and build on that quality.
I’ve heard a lot of parents have set schedules for computer/game time/TV time and things of that nature and I think that is a really good idea as well if it suits your family. The point is – you need to have balance and with home education on one hand it should come easy, but it doesn’t always. Talk with your husband and see what he thinks, pray about it and decide what is best for your family.
So, bottom line – no, I would never “buy one” for a small child to use or for our home education program, but since I already own an iPhone, as my only phone, I feel they should learn to use it as well for the tool that it should be – not a toy for entertainment – and then they know why I have it. BUT – if you are smart you will know that your children are not mentally equipped for such a dangerous portal to be in their tiny hands, putting their immature hearts at risk and you must be willing to spend every minute with them while they are using it.
Update – 15 years after this post was originally published:
My kids are almost all grown by now and the older kids, who are in their 20’s now, have thanked me for never giving them phones, iPads, etc, until they were old enough to use them. Now they can see – especially how much worse things have gotten – and they appreciate not being addicted to electronics like many young adults they have met.
