How young is too young for children to use high-tech devices? Should they be out playing in the yard, interacting with other kids, or inside swiping and tapping on an iPad? In 2010, a New York Times reporter asked Steve Jobs of Apple whether his children liked using the iPad. "They haven't used it," Jobs responded. "We limit how much technology our kids use at home."
Walter Isaacson, the author of Steve Jobs, spent a lot of time at Jobs's home in Palo Alto, California. He described their lives like this: “Every evening, Steve made a point of having dinner at the big, long table in their kitchen, discussing books and history and a variety of things. No one ever pulled out an iPad or computer. The kids did not seem addicted at all to devices.”
More on tech use by children:
- While some parents allow unlimited technological access, others are more strict -- limits on gaming sessions, pay-per-use phones, and only using the Internet for homework.
- Low-tech schools are now an educational alternative in the United States. The Waldorf School in Seattle, for example, is computer-free. Teachers still use real blackboards and bookshelves actually hold books.
- Detractors say that early technology use makes children less imaginative and less creative. Some teachers claim that today's students lack finger dexterity and have underdeveloped social skills from a lack of interactive play.