Toddler Tech
Children today have been born into the age of technology, their minds easily able to adapt to the ongoing changes. My grandchildren have been all working with iPads from the beginning, and with the exception of Noah, 7, all have iPhones and other Apple products. My grandson Dylan, 12, prefers the iPad mini, as it is easy to carry around.
My daughter Tracy teaches gifted children in Gilbert, AZ. where every child gets an iPad for school use. In preparation for the start of the school year next Monday, I bought Tracy's children Joie, 10, and Giovanni, almost 13, the Kindle Fire HD, which they are preparing with books and other things they can use for school, not to mention games, etc. for fun. Joie told me that she can synch her Apple products to her Kindle. Have fun, guys.
With increasing violence and the natural disasters in the world today, children need a cell phone. I bought my first phone in the 1990's as a safety measure should I ever need it, and have updated it ever since. My Samsung Galaxy 3 is now outdated. Once I am eligible for an upgrade on 10/10, I plan to get the latest version of Galaxy Smartphones - the Galaxy 4 Note which is bigger as I have room in my bag for it. Smartphones are as personal in choice as buying a car.
Today, children text ... endlessly .. which they seem to prefer to a phone call. They no longer learn script in school. It's all changing.
How young is too young to give a child a smartphone? It depends on the family situation and knowing if the child is responsible to take care of the phone.
My grandson Michael, 15, got a cell phone in first grade. One day my daughter, Zsia, was 10 minutes late picking him up from school on her way home from work, due to traffic. Little Michael chose to wait outside rather than return to the school as he waited. Panicked, she raced along the highway, relieved when she saw him, yet wondering why someone in the school didn't see him standing there alone. Though they live in a very safe area, one never knows. That day Michael got his first phone, on a family plan ... and was always reachable after that.
Today, in the news we find this story ...
Toddler Tech: How Young Is Too Young For a Smartphone? Live Science - July 30, 2013
They may not be able to walk, talk or even be out of diapers yet, but that isn't stopping a number of parents from getting their children smartphones. New research has found that one-quarter of children ages 2 and younger own a smartphone, their parents say. Overall, 44 percent of children under age 17 own a smartphone, new research by e-Markerter found.
Smartphones were most prevalent among children between ages 14 and 17, with two-thirds of respondents in that age group saying they owned a smartphone. Nearly 40 percent of children between ages 6 and 9 and 54 percent of 10- to 13-year-olds say they also own a phone.
