We spend our days checking email and posting on Facebook, getting our news from Twitter. According to a TIME Mobility poll, 76% of Americans surveyed believe that being constantly connected by technology is helpful. But what is this technology craze doing to children?
Kids growing up today are now being referred to as digital natives. Parents “shouldn’t feel guilty,” Hanna Rosin, a national contributor for The Atlantic, said on Friday’s show. “I think there is so many great apps out there and so many ways that kids can learn from them we shouldn’t feel guilty–we should just engage. We should tell them, ‘Look, this is cool,’ and find the cool things we can do with it and that’s okay.”
New technology always creates anxiety. When radio was introduced parents worried about their children listening to it too much. Then came the television and another round of similar worries. “We are going through a thing that people in every generation have gone through, and the smart thing to do is to think about it beforehand, and not just think of it as poison and feel guilty about it,” Rosin said.
She admitted to her own concerns. “I, as a mom, had the astonishing experience watching my toddler, who was then in diapers, be unbelievably competent with the iPad and it’s alarming, as it is to many parents,” Rosin said. “Nonetheless, after I did some research I learned there is a lot he can get out of this.”
Abby Borovitz