I’m wandering away from my usual topics with this post because I think it’s an important issue for America’s future. If we’re not careful, today’s toddler may grow up to be tomorrow’s drone.
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Last week, while hanging out in a hospital waiting room doing a bit of people watching, I happened to notice a young millennial mother with a baby in a stroller. Mom was mostly focused on her book, while junior – who couldn’t have been more than 9 months old – was sucking on a pacifier… totally mesmerized by his ipad.
  
Yikes – a tyke with his own device? Good idea? Not exactly, says the American Academy of Pediatrics ~ Experts: Parents ‘Clueless’ on Dangers of Technology.
 
Based on recent research, the Academy has released new guidelines for children’s use of technology, including:
 
• No technology in a child’s bedroom
• When kids watch TV it should be with parents who can then discuss the content
• For children over age two, two hours a day at most
• No screen time at all for kids under two years old
 
I’m no neurologist, but it seems rather intuitive that young children’s brains develop best (as they have for centuries) by interacting with parents and caregivers – not by staring at a two-dimensional screen with flickering lights. According to this Dec. 15, 2011 article in Brain World Magazine, babies under 24 months are Too Young for Technology ~

A baby is born with approximately 100 billion neurons, and over the next three years the child’s brain will develop at a faster rate than at any other point in life. Stimuli lead those neurons to form the connections that will be the physical foundation for growth and learning […]
Cris Rowan, pediatric occupational therapist, child development expert and author of “Virtual Child: The Terrifying Truth about What Technology is Doing to Children,” explains: “If the infant’s environment is nurturing, predictable and offers critical factors to promote development, the infant attains optimal physical, mental and social growth…If the infant’s environment is one of sedentary and isolative technology use, combined with limited touch and human connection, the infant’s development will be impaired, consequently affecting all aspects of their future success.”

And when it comes to kids of all ages, and the impersonal, obsessive nature of electronic media ~

…research shows too much screen time can lead to sexual promiscuity, bullying, obesity, poor performance at school and sleep problems.

 
Back in the waiting room, the fact that the little guy was so engrossed in the tablet was disconcerting to begin with, but then mom started packing up to go a walk. Her son was clearly distraught when she took the ipad away and slipped it in a bag, twisting this way and that in his seat trying to see where his toy went.
Um… can you “addicted?” Or at least “dependent?”
 
Now I’m sure this woman is a good mom; the little guy looked well-cared for. I just wish that she, and millions of young techno-savvy parents like her, would interact more – and resort to electronic pacifiers a whole lot less.

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Related:
Toddlers Obsessed with iPads: Could It Hurt Their Development?
Screen Media Hinders Child Development
Is technology sapping children’s creativity?