Parents Heedlessly Let Kids Play With Smart Phones

A new study by Common Sense Media finds that "children under 8 are spending more time than ever in front of screens," as The New York Times puts it. This "despite the American Academy of Pediatrics' longstanding recommendations to the contrary." Why is the AAP, which recommends feeding speed to inattentive and impulsive youngsters, so down on letting them watch TV, play video games, or monkey around with child-friendly mobile phone apps? That's not clear from the article, although the Times does note "more than a decade of warnings from the American Academy of Pediatrics that screen time offers no benefits for children under 2."

No benefits? The Times story unintentionally (and disapprovingly) provides evidence to the contrary: The kids enjoy their "screen time," and their parents can get stuff done. Seems like a win-win situation to me. The AAP and the Times may find this practice distasteful, but it is hardly tantamount to child abuse, even if it does absolutely nothing to develop cognitive skills or hand-eye coordination. If playing with Mom's iPhone caused cancer or brain damage, it would be a legitimate concern for pediatricians. But if the best they can do is falsely claim "no benefits," they should stick to medical matters and keep their moral/aesthetic views about electronic entertainment to themselves. Yet study author Vicky Rideout cannot stop shaking her head over parents who refuse to heed the AAP, which after all knows more about raising their children than they do:

I get the impression that a lot of parents do not take the recommendation that seriously. Part of it may be wishful thinking. Parents like their media, and it's really tough to resist the lure of putting your kid in front of something that purports to be educational and will keep them occupied.

What's worse than all this newfangled screen time that is messing up little kids in some unspecified way? The fact that poor kids don't get to enjoy it:

The report…documents for the first time an emerging "app gap" in which affluent children are likely to use mobile educational games while those in low-income families are the most likely to have televisions in their bedrooms….

Almost half the families with incomes above $75,000 had downloaded apps specifically for their young children, compared with one in eight of the families earning less than $30,000. More than a third of those low-income parents said they did not know what an "app"—short for application—was.

"The app gap is a big deal and a harbinger of the future," said James Steyer, chief executive of Common Sense Media.

Comments

[John Thacker]

Also noted this story about 100 yelling NYPD officers showing up to support their brethren who are blatantly guilty of ticket fixing, and to lambaste those bastards at Internal Affairs.

[TrickyVic]

Those are the good cops. 😉

[TrickyVic]

“Ten of the arrested are officers and prominent members of the Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association, the police union,”

Why don’t I hear about republicans trying to bust up that union?

[John Thacker]

In Ohio, the collective bargaining law does apply to police (and firefighters) unlike the one in Wisconsin.

This is hurting it politically.

[-]

Your threadjack betrays an inability to focus.
Too much time “in front of screens,” perhaps?

[B.P.]

“They also jeered Internal Affairs detectives, whose investigation led to the indictments. “You pussies,” shouted one cop at the IAB contingent.”

And….

“In addition to the more than 300 doctored ticket summonses involved, sources tell the Times that the indictments (which will be unsealed later today) also include taking bribes related to drug dealing, hiding an assault, and leaking classified info…”

And nothing else happened.

[Dagny T.]

Anyone who doesn’t know what “app” means is astonishingly lacking in both curiosity and intelligence. The “there’s an app for that” tagline is probably one of the better known ad campaigns of the past half decade or so. I know The Poors are supposed to be watching TV all the time so it’s not like they never heard it- if you couldn’t guess the meaning, you really never thought to Google, or for the computer-access-challenged, ask someone? You are just content that there is this word in increasingly common use in your native language that you are incapable of understanding? You deserve to be poor.

[E Litist]

I daresay those fuckers don’t know what a “gap” is, either.

[GeneralAntilles]

A friend who teaches at a local public technical school has a large group students who don’t believe her when she tells them, during the ensuing discussion upon being asked what “veterinarian” means, that there are doctors for animals.

[Colonel_Angus]

Some of those same dumbasses probably own snarly, not fixed pit bulls.

[Paul]

Apropos of Dagny’s post:

The report…documents for the first time an emerging “app gap” in which affluent children are likely to use mobile educational games while those in low-income families are the most likely to have televisions in their bedrooms….

Isn’t Sesame Street on Television? Are we now doubting the educational value of Sesame Street? Where will concern-liberalism take us next?

[Dagny T.]

Paul, try to keep it straight: you are to be concerned about dastardly, bemonocled rich kids sneakily app-ing their way into the 1%, as well as being concerned that the poors are still watching icky, outdated CRTs with their fat kids (probably all the wrong kinds of shows to boot), and they are getting grosser and fatter and dumber by the day, and therefore Something must be Done.

[Paul]

Shorter me:

Are there no prisons? And the union workhouses – are they still not in operation? From what you said at first I was afraid that something had happened to stop them in their useful course.

Now let the poor kids continue to watch sesame street while my gucci-clad daughter plays angry birds on my cell phone. Suck it poor folks!

[DEM]

As it happens,”astonishingly lacking in both curiosity and intelligence” is an apt description of personal qualities of most poor people.

[Poet Laureate sloopyinca]

Sometims a parent needs a babysitter while they’re still at home, and a TV, iPhone or other such device fits the bill.

It’s high Tim these fucks started minding their own business and stopped minding mine.

[Troy]

I prefer an English Mastiff. Keeps the kid occupied and safe.

[Paul]

I make my 9-yr-old unload and clean all my guns. When she’s done with that, then I allow time for homework and reading.

[Sweating Bourbon]

Brilliant! my three year-old’s tiny fingers will be perfect for cleaning the star chamber on an AR15.

[Question]

Is the “app-gap” worse than the missile gap? My God, how will we survive!

[Hugh Akston]

I’m more concerned about the Basselope gap. The Reds supposedly have a launch-capable Basselope even now.

[Episiarch]

We’re prepared, Hugh.

[marlok]

If apps are damaging to a child’s development, and the wealthy have apps more than the poor, then what we have here is a force of pure equalization.

Why are liberals not hailing the app gap?

[Dello]

It’s hell being a Liberal, with all of those conflicting emotions about inequality and apps.

[Low Tech is Smarter for Kids]

The people who make their money selling computers to suckers send their own kids to human-intensive low-tech schools.

A Silicon Valley School That Doesn’t Compute
https://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/23/technology/at-waldorf-school-in-silicon-valley-technology-can-wait.html?_r=1

[I bet a lot of Monsanto execs]

…feed their kids organics.

[Episiarch]

rectal loves responding to her own posts, much like she mutters to herself while digging her poop out of the toilet to gobble down.

[Episiarch]

Not that my life wouldn’t be the poorer without her.

[Episiarch]

Gearing up for another manic phase weekend, rectal? I guess you got sick of taking your meds. Your psychiatrist will be very displeased with you, but hopefully he’ll just institutionalize you. Or give you electroshock therapy.

[Mike Laursen]

Yes and no. The Silicon Valley elite tend to send their kids to human-intensive schools, but also let them spend a significant amount of time playing around with iPads.

[Zeb]

Well, I think that all the screen time is bad for kids. Kids need to go the fuck outside and invent their own games. They have their whole adult lives to waste in front of screens.

[Anti-Capitalist! Luddite!]

[Endless Mike]

Agreed. That’s why I force my kids to go the fuck outside regularly. Strangely I managed to arrive at this decision and take action on it without government assistance, or a recommendation that I took seriously from the AAP. I must be part of the 1%.

[Madbiker]

Sort of the same here. I say “sort of” because my kids are 1 and (almost) 3 years old. Three year olds need some supervision while they play outside. One year olds still drool a lot, and she doesn’t walk independently yet. And we have a fish pond out back and I have no wish to find either child floating lifeless in it while I fold laundry.

Instead of outside time, in the morning the oldest gets to watch two or three commercial-free episodes of Mickey Mouse Clubhouse or Sprout while I get housework done. Then we all go outside together weather permitting.

Absent an older sibling or available family member to supervise, TV is a boon to people who need/want to be productive. The hour or so a day my 3yo absorbs won’t kill her or me or my parental self-esteem.

I don’t know about smart phones because I don’t have one, but both kids love to play with my cell phone. And the remote for the TV. Mostly because it lights up and has pictures and sounds and stuff. Imagine that: they are absorbing info about the tools and tech available in the 21st century.

[go the fuck outside regularly]

Gamboling?

[Po' Boy]

“The app gap is a big deal and a harbinger of the future”

Screw the “app gap”. What about the yacht gap?

[Binky]

What about the yacht gap?

There’s an app for that.

[Auric Demonocles]

Monocle gap!

[Curly Mudgeon]

screen time offers no benefits for children under 2

FTFY

[R]

Curmudgeons should be rejoicing at this news. Kids who stare at screens all day have less time to go gamboling across their lawns.

[Fist of Etiquette]

…and it’s really tough to resist the lure of putting your kid in front of something that purports to be educational and will keep them occupied.

A shot at public school teachers from out of nowhere.

** rimshot **

[Endless Mike]

Ooooo! BAM! Nice one.

[Episiarch]

He shoots, he scores!

[Dagny T.]

Hockey phrases? Are you dressed up as a Canadian for Halloween?

[Episiarch]

That’s not just a hockey phrase, but I suppose that hockey is the only game Canadians know exists, so it’s understandable that you would think that.

Well, curling too, but you would never say that in curling. Would you?

[Dagny T.]

In curling they say “hurry hard” and other painfully lame stuff.

[Rich]

One Halloween this little boy came to my door “dressed up as a Canadian”. Feigning horror, I yelled “Oh, no, it’s Jason!” He sadly held out his bag and said “Well, at last *someone* got it. Everybody else thinks I’m a hockey player.”

[Madbiker]

Well, Kiddo #1 is almost 3 and knows shapes, size relationships, colors, numbers, and other stuff from watching Disney Jr. and Sprout, and from books I read her and songs we sing.

Any teacher who says TV can’t teach kids anything should never, ever be able to ever use any movies or youtube clips or videos or transcripts of said materials in his or her classroom, ever. But most teachers do. Especially on days when they are calling it in, or have a sub in the class.

[Veemee Sashimi]

What kind of libertarian are you. Don’t you know the kid should be using his tiny size to crawl through drainage pipes at $5.35 an hour?

I’ll expect your top hat and monocle on my desk in the morning.

[Enjoy Every Sandwich]

You mean the teachers actually know how to run a Youtube clip? Or maybe they get a student to do it for them…

I figured they were probably still using filmstrips. Damn, I hated those.

[Dagny T.]

What the world really needs is another child related thing about which to concern troll. It feels like we’ve had a few rounds of “end of men”/”oh noes sad single ladies aren’t getting married” recently so this is right on schedule. Thanks, New York Times. The Atlantic can’t do this thing on its own.

[Episiarch]

Oh, these schmucks are always concern trolling about TEH CHILDREN.

[Apatheist]

Like oil and gas tanks?

http://www.chron.com/default/a…..240182.php

[K McIntyre]

Here I am thinking of the probability of anyone ever convincing my mother that TV doesn’t rot people’s brains…

[Robert]

So…this is saying…that being in front of a screen is a social harm that disproportionately affects the rich?

[CoyoteBlue]

Exactly. An activity – that only the richest 85% of the population has access to … is of no benefit to them and they should stop doing it … is unfair.
Or something.
Whatever.
Angry Birds Peace Treaty
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v…..re=feedlik

[Nipplemancer]

Sesame Street and a handful of dry cereal keep my kid amused and distracted long enough for me to drink my coffee and peruse the morning links thread (provided Riggs wakes up of course.)
Fuck the AAP.

[Madbiker]

As a parent, you recognize that you have to sacrifice a lot for your kids, but not your entire life or every little interest you ever had.

TV helps. I don’t want to let my kids watch 6 straight hours of it so I can doodle about on teh interwebz, but it does a valuable service when you need free hands for an hour or so.

[Nipplemancer]

Not to mention going to the bathroom, laundry, dishes, and all the shit that you need to get done. Sometimes the play yard isn’t enough to keep them distracted long enough.

[Restoras]

^^Oh Yeah.

[Poet Laureate sloopyinca]

^^Oh Yeah

What? You need the time so you can make your Kool-Aid?

[Hugh Akston]

More than a third of those low-income parents said they did not know what an “app”?short for application?was.

So nearly 66% of low-income parents know what an app is?

[Paul]

Effing good catch, Hugh! Zingalicious!

[Pip]

Free apps is a right!

[Paul]

Your app purchases will never have to exceed 10% of your phone bill, and after 20 days, no matter how much you’ve paid, your app debts will be forgiven. Amen.

[Bernieyeball]

“…while those in low-income families are the most likely to have televisions in their bedrooms….”

Good grief! Way back in the 50’s when I was in grade school there were scares about TV ruining kids eyes and rotting their brains…
One TV in the neighborhood was a big deal till a few years later when everyone had one.
Any one who had a second TV in the bedroom was filthy, stinkin’ RICH!!!

Of course all those fears about TV leading kids into degeneracy came to fruition in the 60’s. I’m sure all the streaking and skinny dipping that went on was a result of kids watching Donald and Daisy Duck running around with no pants on.

[Paul]

These kinds of articles always make me remember the most unintentionally funny news story of all. time…

http://articles.cnn.com/2002-0…..=PM:HEALTH

Teaser for those who don’t click through:

People who are in a recreational environment such as on the beach may be focusing their attention on other safety hazards — most prominently water safety and drowning — (and) may be unaware of the hidden risks associated with digging holes in the beach,” says Dr. Bradley Maron of Brown University.

No one officially tracks sand hole incidents. But Maron gathered national media reports from the last five years and found an astonishing death rate of 61 percent for people trapped in sand.

Compare this to highly publicized shark attacks. Worldwide statistics indicate a 15-percent death rate during the last six years.

Maron wants to see sand hole accidents tracked and suggests posting warning signs on beaches.

Here are some things parents can do to ensure this doesn’t happen to their kids.

– Always choose a beach with a lifeguard.- Stay away from holes deeper than your knees.- Call for emergency help immediately if someone gets trapped.- If someone is buried, keep other people away for safety

[Chinny Chin Chin]

Hang on! The AAP, an organization of scientists, has given Americans advice, and they’re not following the advice?

Why…. that’s anti-science!

I’m sure somewhere this study specifies that it’s only the nasssssty Team Red parents who are ignoring the advice, right?

[Paul]

There’s an AAP for that?

[Ken]

“But if the best they can do is falsely claim “no benefits,” they should stick to medical matters and keep their moral/aesthetic views about electronic entertainment to themselves.”

If that doesn’t sum it up perfectly!

[Joe M]

1) Kids shouldn’t spend so much time playing on their parents’ cell phones.
2) It’s not fair that more affluent children get to spend more time playing on their parents’ cell phones.

Fuck, the cognitive dissonance is blinding.

Also, app gap? My poor, rational mind…

[Mr. Mark]

Recreation is DECADENCE!!!

(Note spittle-flecked, unblinking expression bearing the snarl of manic rage…contrasting so starkly with the bland, calm bearing exhibited by the ubiquitous subject of the obligatory portrait on the wall behind me.)

[chris]

I have a pad my thirteen year uses to pick clips to watch on Youtube. He will play the opening theme to the 60’s Batman TV show over and over before switching to other fare. Fuck those who waggle a finger between me and my boy. I made him to raise a supervillian not a common variety gray flannel citizen.

[Sweating Bourbon]

My daughters were just fighting over angry birds on my touchpad.

[chris]

thirteen month old uses

[Tulpa]

So looking at screens all day is bad for kids, and poor kids should be able to do it as much as rich kids.

Sort of like drinking Drano is bad for you, and it’s not fair poor kids have to drink cheap Walmart knockoffs instead of the real stuff.

[Dello]

Is your kid spending too much time on your cell phone?

There’s an AAP for that.

[J]

“The report…documents for the first time an emerging “app gap” in which affluent children are likely to use mobile educational games while those in low-income families are the most likely to have televisions in their bedrooms….”

Amazing. 20 years ago the idea of low income families putting televisisions in their kids room was laughable. Now, it’s a given. Better yet, in 20 more years, low income kids will probably have smart phones that put the current ones to shame. But, the elites will then feel guilty that not all low income families can afford flying electric cars.
Maybe worrying about non-existent problems is the lefty form of escapism. It helps them feel better about themselves, superior to others and helps them forget real problems for a while.

[MJ]

It is of a piece with all the angsting from the leftists around here about materisal inequality.

[Jane]

haha, the child is so funny. very interesting.

[Neu Mejican]

Why is the AAP, which recommends feeding speed to inattentive and impulsive youngsters, so down on letting them watch TV, play video games, or monkey around with child-friendly mobile phone apps?

Because they prefer a pound of prevention, perhaps?

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com…..027.x/full

[Enjoy Every Sandwich]

Obviously, the children should be doing something useful, like learning the “mmm mmm mmm Barack Hussein Obama” song or stuffing envelopes for the DNC.

[rose]

My kids love playing with my iPad and it keeps them busy when we are in the car or grocery store. I let them watch TV with the DISH Remote Access app through my provider/employer DISH Network. They can watch all our subscription channels live from my iPad anywhere we go. It helps me out when I am trying to get the errands done.

[conservativebullshit]

Screen time overstimulates the young brain and can lead to attention problems later in life. A moderate amount of screen time won’t hurt anyone but all of you commenters really need parenting lessons. Try interacting with your kids once in a while instead of being such selfish pricks! Oh and read a little please…and i don’t mean just the same media that moulded your current asshole opinions because it is all PAID FOR AND SUPPORTED BY people just as selfish as you trying to get more money out of you.