Mobile tykes learn to walk, talk and work tech
What will Junior’s first text be?
Small children, like the rest of us, have gone mobile — tripling their time on devices such as tablets and phones in the past four years, according to a new survey.
Kids ages 0-8 spend an average of about two hours a day on various screens, as they did in 2011 and 2013, says the survey of 1,454 U.S. parents, released Thursday by the non-profit group Common Sense. TV is still tops, consuming an hour of that time.
But the survey, repeated for the third time in six years, shows a clearly shifting landscape — one in which 42% of young children have their own tablets and 98% live in homes with at least one mobile device. Children spend an average of 48 minutes a day on those devices, up from five minutes in 2011 and 15 minutes in 2013, the survey says. “There has been a seismic shift in media and tech use by young kids in this country,” Common Sense CEO Jim Steyer said. “Kids who are still learning to walk and talk now have access on a daily basis to these powerful hand-held devices. … It has the power to reshape child development.”
These “true digital natives” will no doubt reap some benefits over time, Steyer said. But he and other experts said there’s cause for concern, especially for the youngest children.
When a child can walk around with a tablet, it’s much harder for parents to monitor and limit screen time than when that child uses the family TV or computer.
“Addictive isn’t the right word, but there is a sort of pull that the screens have for kids,” said Corinn Cross, spokesperson for the American Academy of Pediatrics. “It’s hard to stop using them.”