this post was submitted on 30 Dec 2023
80 points (100.0% liked)
Technology
37801 readers
129 users here now
A nice place to discuss rumors, happenings, innovations, and challenges in the technology sphere. We also welcome discussions on the intersections of technology and society. If it’s technological news or discussion of technology, it probably belongs here.
Remember the overriding ethos on Beehaw: Be(e) Nice. Each user you encounter here is a person, and should be treated with kindness (even if they’re wrong, or use a Linux distro you don’t like). Personal attacks will not be tolerated.
Subcommunities on Beehaw:
This community's icon was made by Aaron Schneider, under the CC-BY-NC-SA 4.0 license.
founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
view the rest of the comments
Relatively new parent here. I regret to inform you that your hypothesis is incorrect, at least for my kid. He's still an infant, though and I don't know if you include kids under 1 in "small children".
My wife and I only use our phones to track his nap times, take a picture of him occasionally (once a week or so), and make phone calls. He is still magnetically attracted to them. If you leave one sitting on a surface he can reach he will go for it and start trying to get it to light up on the lock screen. This is especially frustrating for my wife and I as we intend to restrict screen time as much as possible through early childhood.
Even removing social pressures and constructs around phones they are little boxes with moving lights on one side that respond to your touch. That's inherently interesting to children even before they can meaningfully interpret writing or abstract images.
So they are as attracted to them as to other toys and are happy to stay on the lock screen? I would say that's a win. Most kids will watch YT and play games constantly. I don't think lock screen counts as a screen time.
I wonder if there are any fake phones you can get them. Or even better yet, just get an old android, absolutely brutalise it software wise, even disabling internet, maybe put like nothing on it or keep it on the lock screen.
There are fake phones, even fake computers, for little kids to "play being adult".
For somewhat older kids that can already hold a tablet without dropping it, a cheap Android tablet with only WiFi, can be stripped down of all the crapware and preloaded with some games, educational stuff, and some media for offline use.