iPads and Parenting?

A national study from the Center on Media and Human Development Northwestern University sheds light on the ways digital technologies have changed parenting practices in the United States. With so many new gadgets, some parents are using mobile phones and tablets in different ways. Sometimes, mobile devices are used for learning, to calm a child down or even as a reward. The days of playing music and dancing around the room, or using educational learning toys are long gone. Or are they?

The new study looks at the ways digital technologies have changed parenting practices. What part do interactive and mobile technologies play in 21st century parenting?

Alexis R. Lauricella, one of the study’s authors, wrote in a Joan Ganz Cooney Center blog post,:

In contrast to thepopular pressimage that mobile technology is the new pacifier used to calm and quiet down children, our survey shows that parents today have a range of tools at their disposal and other tools are used more often than mobile technologies.  Parents are more likely to use toys or activities (88%), books (79%), and TV (78%) when they need to keep children occupied than mobile media devices like smartphones or iPads (37% among those who have one).

A few other interesting findings:

• Sibling rivalry and parental bouts: 78% of parents “disagree with the statement ‘negotiating media use causes conflict in our home.’” And most spouses (83%) agree with each other around questions of parenting with media.
• The income gap:  65% of high-income households ($100,000+ per year) own tablets, only 19% of low-income (less than $25,000). Smartphones: 80% (high-income), 61% (low-income).
• There’s still a video game stigma: “more parents rate video games as having a negative effect on children’s reading, math, speaking skills, attention span, creativity, social skills, behavior, physical activity, and sleep than any other activity.”
• Weaning from the new coviewing: joint media engagement among parents and their children decreases substantially above the age of six.
• Like parent, like child: the amount of media consumed by the parents is directly correlative to the amount media consumed by the children. 23% of “media-centric parents,” (who spend 11 hours per day, on average, engaged with TV, computer, smartphones, and video games) use media as a way to connect with their children.

What methods do you use or plan to use with your children? Do you think the use of digital technologies within parenting is going to continue to evolve?

Adapted from Forbes.com