By Annalise Kempen
Photos courtesy of Pexels and FreePik
It is common to see children – even toddlers – sitting with an iPad or tablet in their hands while they accompany their parents to a restaurant. Another common sight is that children watch “a story” on an iPad or tablet that has been placed on the back of the front seat while they are travelling in a car with their parents or grandparents. When kids with a “screen” in their hands seems to be the norm, parents may think that it cannot be bad for their own children, especially when considering that it will keep the little ones occupied to allow parents to enjoy their meal or focus on the traffic. Have you considered what is best for your kid: being entertained in the short-term or being healthy over the long-term?
We’ve all heard about screentime: In fact, there was a time when my iPhone informed me about my weekly screentime and whether it increased or decreased from the previous week. What about your children? How strict are you about the amount of screentime they are allowed? Or are you simply not bothered because it allows you to increase your own screentime (catching up on movies, work or social media)? We live in an era where most of us spend too much time in front of some type of screen, giving rise to specific terminology and research that are being done about these phenomena – one of these terms is “iPad kids”. Let’s explore …
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[This is only an extract of an article that is published in Servamus: May 2025. This article is available for purchase.]