I am all for finding ways to occupy your small child on airplanes or at social functions and even when you are out to dinner with other people but in my opinion at home parents are way too dependent on electronics to occupy their kids. I understand that there are times that you may need a virtual baby sitter for your kid but I am seeing more too often that this has become the norm for many parents that simply just don’t want to be bothered with their kids.
In an effort to have more time to themselves or time to spend on their social media pages or whatever, parents are giving kids iPhones, ipads and video games to keep them busy. Long gone are the days that families spent time watching a family oriented television program together or God forbid reading or playing a family board game. Now parents and kids alike have their heads buried in some form of Internet interface. I have seen kids and parents alike on electronic equipment while at “family” dinner instead of talking to one another the way families used to.
Yes, I was guilty of letting my kid watch TV or play with an electronic game while I made dinner or cleaned the house but once I was done with my chores my attention was given to my child and all electronics were put away unless it was something that we were watching together so that we could discuss it later. We also spent a lot of time reading and coloring together. When we were alone my attention primary focus was devoted to my child.
I am also noticing that kids today are just plain fat. I believe this is also in direct correlation to kids not getting enough physical activity because all of their spare time is spent in front of the television playing video games or playing some sort of game on an iPhone or ipad. Parents I urge you to put down your electronics and take away your kids electronics and spend some quality time together.
Kids are not asked to be brought into this world so if you are lucky enough to have a child don’t let electronics raise your kid.
