This post comes with the following warning:
Should you not wish to be subjected to a bit of a rant that may or may not contain bad language you should close your browser page now. The following thoughts are mine and mine alone. I am not a parent so these judgements are not based on my experience and are just my thoughts on the things I have seen. Please do not take offence to my comments as I respect every parents right to parent as they choose.
Tonight while watching TV hubby and I saw something that made us groan in unison. I said "You must be freaking kidding", he said "What next?".
What we saw was an advertisement for this an app for phones that teaches kids how to brush their teeth.
Now we don't have kids yet (soon hopefully) and where we live we don't have mobile phone coverage, so to me this just seems ludicrous.
I mean are people trying to get out of parenting? Are we really living in a world where we want our phones to teach our children how to do things? "Here you go son, just watch this app and it will teach you how to ride your bike/tie your laces/catch a ball/"
When I sat down and thought about this a number of things crossed my mind.
Don't you start teaching kids to clean their teeth when they get them eg when they are toddlers?
Then why would I be giving my toddler a $500 plus phone?
If I can't be bothered teaching my kids to clean their teeth what else will I not be bothered teaching them?
Are those 2 mins that I spend with my kids teaching them to brush their teeth so bothersome? I would have thought teaching your children and watching them master new skills was one of the absolute joys of parenting.
I would really love to hear what you think about this, maybe you can convince me of it's merits. Maybe I should just keep my thoughts to myself.
Feel free to let me know.
Hi Fiona,
ReplyDeleteI agree - technology is out of control and we are all losing touch with reality. As a mum of 3 I find it a really hard balance in our house. On one hand I HATE technology. It is taking over reality. However I also know that if I deny my children technology then I am putting them on the back foot for life because it is the way of the world now whether we like it or not. It's a really tough balance to hang onto the life we remember (which fr children, really is gone - no-one plays outside much anymore, neibours look at us in disgust when we send our kids out to play in the rain e.g.)
It's a constant challenge for those of us who are trying to parent more 'old style' and balance this new life as well. very very sad world we are living in.
I'm not sure why anyone would download an app for that lol sometimes i wonder where common sense has gone :/ Theressa i think your kids will have a better sense of the world than your neighbours kids! i confess my son doesn't spend a lot of time outside but he's not attached to technology 24/7 either. i really don't like how the marketing of products invades our lives in every way... everything is branded these days... that's probably why i've chosen to go down the 'simple' path!
ReplyDeleteGee Fiona, I wouldn't call that a rant! A very appropriate comment though. From my perspective, as a parent of a teenager I am well aware of the technology issue.
ReplyDeleteThe only justification I can think of would be that with littlie's repetition is sometimes the only thing that gets through to them. Maybe, and this is only a maybe, if the app was downloaded onto parents phone and the child got to watch it while they where brushing their teeth it might help as a bit of fun. But that is just a maybe, and the only reason I would give it a 1/2 star. Somehow, generations have got through without it! cheers Wendy
Sweetie thats not a rant...its just stating the ridiculous way that our world is turning.........parenting is hard work....I can vouch, but I love it...and parents these days, just in the last ten years I have been doing it, are lazy, you betcha.........my favourite is the child care mums that never toilet train their kids..........they pop a child in nappies in child care and it comes home wearing pants..........fabulous...maybe they will invent an app for that.......how bout an app that gives a child love.....the next generation of kids growing up will be scary, and I mean it.............
ReplyDeleteExactly why we are leaving the rat race and moving to a farm...just to try and give us and our kids a more simple existence. There will still be technology of course, but there is no getting away from that, we all use it. This app for cleaning teeth....ridiculous...
ReplyDeleteSo sad....i often shake my head at the apps thing and then wonder if i am becoming an old fuddy duddy lol! I don't have a phone that can download apps, no ipad here and i worry that my 2 yr olds might be missing out when i see all the apps that are aimed at their age bracket....and then i see them reading books and running around outside...and i no longer care or worry!
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