By Myra Chen
We’ve all seen it: fingertips covered in cheeto dust swiping at a greasy screen, an overwhelming stench of ketchup, the maxed out volume of CoComelon and the wiggling toes swung over the back of the couch.
The population of iPad kids is steadily growing. The cause? iPad parents. The screaming, the crying, the biting, the hitting—it’s exhausting. It’s no wonder why 85% of parents, impatient and busy with work, stick the newest edition of technology in their child’s faces and call it a day. As a means to replace parental care or human interaction, kids become immediately hooked. Hooked on the bright, saturated colors, the interactive games and the upbeat theme songs. Apps are being produced like rapid fire, supplying kids with everything they feel like doing, but through a screen.
Before mobile devices were so readily available to all age groups, children played in the playground to relieve their boredom. They played outdoors all day, inciting their neighbors to run around the park or invent games to exercise their creativity. This physical play was also mental play, necessary in child development. But in modern times, kids play in playgrounds through Roblox. They interact with other youths through comment sections of YouTube. They release their creativity through Minecraft. While iPads can act as a gateway for kids to be kids through a different dimension, iPads can quickly become their downfall.
With enough free time, anyone can easily become a sticky iPad kid. Taking on the characteristics of an addict, kids learn to throw tantrums as a method of getting what they want: more screen time. The puffy red eyes filled with tears immediately disappear at the sight of a screen. Those eyes become replaced with pupils widened with excitement and grubby fingers reaching out to grab their device. Increasing by the hour, iPad kids under 13 years old make up 54.86% of Roblox’s audience. 72% of Roblox users play via mobile devices, including iPads and tablets.
With little social interaction, neither from peers nor parental figures, iPad kids enter real life with a short attention span, thus accentuating their poor coordination and communication skills. Their eyes are glued to the screen at all times: when they’re walking, while the teacher is talking, while they’re eating and while they’re working. And it’s a tough habit to shake, especially when youths become dependent on the internet to distract them from reality. Without the ability to interact with others beyond the scope of the internet, iPad kids are prone to making mistakes in school, employment, relationships and life.
Every generation has its faults. Among these faults, sticky iPad kids are one of them. iPads have been proven to be useful in a classroom setting, facilitating students with access to educational resources. But when its usage expands into every second of every day, it becomes problematic health wise, physically and mentally. For child development to be fulfilled at its highest level, guardians need to understand that balance is key. The consequences of the behaviors of iPad kids may mature in the future into something irreversibly damaging.
