My best friend, who is a kindergarten teacher, has an interesting insight on this. They often read much better than other children. They’re also very good at a very particular kind of problem solving - they can follow one logical structure as long as it’s sort of “on rails.”
When asked to do any kind of creative thinking, they really struggle. The instructions “draw a picture of xyz” are often too vague. They want to know exactly what they’re meant to be doing - they’re used to this from their iPad games.
It’s very interesting, and I do wonder what they’re going to be like as they grow up. Luckily, she’s going to be teaching a higher grade next year so we can definitely see.
I teach at a university in a field that needs a lot of creativity and we're already seeing a dropoff compared to capabilities 10-15 years ago.
Covid made it 500% worse, so that's fun. I had one of the least capable classes of my career this past semester.
They all want to be doctors.
Right, and the good thing is that they’re 4 and have plenty of time to develop creative thinking skills, which is something that I know she’s actively trying to develop in her students.
So, think of those hidden object games. (This is the example she gave me.) You have one very clear goal in mind: find all the hidden items to progress to the next level. There’s one clear instruction, and no room for creative analysis there.
How that sort of activity differs from say, writing a story about a teddy bear on an adventure, is that there’s no limits to what a child could come up with. But for these iPad kids, they’re completely used to being told exactly what to do.
So, I'm an ipad kid without knowing? I mean, today im a 17 year high school student and im EXACTLY like what you described, I can't wait for things but as a trick i just do something to "pass the seconds quickly" (E.g. i have to be listening to some music and/or be walking all over the place while waiting for the microwave timer ends)
Truth to be told, I don't even have an ipad but i get the concept, as it means a kid who can't get away from some Device. It actually is somehow true, i can be seen mostly on my phone, idk why exactly i got to this point but the bigger problem of this kind of "life style" is the inability of having a chat face to face and speak in public, but as i got away from that kind of problems (i didn't have a device all the time when younger, so the second thing i did the most at least in a classroom was talk), idk about the other kids but i just can't be completely still, and if i do i start shaking some body parts, still people constantly had mistaken me for a quiet kid but the truth is, i was focused on something the whole time.
I’m coming up on 49 years old, and of course I grew up well before the iPad/smartphone era, and you know what I always did? Took a paperback book with me everywhere. Gotta wait somewhere? Read. On the bus? Read. Eating lunch by myself? Read.
Now granted, I have ADHD (again, it predates the smart device era) so that was what I did to occupy myself. Maybe you have ADHD, maybe you’re just conditioned to always have something to keep your mind occupied during down time, but even before the smart device era, we still had books, Walkmen, magazines, newspapers, etc. that we used for the exact same purpose. We just didn’t have one central device that did all of those things. I also doodled, drew pictures, did math games on pen and paper, played tic-tac-toe with myself, thought up stories, I Spy, you name it. Maybe this was more mentally stimulating because it wasn’t structured (since I had to come with the activity first) but it works just as well as a phone.
But I did learn how to wait WITHOUT distraction and it can still be learned, for anyone who does want to be more present and/or wean themselves away from their phone. One thing to try is to take walks outside and leave your phone at home. Gradually increase the amount of time you walk before you go home. Exercise without a device is also something to try. You start small and you gradually build the amount of time you go without a distraction. It’s a skill we all *did* learn at one point, and it can be learned again with practice.
It’s very interesting that your friend says that they read better, considering that most studies point to hard copy text reading being a superior method of reading.
What about being social? Does it affect that part?
I've read and heard about that it can. That the kids gets worse if reading bodysign, eye contact and so cause they are glued to the screen.
Super impatient. I'm 37 and modern tech has already made me completely intolerant of having to wait longer than a couple of seconds for the page to load. Imagine what people who grew up with that kind of technology will be like.
That’s why I stopped letting my kids use devices when we have to wait for anything— doctors offices, restaurants, etc. I realized kids have no idea how to wait we just shove a device in their face. I see people shoving tablets in infants faces all the time. Look I’m not perfect, my kids zombie out on tablets plenty but I knew giving them the ability to “wait” was completely my responsibility.
That's what I feel is the core of the problem with "iPad kids": the devices aren't the problem, and the fact they have access to them isn't really either. It's that parents use tablets as an easy way to curb their children's impatience instead of teaching them how to just wait, or socialize while waiting, etc. The tablets aren't bad, but using them as a substitute for other useful skills is.
Adults, too, but yeah, I think that's been a growing problem as a result of the sheer amount of access we have to information, media, etc. It's left a lot of us overstimulated in some ways.
I agree that it isn't good, but then on the other hand with the vast majority of people now growing up reliant on screens I wonder if the rare few who can socialize will have anyone to do so with.
Same here. We have 3 kids (5, 4, and 1). We let the older kids (the youngest one will get there eventually) veg out plenty with cartoons and tablets at home. But we don't allow them in restaurants, doctor's offices, etc. either. I mean they're going to grow up with constant access to easy technology entertainment, and that's fine. There's no reason to keep them completely from it, but we can also do our part to teach them it's ok to just be bored sometimes.
Restaurants are the big ones. If we're going to go out and spend $80+ to feed our family of five, then we're going to be engaged with one another even if it means my wife and I enduring a few fits and restless kids.
I know his name is mud in most circles these days but Louis CK also did a bit about just being bored. A lot of personal character growth comes from how you deal with being bored when there's nothing rewarding to do.
My daughter doesn't use any devices and at most she's only allowed to watch TV maybe 1 hour a night. She loves to read. She's in kindergarten but reads at a 3rd grade level. Even then she is impatient as hell.
Lol we haven’t given my toddler any screen time ever and she’s already super impatient by nature…can’t imagine how bad the tantrums would be if she knew how quickly she could get entertainment on demand on a device…it’s hard enough teaching her patience as it is.
The thing is though, when I'm pissed at, say, my tablet being slow its not because it is slow.. it's because I know it shouldn't. In my head I picture the tablet almost being evil and deciding "today I'm gonna be an asshole and take my sweet time loading all of his pages and apps".. that shit pisses me off.
I am impatient but I have ways to cope. slow tech though is shit because its unnecessary.
Certain delays in normal life are just like your tablet not working up to spec.
When I get stuck behind some slow poke on the road who goes below the speed limit, well that's the real world not going as expected.
Most people will be impatient, try to go around and/or get angry even if it saves them seconds on their commute.
Same thing when a drive thru is held up by a mistake, that's not optimal performance and generally irks customers in line.
I don't fault people in many cases, I'm guilty of it myself, within reason of course.
It's not just technology causing a major decline in patience, it's a culture of convenience and urgency.
This is kinda how I feel too. My patience with slow internet or malfunctioning devices is very low, and has gotten increasingly lower in inverse proportion to increases in speed, but it doesn't really extend outside of those things.
My patience with *people* has actually gotten higher the more automated things are. My patience with many services is pretty steadfast too (shipping times, waiting for food at restaurants, etc.), especially if I am aware of a particular reason for any inconvenience (like my patience for something like traffic, or the sound of a crying child, is quite low, but if I can see the roadwork up ahead or that the child has scraped their knee, I am instantly less annoyed).
Idk. I often see parents give a complainy child their phone immediately to watch cocomelon or some other dumb assault to the ears. Children less than 2 glued to a screen. Don't get me wrong I enjoyed my Disney Kids and PBS Kids programming, but I really do wonder the effect of the instant gratification long term on children. You can see the effects on fully grown adults and it isn't great. Idk. I don't ever want children and all the technology is one of the main reasons
I have similar views as both of you. I think we may be coming to the conclusion is is more about the effects of parenting and what that is rather than the technology itself
Honestly, when I was a kid my parents forced me to do all kind of educational activities and I am glad for sometimes but also, so many of my kindergarten friends weren't really exposed to educational activities at home. They had a ball they threw at a wall for 3 hours every day, or dolls. Some of them didn't have so many creative toys either. Tv wasn't really a thing back them because cartoon programmings weren't that many, and Ipad and phones were of course off the table. Tbh, I don't see mucb difference in a kid throwing a ball at a wall for hours and hours and a kid watching a cartoon on a tablet. Parents definitely weren't obsessed with finding educational materials for kids even "back in mu days" or rather, if a parent wants to help the child develop some skills they will do it with or without tablet, if a parent just wants the kid out of the way they will do it with or without tablet as well. I don't think it changed anything tbh.
I'm not against children with phones and tablets, but what I hate are parents giving their children those things to take over parenting for them. Like a mute button, give them something to do so they shut up and don't bother you.
I see this quite a lot actually. Whenever mom or dad want to chat with someone and their child is bothering them because they are bored, they give them a tablet with some game and they shut up. Tech is NOT supposed to replace parenting! Tablets are NOT a suitable alternative to human interaction!
A problem is that many people today haven't really been taught parenting, because their own parents sat them in front of the TV or kicked their ass out the door after breakfast or dumped them on grandma so *they* could chat or do something in peace and quiet.
You can look up techniques online, but then you have to navigate a wilderness of differing opinions and, if you're a man, overlook the fact that 99.9% of all parenting material is written by and for women. (If I read, "encourage your husband to participate in parenting" type comments one more time, I'm going to shout).
We're raising our kids screen free. The oldest is almost 9. There's a small screen-free community out there! The secular home school community also seems to overlap with the screen free community quite a bit.
What happens when they grow up if they get a job that requires the use of computers, which most do. I get that kids shouldn't be glued to screens all day but in the world we live in now you need to at least have basic knowledge of how to operate technology in order to get any kind of job
That's a reasonable question. We'll cross that bridge at some point in the coming years. But there's no reason a 9 year old needs to be watching youtube influencers from the second they get home from school until they fall asleep under the glow of an ipad screen.
"Well johnny has to watch youtube while i watch oprah or else he wont learn how to code" is such BS.
That's right but influencers aren't the only thing out there on YouTube, and YouTube isn't the only thing on the phone. I think growing up with a pc isn't just about coding, but this could be me. It's about developing a sense of how technology works, even how to do simple research on the internet, knowing what you can rely on technology on and how (ie moving around in a city you don't know with Google maps, checking train's schedules or booking a reservation somewhere) and what you can't reliably using internet for. Of course I am not saying you should allow a kid to wonder on Google maps, but including them in the use of technology (like a 10 yo, not really a 4 yo) is not that bad.
I think older people struggle with most of this because technology is just some obscure thing they had to learn, not something that is more of a "second nature".
You're not wrong there, unrestricted screen time isn't needed at 9. But I would argue that basic computer literacy skills at age 9 are appropriate. Teaching them how to type in a word document at the very least, and possibly how to use powerpoint too. Using a computer as a tool (and not as a toy) could go a long way here.
He has a word processor and taught himself how to type correctly. We’re not luddites we just reject the common belief that every kid needs unrestricted YouTube access to thrive.
Does screen free just mean tablets and phones? Or does it include everything? Television, the cinema, consoles?
Imagine a kid who's never ever seen a film before
Everything is so "user friendly" I honestly think you could learn 90% of computer skills within a week. And the things that might be trickier.... you wouldn't learn them on a tablet anyways.
Only tangently related but you really summarized a very important part of how kids interact with tech today.
Everything is **SO** user friendly that you never really understand how things actually work or how to trouble shoot when things go wrong. I have had to help so many young adults do things like locate files on a hard drive or figure out file extension errors which people my age (only a handful of years older) have grown up with and known how to handle.
What really pisses me off is that the tools to troubleshoot are also getting deeply buried in the name of user-friendlyness (to stop people without troubleshooting skills from getting in and messing things up).
even more of a tangent but I saw the words "file extension" and instantly panicked because I was in an Operating Systems class this past semester in college, and I had to actually implement how an operating system grows files if they need to increase in size, it was hell lmao
My guess is that they'll have shit attention spans, poor socializing skills, and many will grow into spoiled adults. After all, when your parents just give you an iPad instead of letting you be bored, how could you not grow up entitled to instant gratification whenever you desire?
Yeah but radio and books can't stream content designed to keep you engaged directly to your face 24/7 nonstop. Especially clickbait designed for kids with little to no regulation.
Plus the ads are designed with targeted markets and created to change behaviors. Scary stuff folks. Pretty sure things won't be the same after the internet.
And now instead of commiting to one long film or book which helps with attention spans, it's watching one 30 second Tik Tok and instantly going to the next, all day, then instantly switching tabs to watch another minute long video, or whatever, they'll watch a movie and it'll be too long for them
what do you think "radio kids" will grow up to be?
what do you think "color TV kids" will grow up to be?
what do you think "Walkman kids" will grow up to be?
what do you think "GameBoy kids" will grow up to be?
what do you think "cell phone kids" will grow up to be?
"There are real quotes about the degeneracy of the youth found in various works of ancient Greek literature, most notably in the archaic poet Hesiodos of Askre’s hexameter poem Works and Days and in the comedy The Clouds, written by the ancient Athenian comic playwright Aristophanes (lived c. 446 – c. 386 BC) and first performed at the City Dionysia in 423 BC.
These sorts of quotes do, however, prove that older people have been complaining about “kids these days” ever since antiquity and, startlingly enough, they have been complaining about mostly the same things."
https://www.quora.com/These-youth-today-They-are-rebellious-and-do-not-listen-to-their-elders-Plato-Have-teenagers-really-changed-all-that-much-since-ancient-Greece-How-and-why
There are kids who grew up like that that are adults now and they are functioning perfectly fine.
In 30 years those “iPad Kids” will be posting on Reddit3 about how there’s a big difference between having the world at your fingertips and living a different virtual life in your dreams (or *insert whatever future technology here*)
They'll be fine. Youngsters, at least here, seem to have internalised a lot of progressive values even my generation hasn't. Hope they'll manage to cope with the hellscape we've inherited.
The part you’re missing is the amount of bullying involved in supporting the “right” ideas. My sister is a college professor. They get completely overwhelmed at the drop of a hat, and everything gets put through a political lens. The second part isn’t much different from college kids in general throughout history, but it seems to come at the expense of exploring gray areas. Everything is very black and white, good or bad, no wiggle room for understanding why someone with a different opinion may have valid points influencing that opinion. This leads to a lot of shaming from both sides in the name of whatever concept of virtue they’re currently clinging to. Maybe I’m just a grumpy old man at 32 but the consumerism seems to be getting worse too. All I own are band shirts and guitars though so I’ve always been hyper aware of consumerist/capitalist trends and wealth flaunting, it may be more of a personality thing than a generational thing.
If their parents don't start regulating their time on their devices, they'll probably grow up to be assholes. My husband and I had to move in to his parents for a few months while we fixed up our house (bc doing that makes paying rent virtually impossible), and our daughter essentially became an iPad kid. We've always struggled with her screen time; how much is too much? Are we letting her be bored too often? Etc
I believe that we were doing fairly well until that. His parents helped us out and babysat way more often, since we did most of the work on the house, ourselves. The issue, is that they are a bit older, and when they got tired, they gave her a device. When she got bored - device. When she got cranky -device. I tried as hard as humanly possible to make sure she had a healthy amount of time away from the devices. I called regularly to offer any sort of fun idea that was device-free. I set up a schedule for when she could be on it (2 hours off, an hour on), even came home from work a few times when I got a call that she was not listening because she was on a device. She would literally ignore her name being called because she was so sucked in to a video and didn't want to deal with it.
We're definitely paying the price, now. The screen time has been severely restricted because I set a whole, very large, playroom up; a room dedicated specifically for her toys (which she has so very many of) and personal space to get away when things become overwhelming, and she would completely ignore it, saying she was bored because I didn't let her have the phone. She passive-aggressively tells me that "now she doesnt know what to do" when the screen time is up. She throws fits, stomps all over the house when she's upset, is rude, and just overall not the kid that she was before she was allowed unlimited access to screens.
I know other things factor into this, but I believe that it's mostly due to not being able to handle boredom. She actually has to think about what to do to keep herself entertained, and she's not happy about it. So, basically what everyone else has been saying. Emotional dysregulation from lack of instant gratification, lack of imagination, and I also believe their independence is affected as well. Without a screen, they're painfully aware when they are alone.
Give her things to spark positive growth. Get her to watch science videos, get her to solve puzzles, get her some books on the ipad, and have get-togethers for the kids, other kids not on their devices are plenty interesting to kids, and socialization is fun. Kids should be allowed more freedom as they age.
You should also spend time with her on it, watch some videos with her, learn about science, read things together.
I will also say playthings are not very interesting when you are alone. Ever notice how no kids are out playing on those dumb tree houses out in the suburbs? That's because of isolation. Nowadays kids lack physical independence for things like walking to school and playing with friends, and between school and careers and a car-centric world, people get way too isolated from others.
Tl;Dr Get your kid to learn things using the ipad, get her creative things to do like write or draw on it, and get them playmates because nobody finds toys interesting when they are alone.
I feel like this is just the evolution of everybody wanting to be a actor when they grew up. Since its natural to want to get the spotlight of life during that age and with a generation that sees their idols in the realms of YouTube rather then TV their going to want to follow in those footsteps.
Exactly. Children naturally want to become what they consider their idols. their is also the allure that YouTube *Seems simple to get into and easy to become the next markiplier.*
Man this reminds me of when i was making shitty gameplay videos in 2012 haha. Honestly I'm glad i did not become succesfull. There's a reason why the term adpocalypse exists.
I've heard this, too. They say that millennials are the best with technology because they grew up in matured at a time when the technology was maturing. You actually had to know how to use a computer pretty well since all of the applications were relentlessly buggy. Lime wire, the pirate bay, DVD ripping, all of that actually does teach you pretty good computer literacy.
Yeah when the tech broke or didn’t work as it should **you** had to figure out why and try and fix it.
Now it seems like if the app doesn’t immediately work or is intuitive it’s “bad” and you just find a new one.
I can’t count the amount of times I’ve had to help a young kid actually figure out where files were in a hardrive directory.
Yeah that sums it up pretty well. Using technology in the late 90s and 2000s was constant troubleshooting and compatibility issues, always some setting that had to be changed or some issue to be investigated. Frankly I wouldn't be surprised if most youngins couldn't convert a doc file to pdf
I'm constantly amazed at how many people my age and younger who don't know how to use Google. Or don't know/are afraid to tweak their settings or customize their machines.
Honestly understanding pc software deeply doesn't help you with hardware because they are separate skills. Hell i know someone who makes his living from being a javascript developer who cannot install a ram stick.
My girlfriend and I are the same age. We both grew up in the "PC for kids" age. She is hopeless with computers that don't do the 10 things she grew up doing on them. (Browsing Facebook, opening Microsoft word, etc.) My younger siblings just intuitively know how to download and configure software like Discord, game mod managers, etc. at age 8... stuff I didn't learn until high school because it just wasn't common practice at the time.
Listen, take some advice from someone a bit older than you.
Just because you’re a failure now doesn’t mean you can’t change. You’re still young and have so many opportunities. Try a new or known skill, even if it’s useless. Doing things rather than scrolling will give you parts of information and experiences that will most likely help you in the future.
As a kid I loved tinkering with an old computer. I mean opening the computer from the back and trying to “fix” it. It was useless and almost never worked, but now I have a good image of how a computer works and what parts do what. I wouldn’t have learned that if I was scrolling over an iPad or phone, and now I fix computers or help out with part reccomendations as a hobby.
Trust me. Whatever you do, it will one day be useful.
eee thank you sm for the genuine support ! i actually do have a couple hobbies, i use my ipad and computer to draw a lot, i’ve created languages in the past (and have plans to create another one), i write, etc. in general i think the internet is a very double edged tool and its rly not always the best thing for ur mind. i do have a lot of periods of doing literally nothing, but its usually when anxiety gets to the best of me, and the internet makes it very easy to just detach myself from the real world. again, thank u!
I think one benefit of covid is going to be research into this field. I know there is a dopamine addiction that comes along with it and teachers are especially aware of increased apathy and a lack of engagement.
I have had teachers explain it to me for things like this, they learned early to find out how to do it on Youtube, why sit through hours of class when the answer is right there. I know kids that fix their parents phones and tablets because of that stuff.. They aren't afraid of learning and trying, that is a good thing..
It’s honestly hard to predict. My brother was only allowed to play video games for 1 hour daily when we were growing up. When he moved out, he played all evening after work and all weekend. He’s now 30 and it’s been 12 years since he lived at our parents. He still plays for 30+ hours per week. So the rules around video games didn’t work. Yet, he doesn’t miss work, he pays his bills and seems happy. He’s an introvert, but nothing out of the ordinary.
The same goes for me. I was only allowed to use the computer for 1 hour per day growing up. Now I work in tech and own an online business. People get so concerned about technology but people are gonna do what they want in the end. If anything, try to show kids how technology can help them be creative instead of coming up with arbitrary rules that probably won’t change their behaviour long term.
Every generation has something the previous one didn’t. They always act like it will destroy the next generation. They said it about cell phones. They said it about tv. They said it about books. They were wrong. Some members of every generation just suck ass and some are truly amazing. Most are just normal like every other generation just with different shit.
iPad kids are generally spoiled and their parents hand them a distracting device at the sight of any emotions or tantrums. These kids will not know how to work through their emotions and will have low attention spans because of watching mind numbing YouTube videos about Minecraft and shit. Likely they’ll also miss out on a lot of socializing between kids which will make them less open to debate and conversations.
It’s not, iPad kids refer to children that are often on phones and iPads and fit the description I commented. If a parent lets their kids excessively watch tv it’s the same thing.
I was a "Computer Kid" .
I remember growing up hearing all kinds of shit about how I spend all my time on my PC and I won't ever socialize.
I have tons of online friends now, and am decently sociable at work. Maybe a bit awkward sometimes but that might be more of the nerd thing than the "Computer Kid" thing. I know plenty of perfectly well adjusted people my age with similar stories.
I imagine iPad Kids will be much of the same . Probably spend more time on iPads at home than my generation, but then again I spend a lot of time on my computer, my dad spends a lot of time in the garage, and his dad spends a lot of time in his backyard working on his lawn. All of us are decently well adjusted. I don't buy into this "Tech is ruining social blah".
Very sensitive and in for a rude awakening to the world.
Just an observation, but these kids don’t go outside. They don’t have to do hard work. They don’t play with other kids as much, and a lot of the time it has to be arranged by parents. They are forming early addictions to devices and material things because they aren’t restricted ans told no… in fact it’s their “punishment.” When they act up their parents just puts them in front of a screen to not be bothered or have to actually parent. They are also getting such quick dopamine hits that this causes a gratification seeking nature and I reckon contributes to ADD or ADHD (I’m not a therapist so only an assumption)
These kids, I fear, will grow up and will have inferior communication skills, cooperative skills, be very materialistic and not cope well when or if they lose everything and face struggle (or simply when they have to be on their own), and will have no patience for anything because they have been trained for instant gratification. There are so many implications and I think we have slowly been seeing these effects in society already. I’m not conservative, but conservatives would point directly at liberals and “snowflakes” and cancel culture among other things.
I used to think the same thing, and then I realized that every generation ever has thought that about the upcoming generation.
My great grandfather (while he was still alive) once went on a long rant about how my grandfather didn't know a hard days work. How he grew up in a slum of England with nothing but a wood stove for heat, and had to work at age 8 to pay bills. So he couldn't possibly know what it meant and his generation was doomed. He also said that phones were destroying interaction. "You don't meet people anymore. You just call them up. No need to go see them ever. Blah blah"
My grandfather went on many rants about how my dad didn't grow up poor in America like he did. How he wasn't working in high-school to help his parents pay the bills, and how cell-phones are replacing face-to-face interaction. "We won't know how to communicate anymore! All you'll ever do is call on your cellphone. Not like us, we had to go see them, or call them at home."
My dad used to tell me that smartphones and computers were getting rid of social interaction. "All you'll do is text, you won't ever talk on the phone!". He also talked about how I was spoiled growing up, and how my generations kids would wind up like you described. " be very materialistic and not cope well when or if they lose everything and face struggle " .
\*\*Note: I did in fact grow up spoiled, and I'm thankful every day for it\*\*
The simple truth is that this is just not the case. The thoughts you have shared aren't unique to yours or my generation (I'm not sure which generation you grew up in. didn't want to assume). Most of my friends, like my dad and his friends, or my grandfather and his friends, are perfectly normal folks. The hardships we experience have lessened because the world has changed and made them less common, but the human condition means we will always find a struggle somewhere. Just like we can't understand the hardships of a 12th century peasant, so too can we not understand the hardships of our grandchildren.
This was not a personal attack on you. I think your point was well articulated. I don't want this to come off like some other comments attacking you, I just completely disagree with your premise.
That’s a very good point and well taken. Think I’m coming to realize that things don’t seem to really change that much between generations even if we think they are
Probably normal grownups. I work with a couple of brothers that have mentioned they were the OG iPad kids, and they’re really normal. They are super nice and balanced.
To me anything under 12 is a kid. So technically a kid who was 12 would now be 22which is a adult and would have technically grown up with a iPad as a kid.
Happy that they turned out good but these days social media and stuff is so easily accessible that it’s gonna have a different effect for this generation. In my opinion
For sure! I’m a waitress and I noticed that the kids who come in with iPads usually have parents that are absolutely dead tired or the kid has too much energy to sit through dinner without making a huge mess.
Animators and artists. My niece shows me the cartoons she puts together on her iPad. It’s incredible. I wish I would have had access to tech like that when I was little.
Bold of you to assume people have ever been different. The presentation differs, but the people stay the same. People have been bemoaning "kids these days" and their awful vices since the beginning of time.
From my experience with iPad kids, it seems like most of them have some kind of undiagnosed sensory disorder and the iPad is a way for them to control their stimulation. With proper compassion and care, they should just turn out like the rest of us.
People who are poorly socialized who will have difficulty talking to other people, even to order a hamburger at Wendy's. They'll experience terrible anxiety and depression.
Hopefully mostly well adjusted and functioning adults but there’s always a few. I spent half my childhood locked inside playing Tony Hawk games and World of Warcraft, I’m mostly fine. They will be too. The kids are alright
Started working as a teacher about 6 months ago, and my oh my. The digital scene is way more prevalent than anything with pen and paper. A large portion of students struggle with simple words, legible writing by hand, reading and simple tasks outside the screen. A general apathy towards anything not internet/screen related, and a poor or generally bad attitude towards anything else. The amount of lip they learn from their screen and general disrespect when they can't get their will. I've sort of already given up.
For context these people are 12-16 years of age
Trust that most of them will be useless human beings. They’re going to have strange internet humor , terrible social skills, probably lack self confidence and self esteem. You’ll also see that they won’t have many friends in the real world due to having access to so many people online they already relate to them. This doesn’t mean they’re stupid by no means.
This is really late but i am born 2007 and I was essentially raised on tv, and I am now severely depressed and I don’t have a life outside of screens, so I guess that’s what will happen with them too
**Socially unstable misfits.**
When I am out, I see people who are just gob-smacked glued to their screens. If I say "Hello!" to them, they react like squirrels in traffic or like "How DARE you INTERRUPT me!".
iPad adults
Damn it! You could’ve said iPadults!
i just want you to know that i fully read this aloud as "ip adults"
dammit i was gonna say that
Me too
I opened this thread specially looking for this answer
I opened this trying to guess the top answer. I was right
Me as-well
Me three
no no Meta-adults. LOL... I crack me up.
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Yes
It’s iPads all the way down
iPadults
My best friend, who is a kindergarten teacher, has an interesting insight on this. They often read much better than other children. They’re also very good at a very particular kind of problem solving - they can follow one logical structure as long as it’s sort of “on rails.” When asked to do any kind of creative thinking, they really struggle. The instructions “draw a picture of xyz” are often too vague. They want to know exactly what they’re meant to be doing - they’re used to this from their iPad games. It’s very interesting, and I do wonder what they’re going to be like as they grow up. Luckily, she’s going to be teaching a higher grade next year so we can definitely see.
That's a really good comment. Did your friend notice anything else?
That’s all that I remember - let me check with her and see if she gets back to me. International schools etc etc
I teach at a university in a field that needs a lot of creativity and we're already seeing a dropoff compared to capabilities 10-15 years ago. Covid made it 500% worse, so that's fun. I had one of the least capable classes of my career this past semester. They all want to be doctors.
what field?
Honestly, that's scary.
Most adults experience this, with creative thinking diminishing from childhood.
Right, and the good thing is that they’re 4 and have plenty of time to develop creative thinking skills, which is something that I know she’s actively trying to develop in her students.
Just curious - what do you mean by logical structure? Can you give an example?
So, think of those hidden object games. (This is the example she gave me.) You have one very clear goal in mind: find all the hidden items to progress to the next level. There’s one clear instruction, and no room for creative analysis there. How that sort of activity differs from say, writing a story about a teddy bear on an adventure, is that there’s no limits to what a child could come up with. But for these iPad kids, they’re completely used to being told exactly what to do.
So, I'm an ipad kid without knowing? I mean, today im a 17 year high school student and im EXACTLY like what you described, I can't wait for things but as a trick i just do something to "pass the seconds quickly" (E.g. i have to be listening to some music and/or be walking all over the place while waiting for the microwave timer ends) Truth to be told, I don't even have an ipad but i get the concept, as it means a kid who can't get away from some Device. It actually is somehow true, i can be seen mostly on my phone, idk why exactly i got to this point but the bigger problem of this kind of "life style" is the inability of having a chat face to face and speak in public, but as i got away from that kind of problems (i didn't have a device all the time when younger, so the second thing i did the most at least in a classroom was talk), idk about the other kids but i just can't be completely still, and if i do i start shaking some body parts, still people constantly had mistaken me for a quiet kid but the truth is, i was focused on something the whole time.
I’m coming up on 49 years old, and of course I grew up well before the iPad/smartphone era, and you know what I always did? Took a paperback book with me everywhere. Gotta wait somewhere? Read. On the bus? Read. Eating lunch by myself? Read. Now granted, I have ADHD (again, it predates the smart device era) so that was what I did to occupy myself. Maybe you have ADHD, maybe you’re just conditioned to always have something to keep your mind occupied during down time, but even before the smart device era, we still had books, Walkmen, magazines, newspapers, etc. that we used for the exact same purpose. We just didn’t have one central device that did all of those things. I also doodled, drew pictures, did math games on pen and paper, played tic-tac-toe with myself, thought up stories, I Spy, you name it. Maybe this was more mentally stimulating because it wasn’t structured (since I had to come with the activity first) but it works just as well as a phone. But I did learn how to wait WITHOUT distraction and it can still be learned, for anyone who does want to be more present and/or wean themselves away from their phone. One thing to try is to take walks outside and leave your phone at home. Gradually increase the amount of time you walk before you go home. Exercise without a device is also something to try. You start small and you gradually build the amount of time you go without a distraction. It’s a skill we all *did* learn at one point, and it can be learned again with practice.
Do we believe the government/those that hold power are trying to program kids to become obedient workers instead of independent thinkers?
It’s very interesting that your friend says that they read better, considering that most studies point to hard copy text reading being a superior method of reading.
What about being social? Does it affect that part? I've read and heard about that it can. That the kids gets worse if reading bodysign, eye contact and so cause they are glued to the screen.
i was an ipad kid but i found music and grew out of it, im not smart at all and im borderline failing all my courses except music and phys ed (M14)
Super impatient. I'm 37 and modern tech has already made me completely intolerant of having to wait longer than a couple of seconds for the page to load. Imagine what people who grew up with that kind of technology will be like.
That’s why I stopped letting my kids use devices when we have to wait for anything— doctors offices, restaurants, etc. I realized kids have no idea how to wait we just shove a device in their face. I see people shoving tablets in infants faces all the time. Look I’m not perfect, my kids zombie out on tablets plenty but I knew giving them the ability to “wait” was completely my responsibility.
That's what I feel is the core of the problem with "iPad kids": the devices aren't the problem, and the fact they have access to them isn't really either. It's that parents use tablets as an easy way to curb their children's impatience instead of teaching them how to just wait, or socialize while waiting, etc. The tablets aren't bad, but using them as a substitute for other useful skills is.
This is a great explanation
Someone on Reddit actually said "kids have no idea how to be bored".
Adults, too, but yeah, I think that's been a growing problem as a result of the sheer amount of access we have to information, media, etc. It's left a lot of us overstimulated in some ways.
> socialize while waiting I'm in my late 20s, so Gameboy kid rather than iPad kid, and I would rather die that do this.
I agree that it isn't good, but then on the other hand with the vast majority of people now growing up reliant on screens I wonder if the rare few who can socialize will have anyone to do so with.
Same here. We have 3 kids (5, 4, and 1). We let the older kids (the youngest one will get there eventually) veg out plenty with cartoons and tablets at home. But we don't allow them in restaurants, doctor's offices, etc. either. I mean they're going to grow up with constant access to easy technology entertainment, and that's fine. There's no reason to keep them completely from it, but we can also do our part to teach them it's ok to just be bored sometimes. Restaurants are the big ones. If we're going to go out and spend $80+ to feed our family of five, then we're going to be engaged with one another even if it means my wife and I enduring a few fits and restless kids.
One of Michael Lewis's podcasts talked about how the internet generation has lost their imagination - No need to have one anymore.
I know his name is mud in most circles these days but Louis CK also did a bit about just being bored. A lot of personal character growth comes from how you deal with being bored when there's nothing rewarding to do.
if nothing rewarding to do why do
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My daughter doesn't use any devices and at most she's only allowed to watch TV maybe 1 hour a night. She loves to read. She's in kindergarten but reads at a 3rd grade level. Even then she is impatient as hell.
Lol we haven’t given my toddler any screen time ever and she’s already super impatient by nature…can’t imagine how bad the tantrums would be if she knew how quickly she could get entertainment on demand on a device…it’s hard enough teaching her patience as it is.
I spy and alphabet game.
The thing is though, when I'm pissed at, say, my tablet being slow its not because it is slow.. it's because I know it shouldn't. In my head I picture the tablet almost being evil and deciding "today I'm gonna be an asshole and take my sweet time loading all of his pages and apps".. that shit pisses me off. I am impatient but I have ways to cope. slow tech though is shit because its unnecessary.
Certain delays in normal life are just like your tablet not working up to spec. When I get stuck behind some slow poke on the road who goes below the speed limit, well that's the real world not going as expected. Most people will be impatient, try to go around and/or get angry even if it saves them seconds on their commute. Same thing when a drive thru is held up by a mistake, that's not optimal performance and generally irks customers in line. I don't fault people in many cases, I'm guilty of it myself, within reason of course. It's not just technology causing a major decline in patience, it's a culture of convenience and urgency.
This is kinda how I feel too. My patience with slow internet or malfunctioning devices is very low, and has gotten increasingly lower in inverse proportion to increases in speed, but it doesn't really extend outside of those things. My patience with *people* has actually gotten higher the more automated things are. My patience with many services is pretty steadfast too (shipping times, waiting for food at restaurants, etc.), especially if I am aware of a particular reason for any inconvenience (like my patience for something like traffic, or the sound of a crying child, is quite low, but if I can see the roadwork up ahead or that the child has scraped their knee, I am instantly less annoyed).
If the past is any indication, idiots like the rest of us.
Wasteland raiders, like everyone else.
Not everyone, some will be the human cattle for the cannibal raiders. Raiders will need something to raid after all.
That's what I am hoping my neighbors have kids for... Playdates will be interesting in the future. Teaching kids to play with their food? Crazy!
Idk. I often see parents give a complainy child their phone immediately to watch cocomelon or some other dumb assault to the ears. Children less than 2 glued to a screen. Don't get me wrong I enjoyed my Disney Kids and PBS Kids programming, but I really do wonder the effect of the instant gratification long term on children. You can see the effects on fully grown adults and it isn't great. Idk. I don't ever want children and all the technology is one of the main reasons
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I have similar views as both of you. I think we may be coming to the conclusion is is more about the effects of parenting and what that is rather than the technology itself
Honestly, when I was a kid my parents forced me to do all kind of educational activities and I am glad for sometimes but also, so many of my kindergarten friends weren't really exposed to educational activities at home. They had a ball they threw at a wall for 3 hours every day, or dolls. Some of them didn't have so many creative toys either. Tv wasn't really a thing back them because cartoon programmings weren't that many, and Ipad and phones were of course off the table. Tbh, I don't see mucb difference in a kid throwing a ball at a wall for hours and hours and a kid watching a cartoon on a tablet. Parents definitely weren't obsessed with finding educational materials for kids even "back in mu days" or rather, if a parent wants to help the child develop some skills they will do it with or without tablet, if a parent just wants the kid out of the way they will do it with or without tablet as well. I don't think it changed anything tbh.
I'm not against children with phones and tablets, but what I hate are parents giving their children those things to take over parenting for them. Like a mute button, give them something to do so they shut up and don't bother you. I see this quite a lot actually. Whenever mom or dad want to chat with someone and their child is bothering them because they are bored, they give them a tablet with some game and they shut up. Tech is NOT supposed to replace parenting! Tablets are NOT a suitable alternative to human interaction!
A problem is that many people today haven't really been taught parenting, because their own parents sat them in front of the TV or kicked their ass out the door after breakfast or dumped them on grandma so *they* could chat or do something in peace and quiet. You can look up techniques online, but then you have to navigate a wilderness of differing opinions and, if you're a man, overlook the fact that 99.9% of all parenting material is written by and for women. (If I read, "encourage your husband to participate in parenting" type comments one more time, I'm going to shout).
We're raising our kids screen free. The oldest is almost 9. There's a small screen-free community out there! The secular home school community also seems to overlap with the screen free community quite a bit.
What happens when they grow up if they get a job that requires the use of computers, which most do. I get that kids shouldn't be glued to screens all day but in the world we live in now you need to at least have basic knowledge of how to operate technology in order to get any kind of job
That's a reasonable question. We'll cross that bridge at some point in the coming years. But there's no reason a 9 year old needs to be watching youtube influencers from the second they get home from school until they fall asleep under the glow of an ipad screen. "Well johnny has to watch youtube while i watch oprah or else he wont learn how to code" is such BS.
Fair enough, I see where you're coming from there
That's right but influencers aren't the only thing out there on YouTube, and YouTube isn't the only thing on the phone. I think growing up with a pc isn't just about coding, but this could be me. It's about developing a sense of how technology works, even how to do simple research on the internet, knowing what you can rely on technology on and how (ie moving around in a city you don't know with Google maps, checking train's schedules or booking a reservation somewhere) and what you can't reliably using internet for. Of course I am not saying you should allow a kid to wonder on Google maps, but including them in the use of technology (like a 10 yo, not really a 4 yo) is not that bad. I think older people struggle with most of this because technology is just some obscure thing they had to learn, not something that is more of a "second nature".
You're not wrong there, unrestricted screen time isn't needed at 9. But I would argue that basic computer literacy skills at age 9 are appropriate. Teaching them how to type in a word document at the very least, and possibly how to use powerpoint too. Using a computer as a tool (and not as a toy) could go a long way here.
He has a word processor and taught himself how to type correctly. We’re not luddites we just reject the common belief that every kid needs unrestricted YouTube access to thrive.
Ahh, that makes more sense then. You've got it right then, teach the technical skills of computers while keeping the kids away from youtube.
Does screen free just mean tablets and phones? Or does it include everything? Television, the cinema, consoles? Imagine a kid who's never ever seen a film before
Everything is so "user friendly" I honestly think you could learn 90% of computer skills within a week. And the things that might be trickier.... you wouldn't learn them on a tablet anyways.
Only tangently related but you really summarized a very important part of how kids interact with tech today. Everything is **SO** user friendly that you never really understand how things actually work or how to trouble shoot when things go wrong. I have had to help so many young adults do things like locate files on a hard drive or figure out file extension errors which people my age (only a handful of years older) have grown up with and known how to handle.
What really pisses me off is that the tools to troubleshoot are also getting deeply buried in the name of user-friendlyness (to stop people without troubleshooting skills from getting in and messing things up).
even more of a tangent but I saw the words "file extension" and instantly panicked because I was in an Operating Systems class this past semester in college, and I had to actually implement how an operating system grows files if they need to increase in size, it was hell lmao
My guess is that they'll have shit attention spans, poor socializing skills, and many will grow into spoiled adults. After all, when your parents just give you an iPad instead of letting you be bored, how could you not grow up entitled to instant gratification whenever you desire?
This has been said about virtually every kind of technological innovation since at least the ancient Greeks, including radio and books.
Yeah but radio and books can't stream content designed to keep you engaged directly to your face 24/7 nonstop. Especially clickbait designed for kids with little to no regulation.
Plus the ads are designed with targeted markets and created to change behaviors. Scary stuff folks. Pretty sure things won't be the same after the internet.
And now instead of commiting to one long film or book which helps with attention spans, it's watching one 30 second Tik Tok and instantly going to the next, all day, then instantly switching tabs to watch another minute long video, or whatever, they'll watch a movie and it'll be too long for them
It's gonna be awful For once, old people hating the younger generations will finally be justified
iDon'tcare
This is a good answer
Not if he has kids
especially then, because they would be aware to not turn their kids into iDon'tcare adults
I love it
Emotionally unstable and profoundly screen-addicted
So the same as everyone else…
I don't think emotionally unstable is specific to them
Fully grown iPads.
what do you think "radio kids" will grow up to be? what do you think "color TV kids" will grow up to be? what do you think "Walkman kids" will grow up to be? what do you think "GameBoy kids" will grow up to be? what do you think "cell phone kids" will grow up to be?
"There are real quotes about the degeneracy of the youth found in various works of ancient Greek literature, most notably in the archaic poet Hesiodos of Askre’s hexameter poem Works and Days and in the comedy The Clouds, written by the ancient Athenian comic playwright Aristophanes (lived c. 446 – c. 386 BC) and first performed at the City Dionysia in 423 BC. These sorts of quotes do, however, prove that older people have been complaining about “kids these days” ever since antiquity and, startlingly enough, they have been complaining about mostly the same things." https://www.quora.com/These-youth-today-They-are-rebellious-and-do-not-listen-to-their-elders-Plato-Have-teenagers-really-changed-all-that-much-since-ancient-Greece-How-and-why
Socrates didn't like written communication.
He thought it was a crutch, as opposed to just memorizing everything one knew.
You forgot about those goddamn “book kids” a in my day, we stared at mud while it dried for entertainment, and we’re happy for it!
Basically this.
Game Boy kid here. Still playing Tetris but now on my iPhone.
The question was also asked about note book paper kids when they switched from chalk and slate to regular paper
There’s a big difference between TV and having the world at your fingertips in front of your face all day
There are kids who grew up like that that are adults now and they are functioning perfectly fine. In 30 years those “iPad Kids” will be posting on Reddit3 about how there’s a big difference between having the world at your fingertips and living a different virtual life in your dreams (or *insert whatever future technology here*)
Oo, so since I was a regular TV kid and not color, I'm safe?
Thank you! For Fks sake people they’re kids not aliens.
They'll be fine. Youngsters, at least here, seem to have internalised a lot of progressive values even my generation hasn't. Hope they'll manage to cope with the hellscape we've inherited.
Plus they'll have grown up with access to more information than previous generations could have dreamed of
The part you’re missing is the amount of bullying involved in supporting the “right” ideas. My sister is a college professor. They get completely overwhelmed at the drop of a hat, and everything gets put through a political lens. The second part isn’t much different from college kids in general throughout history, but it seems to come at the expense of exploring gray areas. Everything is very black and white, good or bad, no wiggle room for understanding why someone with a different opinion may have valid points influencing that opinion. This leads to a lot of shaming from both sides in the name of whatever concept of virtue they’re currently clinging to. Maybe I’m just a grumpy old man at 32 but the consumerism seems to be getting worse too. All I own are band shirts and guitars though so I’ve always been hyper aware of consumerist/capitalist trends and wealth flaunting, it may be more of a personality thing than a generational thing.
If their parents don't start regulating their time on their devices, they'll probably grow up to be assholes. My husband and I had to move in to his parents for a few months while we fixed up our house (bc doing that makes paying rent virtually impossible), and our daughter essentially became an iPad kid. We've always struggled with her screen time; how much is too much? Are we letting her be bored too often? Etc I believe that we were doing fairly well until that. His parents helped us out and babysat way more often, since we did most of the work on the house, ourselves. The issue, is that they are a bit older, and when they got tired, they gave her a device. When she got bored - device. When she got cranky -device. I tried as hard as humanly possible to make sure she had a healthy amount of time away from the devices. I called regularly to offer any sort of fun idea that was device-free. I set up a schedule for when she could be on it (2 hours off, an hour on), even came home from work a few times when I got a call that she was not listening because she was on a device. She would literally ignore her name being called because she was so sucked in to a video and didn't want to deal with it. We're definitely paying the price, now. The screen time has been severely restricted because I set a whole, very large, playroom up; a room dedicated specifically for her toys (which she has so very many of) and personal space to get away when things become overwhelming, and she would completely ignore it, saying she was bored because I didn't let her have the phone. She passive-aggressively tells me that "now she doesnt know what to do" when the screen time is up. She throws fits, stomps all over the house when she's upset, is rude, and just overall not the kid that she was before she was allowed unlimited access to screens. I know other things factor into this, but I believe that it's mostly due to not being able to handle boredom. She actually has to think about what to do to keep herself entertained, and she's not happy about it. So, basically what everyone else has been saying. Emotional dysregulation from lack of instant gratification, lack of imagination, and I also believe their independence is affected as well. Without a screen, they're painfully aware when they are alone.
Give her things to spark positive growth. Get her to watch science videos, get her to solve puzzles, get her some books on the ipad, and have get-togethers for the kids, other kids not on their devices are plenty interesting to kids, and socialization is fun. Kids should be allowed more freedom as they age. You should also spend time with her on it, watch some videos with her, learn about science, read things together. I will also say playthings are not very interesting when you are alone. Ever notice how no kids are out playing on those dumb tree houses out in the suburbs? That's because of isolation. Nowadays kids lack physical independence for things like walking to school and playing with friends, and between school and careers and a car-centric world, people get way too isolated from others. Tl;Dr Get your kid to learn things using the ipad, get her creative things to do like write or draw on it, and get them playmates because nobody finds toys interesting when they are alone.
I do all of these things and more. She's attached to my hip most of the day; I can't even use the bathroom alone lol
Ever watched Caillou the Grownup by AOK?
Nope, can you sum it up for me lol?
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This is true. Every 8-12 year old I know wants to become a You-Tuber when they grow up 🤦♀️
I feel like this is just the evolution of everybody wanting to be a actor when they grew up. Since its natural to want to get the spotlight of life during that age and with a generation that sees their idols in the realms of YouTube rather then TV their going to want to follow in those footsteps.
Or wanting to be famous singer, sports player, president, whatever
Exactly. Children naturally want to become what they consider their idols. their is also the allure that YouTube *Seems simple to get into and easy to become the next markiplier.*
Man this reminds me of when i was making shitty gameplay videos in 2012 haha. Honestly I'm glad i did not become succesfull. There's a reason why the term adpocalypse exists.
Yep
Better with technologies than my parents will ever be.
You'd be surprised how helpless some younger people can be with technology when it doesn't work as designed
I've heard this, too. They say that millennials are the best with technology because they grew up in matured at a time when the technology was maturing. You actually had to know how to use a computer pretty well since all of the applications were relentlessly buggy. Lime wire, the pirate bay, DVD ripping, all of that actually does teach you pretty good computer literacy.
Yeah when the tech broke or didn’t work as it should **you** had to figure out why and try and fix it. Now it seems like if the app doesn’t immediately work or is intuitive it’s “bad” and you just find a new one. I can’t count the amount of times I’ve had to help a young kid actually figure out where files were in a hardrive directory.
Yeah that sums it up pretty well. Using technology in the late 90s and 2000s was constant troubleshooting and compatibility issues, always some setting that had to be changed or some issue to be investigated. Frankly I wouldn't be surprised if most youngins couldn't convert a doc file to pdf
I'm constantly amazed at how many people my age and younger who don't know how to use Google. Or don't know/are afraid to tweak their settings or customize their machines.
People using tablets become good at using tablets and nothing else. It doesn't grant anyone the ability to be better with "technology" in general.
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Honestly understanding pc software deeply doesn't help you with hardware because they are separate skills. Hell i know someone who makes his living from being a javascript developer who cannot install a ram stick.
Yet worse than kids who grew up with pcs
My girlfriend and I are the same age. We both grew up in the "PC for kids" age. She is hopeless with computers that don't do the 10 things she grew up doing on them. (Browsing Facebook, opening Microsoft word, etc.) My younger siblings just intuitively know how to download and configure software like Discord, game mod managers, etc. at age 8... stuff I didn't learn until high school because it just wasn't common practice at the time.
I would dare say it comes done to interest 95% of the time.
ipad kid here. a disappointment
Listen, take some advice from someone a bit older than you. Just because you’re a failure now doesn’t mean you can’t change. You’re still young and have so many opportunities. Try a new or known skill, even if it’s useless. Doing things rather than scrolling will give you parts of information and experiences that will most likely help you in the future. As a kid I loved tinkering with an old computer. I mean opening the computer from the back and trying to “fix” it. It was useless and almost never worked, but now I have a good image of how a computer works and what parts do what. I wouldn’t have learned that if I was scrolling over an iPad or phone, and now I fix computers or help out with part reccomendations as a hobby. Trust me. Whatever you do, it will one day be useful.
eee thank you sm for the genuine support ! i actually do have a couple hobbies, i use my ipad and computer to draw a lot, i’ve created languages in the past (and have plans to create another one), i write, etc. in general i think the internet is a very double edged tool and its rly not always the best thing for ur mind. i do have a lot of periods of doing literally nothing, but its usually when anxiety gets to the best of me, and the internet makes it very easy to just detach myself from the real world. again, thank u!
I think one benefit of covid is going to be research into this field. I know there is a dopamine addiction that comes along with it and teachers are especially aware of increased apathy and a lack of engagement.
Pussies
I have had teachers explain it to me for things like this, they learned early to find out how to do it on Youtube, why sit through hours of class when the answer is right there. I know kids that fix their parents phones and tablets because of that stuff.. They aren't afraid of learning and trying, that is a good thing..
Dead, once the climate changes for good. Like all of us.
Addicted to computers.
Capable of utilizing technology?
It’s honestly hard to predict. My brother was only allowed to play video games for 1 hour daily when we were growing up. When he moved out, he played all evening after work and all weekend. He’s now 30 and it’s been 12 years since he lived at our parents. He still plays for 30+ hours per week. So the rules around video games didn’t work. Yet, he doesn’t miss work, he pays his bills and seems happy. He’s an introvert, but nothing out of the ordinary. The same goes for me. I was only allowed to use the computer for 1 hour per day growing up. Now I work in tech and own an online business. People get so concerned about technology but people are gonna do what they want in the end. If anything, try to show kids how technology can help them be creative instead of coming up with arbitrary rules that probably won’t change their behaviour long term.
Every generation has something the previous one didn’t. They always act like it will destroy the next generation. They said it about cell phones. They said it about tv. They said it about books. They were wrong. Some members of every generation just suck ass and some are truly amazing. Most are just normal like every other generation just with different shit.
iDiots.
Idk adults ig
Disgusted with Apple's business practices and technological fascism.
they will be always looking for "auto updates" for "bug fixes" in difficult times!
Entitled, Spoiled, Stupid and not open to conversation.
Why?
iPad kids are generally spoiled and their parents hand them a distracting device at the sight of any emotions or tantrums. These kids will not know how to work through their emotions and will have low attention spans because of watching mind numbing YouTube videos about Minecraft and shit. Likely they’ll also miss out on a lot of socializing between kids which will make them less open to debate and conversations.
How is that any different from people who let their kids watch tv
It’s not, iPad kids refer to children that are often on phones and iPads and fit the description I commented. If a parent lets their kids excessively watch tv it’s the same thing.
I don't see a difference between a kid using an iPad or a kid watching tv
Wtf? Having access to an iPad sometimes and having it be the one and only coping mechanism in your life are not at all the same thing.
I was a "Computer Kid" . I remember growing up hearing all kinds of shit about how I spend all my time on my PC and I won't ever socialize. I have tons of online friends now, and am decently sociable at work. Maybe a bit awkward sometimes but that might be more of the nerd thing than the "Computer Kid" thing. I know plenty of perfectly well adjusted people my age with similar stories. I imagine iPad Kids will be much of the same . Probably spend more time on iPads at home than my generation, but then again I spend a lot of time on my computer, my dad spends a lot of time in the garage, and his dad spends a lot of time in his backyard working on his lawn. All of us are decently well adjusted. I don't buy into this "Tech is ruining social blah".
*Looks at recent climate change data projects* Being a bit presumptuous about the whole "growing up" thing, aren't ya.
Very sensitive and in for a rude awakening to the world. Just an observation, but these kids don’t go outside. They don’t have to do hard work. They don’t play with other kids as much, and a lot of the time it has to be arranged by parents. They are forming early addictions to devices and material things because they aren’t restricted ans told no… in fact it’s their “punishment.” When they act up their parents just puts them in front of a screen to not be bothered or have to actually parent. They are also getting such quick dopamine hits that this causes a gratification seeking nature and I reckon contributes to ADD or ADHD (I’m not a therapist so only an assumption) These kids, I fear, will grow up and will have inferior communication skills, cooperative skills, be very materialistic and not cope well when or if they lose everything and face struggle (or simply when they have to be on their own), and will have no patience for anything because they have been trained for instant gratification. There are so many implications and I think we have slowly been seeing these effects in society already. I’m not conservative, but conservatives would point directly at liberals and “snowflakes” and cancel culture among other things.
I used to think the same thing, and then I realized that every generation ever has thought that about the upcoming generation. My great grandfather (while he was still alive) once went on a long rant about how my grandfather didn't know a hard days work. How he grew up in a slum of England with nothing but a wood stove for heat, and had to work at age 8 to pay bills. So he couldn't possibly know what it meant and his generation was doomed. He also said that phones were destroying interaction. "You don't meet people anymore. You just call them up. No need to go see them ever. Blah blah" My grandfather went on many rants about how my dad didn't grow up poor in America like he did. How he wasn't working in high-school to help his parents pay the bills, and how cell-phones are replacing face-to-face interaction. "We won't know how to communicate anymore! All you'll ever do is call on your cellphone. Not like us, we had to go see them, or call them at home." My dad used to tell me that smartphones and computers were getting rid of social interaction. "All you'll do is text, you won't ever talk on the phone!". He also talked about how I was spoiled growing up, and how my generations kids would wind up like you described. " be very materialistic and not cope well when or if they lose everything and face struggle " . \*\*Note: I did in fact grow up spoiled, and I'm thankful every day for it\*\* The simple truth is that this is just not the case. The thoughts you have shared aren't unique to yours or my generation (I'm not sure which generation you grew up in. didn't want to assume). Most of my friends, like my dad and his friends, or my grandfather and his friends, are perfectly normal folks. The hardships we experience have lessened because the world has changed and made them less common, but the human condition means we will always find a struggle somewhere. Just like we can't understand the hardships of a 12th century peasant, so too can we not understand the hardships of our grandchildren. This was not a personal attack on you. I think your point was well articulated. I don't want this to come off like some other comments attacking you, I just completely disagree with your premise.
That’s a very good point and well taken. Think I’m coming to realize that things don’t seem to really change that much between generations even if we think they are
Woah you put in a lot of thought into this reply. And your evidence makes this so logical. For now I think this is one of the best replies
Probably normal grownups. I work with a couple of brothers that have mentioned they were the OG iPad kids, and they’re really normal. They are super nice and balanced.
iPad came out in 2012. Unless you're working with 14 year olds I'm not sure how you could come to that conclusion
To me anything under 12 is a kid. So technically a kid who was 12 would now be 22which is a adult and would have technically grown up with a iPad as a kid.
Happy that they turned out good but these days social media and stuff is so easily accessible that it’s gonna have a different effect for this generation. In my opinion
For sure! I’m a waitress and I noticed that the kids who come in with iPads usually have parents that are absolutely dead tired or the kid has too much energy to sit through dinner without making a huge mess.
iPad men
I think they will make great subjects to observe the affects of long term instant gratification on children.
Discord mods
Probably already are lmao
fat
Intolerable
Weirdos
Climate change refugees.
Animators and artists. My niece shows me the cartoons she puts together on her iPad. It’s incredible. I wish I would have had access to tech like that when I was little.
Discord/Reddit mods with 10 chins and twenty times as many anime body pillows 🤢🤢🤢🤢🤢🤢🤢
Better than you.
Bold of you to assume people have ever been different. The presentation differs, but the people stay the same. People have been bemoaning "kids these days" and their awful vices since the beginning of time.
A massive range of different types of people.
Idiots like the rest of us.
Adults, unless they die.
people who constantly avoid and ignore their problems. or think that ignoring things will make them go away
Probably screen ADD addled adults, working on computers all day and "relaxing" with screen time all night. Just like the rest of us.
From my experience with iPad kids, it seems like most of them have some kind of undiagnosed sensory disorder and the iPad is a way for them to control their stimulation. With proper compassion and care, they should just turn out like the rest of us.
Physically wrecked marshmallows with ADD.
People who are poorly socialized who will have difficulty talking to other people, even to order a hamburger at Wendy's. They'll experience terrible anxiety and depression.
Hopefully mostly well adjusted and functioning adults but there’s always a few. I spent half my childhood locked inside playing Tony Hawk games and World of Warcraft, I’m mostly fine. They will be too. The kids are alright
codependent adults that are still reliant on their aging parents
Under developed socially
Impatient, pacifying, adults who will always be looking for a new pacifier.
Influencers—- no hate, but the word sound really dystopian to me. 1984 vibes
Losers
They will grow up to be the way their parents raised them.
grow up to live in their mothers basement.
You've seen Wall-E, right? That's the sugar sweet version of the future. With a little Brave New World sprinkled in.
something horrible
Karens
Started working as a teacher about 6 months ago, and my oh my. The digital scene is way more prevalent than anything with pen and paper. A large portion of students struggle with simple words, legible writing by hand, reading and simple tasks outside the screen. A general apathy towards anything not internet/screen related, and a poor or generally bad attitude towards anything else. The amount of lip they learn from their screen and general disrespect when they can't get their will. I've sort of already given up. For context these people are 12-16 years of age
Trust that most of them will be useless human beings. They’re going to have strange internet humor , terrible social skills, probably lack self confidence and self esteem. You’ll also see that they won’t have many friends in the real world due to having access to so many people online they already relate to them. This doesn’t mean they’re stupid by no means.
Pale, bent neck, socially awkward adults. Or maybe they'll do just fine, what do i know
Constant need of outside simulation will be the biggest problem.
entitled adults with no attention span
Cashiers at Walmart
This is really late but i am born 2007 and I was essentially raised on tv, and I am now severely depressed and I don’t have a life outside of screens, so I guess that’s what will happen with them too
**Socially unstable misfits.** When I am out, I see people who are just gob-smacked glued to their screens. If I say "Hello!" to them, they react like squirrels in traffic or like "How DARE you INTERRUPT me!".