by Kamryn Lorenzen

It was an average day at the rink. I came in like any other day. I was going to work with my coach second that day because she was working with one of her younger students before me. Her name is Ava, and she is six years old and a jumble of words. Most of the time, she spits out whatever conies to her mind. Even though she has known me for two years she calls me Morgan or Carley and rarely calls me by my correct name. She mixes everyone’s name up, but in her defense there are probably around thirty to forty people’s names at the rink that float around. So mixing a name up, then eventually getting it correct is not bad for a little six-year-old. On this particular day Ava and my coach worked on her skating for about twenty-five minutes, and while Ava practiced her skating on her own, my coach talked to Ava’s grandma in the lobby. The only problem is that Ava had fibbed to her coach about practicing. After my coach left the ice, Ava went into the penalty box where we keep all of our stuff while skating. She grabbed my coach’s iPhone, proceeded to unlock the screen, and opened a game app. After a few minutes, I noticed that she had left the ice unaccounted for. I found her sitting in the penalty box glued to the screen of my coach’s iPhone. I told her she needed to go practice, and took the phone and placed it back where it belonged. Ava, of course, knowing that she needed to go practice instead of playing iPhone apps, went and skated around. When I relayed the story to my coach she laughed and said that the same thing had happened with another coach and Ava. The one thing different is that the other coach had a password lock on her iPhone that somehow six-year-old Ava managed to unlock.

So how does this happen? A child can navigate an iPhone? Are children now evolving into geniuses at a young age or is it just Ava? Well, that brings me to another little skater. Her name is Chloe, and she is six years old also. The thing about Chloe is she not only can navigate an iPhone, but she has her very own iPad. She regularly finds my iPhone and will ask politely if she can take a picture or play a game. So, it is not just Ava that can navigate iPhones and iPads. I have heard numerous stories of young children knowing how to operate these kinds of technology.

It is possible that the new advantages of technology have unlocked the intelligence of young children earlier than ever before. How could we say that all this technology is bad for children when it is developing their learning skills faster than ever before? Granted, everything needs to be in moderation, but this new generation has the opportunity to learn and use the new advantages of technology. In the article, “What Happens When Toddlers Zone Out with an iPad,” Ben Worthen explains that today, “More than half of the young children in the U.S. now have access to an iPad, iPhone or similar touch-screen device.” This is an astonishing statistic let alone thought that more than half of all American children have access to advanced high forms of technology.

Children are often thought of as young, immature, and unintelligent. After all, it takes time to acquire knowledge, and young children, bluntly, are not very old. What about what we are born with? Babies for example, they cannot talk, they scream and cry, and they really do not do much of anything. Perhaps under all of the screaming and crying is the brilliance of what a six-year-old can communicate. As babies mature they become accustomed to communicating with people, start showing that they realize what is going on around them, and begin to move around a little bit. Their movements are jerky and, at times, uncontrollable. So we interpret that as the inability to coordinate themselves well enough to do normal tasks. Children go through this process that takes years in order to be able to accomplish simple tasks.

Now, this process is getting easier. Children needed a catalyst to be able to do more difficult tasks at a younger age. Before, children did not have these opportunities or advantages, but today technology has become a catalyst to a whole new world for children. Specifically, iPads do just that; they have become one of the technological wonders of this new generation. The screen is purely touch besides the few buttons on the sides to turn the volume up and down, as well as to turn the device on and off. Young children are all about touching, so it is a perfect idea. Touching is a child’s greatest strength at a young age, and iPads use that to their advantage. By using these abilities children are also able to develop their motor skills and sensory skills when using an iPad. In a way, one could say that new technology is making it easier for younger children to be smarter.

Watching a child play on an iPad is an entertaining treat. Their eyes light when they see it appear, and a small smile spreads across their face. Both of their hands stretch wide in hopes of grasping the sleek rectangle. Once that child gets a hold of the iPad, watch out. Immediately they know where the on and off switches are. One swipe and countless applications appear before their eyes. Along with words, which the child might not be able to comprehend yet, there are pictures that work to the advantage of the child. They can easily look through the home menu and choose whatever they please. They are completely in control of the device. Asking any child two years or older, that understands the concept of control, and one will know that they like to have it and do as they please.

In her article “Children and iPads, Why Toddlers Love Touchscreens,” Lisa-Marie Leitner explains why iPads are so addictive to small children. She explains, “As soon as the tablet is switched on and the apps appear, children start visually scanning the screen, as they do when they enter a room and look for a toy. They recognize the app they are looking for by its colors, shapes and symbols. Absolutely no need to read!” Once a child opens the application, a world of excitement for them starts. Using the device involves simple movements that children are born able to do. Tapping, swiping, and simply touching is all that is needed to operate the iPad. These actions are obviously appealing to a child’s eye. It is easy for them to use and treats them by using their best abilities.

One quote Leitner uses in her article is attributed to Jamie Pearson. Pearson explains that “Kids just get it – They touch it and it moves. It’s like any other natural language they just pick it up.” So by using an iPad, young children are able to communicate and develop their own “language.” When using the iPad, there is an immediate reaction to every action. When a child uses an iPad, they learn what to do and what not to do. In a child’s day-to-day life, they are constantly learning how to do things by action and reaction. The difference between life activities and using an iPad is the speed. iPads have an immediate reaction to a child’s actions when they are using it. Since the speed of action is at an increased rate, there is an increased learning rate. By engaging in using an iPad a child accomplishes difficult tasks that some adults may find challenging. The idea of knowing how to use an iPad can be thought of its own language. This language is not only understood by them, but it translates over to older children, to teens, and to adults. They all use iPads. In this generation, we have achieved the ability to tap into a child’s ability to accomplish tasks and communicate.

In a study that was done on the effects of an application on a child’s vocabulary “5-year-olds tested averaged a 27% gain” and “3-year-olds exhibiting a 17% gain” (Worthen). Already, iPads are showing beneficial learning opportunities to children as young as three. The iPads possess a wealth of possibilities when it comes to developing a child’s thinking and reasoning skills. Another problem iPads have simplified is that children used to have “trouble knowing where on a TV screen to look. A well-designed iPad app is more engaging because often the place on the screen that a child touches is the same as where the action happens” (Worthen). The iPad’s ability to keep a child focused on one simple thing conditions them to lengthen their attention span. When using a television, a child has to be constantly working to see multiple actions happening  at the same time. The iPad provides a benefit that will have a promising effect on children’s attention spans. Rather than constantly having to work to focus on ever changing pictures on a television, a child can focus on fewer things and stay concentrated while using an iPad.

The iPad has already clearly shown great benefit to teens and adults, and now it is seen as a benefit to young children though all benefits do have some kind of cost. The article “5 Things You Need to Know about Kids and iPads” explains some of the codes of conduct that should be enforced to encourage good behavior when children are using an iPad. The article encourages parents to download educational applications that children can play together and, in addition, games that the children can play with their parents. Another point this article encourages is using applications to help with “off screen games and activities.” The number one warning that this article drives home is to never “*ever* give them [children] your iTunes store password.” Though children understand many things, the idea of limited purchases is not normally one of them. Another idea that should be reinforced is the amount of time spent on the iPad. Though the iPad can be used for educational purposes and in developing children’s motor and sensory skills, there is such a thing as too much of a good thing. As with all things in life, moderation is key.

Overall, integrating iPads, not solely using them, has a tremendous benefit to children. The iPad can develop learning, reasoning, and thinking skills. Also, it has shown advancements in vocabulary computation. The iPad caters to a child’s best skills making it easy to use by utilizing the very basic abilities of swiping, tapping, and touching. Most importantly it gives children a fun outlet that helps them express an intelligence that we never before thought was there.

Works Cited

Leitner, Lisa M. “Blog  Children and IPads – Why Toddlers Love Touchscreens  Kizzu.” Kizzu. Kizzu, 15 Jan. 2013. Web. 03 Apr. 2013.

Worthen, Ben. “What Happens When Toddlers Zone Out With an iPad.” Online.wjs.com. The Wall Street Journal, 22 May 2013. Web. 3 Apr. 2013.

“5 Things You Need to Know About Kids and iPads.” Timbuktu RSS. Timbuktu, 27 Dec. 2012. Web. 12 Apr. 2013.