Tablets on Holiday

One of the biggest surprises that I had on holiday was the sheer number of children (especially toddlers and babies) who spent their mealtimes watching a phone or tablet. Let me state my biases right up front so you can be sure of who I am and what I’m blind to. I have a 6 year old, a 4 year old and an 11 month old and I don’t let any of them have a phone or tablet under any circumstances. I do let the eldest play the Nintendo Switch for up to 1 hour per day. I do let the middle child watch TV for up to 1 hour per day. The baby gets nothing. I also research the habit forming nature of mobile phones and apps. I also work in a tech company and have for years. So many tablets It was a pretty fancy resort and so a fairly middle class crowd. Every morning, we’d sit down for breakfast and be surrounded by other families with children of generally the same kind of age. I’d estimate that around 50% - 70% of the families had an iPad (or similar) with them and propped it up in front of the…