The rise of iPad kids is upon us. Many of us in the older half of Gen Z remember the novelty of technology in our childhood clearly. We twiddled our thumbs waiting for computer lab. We spent playdates doing what is now considered “touching grass.” But today’s kids? They’re accustomed to getting their school-funded chromebooks and bonding over Roblox’s Party Chat. With the perpetual evolution of technology and media, it’s a never-ending balancing act of making the most of new tech while not letting it control kids’ lives.
Siwon Park is studying biochemistry and psychology in his first year at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. He said his parents are combating the issue of media addiction by assigning his 9-year-old sister a strict screen time limit. On Saturdays, she gets a total of three hours of game time — but with a 15-minute break between each hour. But Park knows from his own childhood how easy it is to bypass screen time restrictions.
SIWON PARK: A lot of education has shifted from paper/pencil to digitalized forms. Obviously, I think COVID had a big impact on them needing electronics. Their usage has grown a lot. I think when I was their age, I was grinding out math workbooks. But now, they’re kinda just playing math games. And I don’t know if they can be constituted as educational apps, from what I’ve seen.
Think one sibling is annoying enough? McCormick and Bienen freshman Hannah Webb has four siblings — two of which are eight and ten years old. With the age-old trend of parents loosening their holds on later-born children, Webb said there’s been a noticeable difference in control of technology by her parents.
HANNAH WEBB: I would say that they have a lot more freedom on their devices than we did growing up. They kind of can do whatever they want. I would say my brother consumes a lot of content. Kind of unregulated. We don’t know what he’s up to sometimes.
Calvin McKean is an 11-year-old fifth grader from Indianapolis. On his home iPad, he often plays Roblox or Minecraft with friends from school. But what sets him apart from other kids his age? He’s aware of screen time’s dangerous effects and makes sure he’s staying safe and responsible whenever he’s online.
CALVIN MCKEAN: It’s very time consuming. I find myself not wanting to do regular tasks. It can be kind of addicting and I don’t even really realize it. Every single year I’ve been in school, we’ve had multiple times where people come to us telling us to not give information away. People talk about this, don’t get involved, stuff like that.
Despite such dangers, Webb said the increase of media consumption doesn’t necessarily have to be the eighth deadly sin. Rather, it serves as a bonding opportunity for her siblings and their friends.
HANNAH WEBB: When they hang out with their friends, like they go out and have a playdate, they’ll play Minecraft together or play Roblox together, or do some sort of activity around the screen together. When I saw that, I realized they weren’t the only ones who were on their device so much.
Weinberg sophomore Joyce Huang, sister to a 10-year-old younger brother, tells her parents to monitor the content her brother watches. But she said that in the end, both parents and media companies have a level of responsibility in ensuring children are exposed to age-appropriate content.
JOYCE HUANG: Since when did parents become a secondary parent as opposed to the Internet? I think parents need to come back and take a stronger role in the way that they parent and the way that they’re raising the next generation of kids. While I do think some companies do have some… They should consider warnings and things. I know a lot of apps where companies have age limitations, but I feel like those can be pretty easily circumvented.
As screen time grows, so does the challenge of keeping it under control — kids might need new methods to better regulate their time on the screen.
For WNUR News, I’m Alice Oh.
