Parents: Does Every Kid Have an iPad?

Having just returned from vacation, I discovered that an airport has more iPads than an Apple store. Even our group of 10 people, we had six iPads and five iPhones. Is this ridiculous? Or is this the norm?

Don’t get me wrong, I recognize that an airport isn’t exactly a scientific study, and that the whole point of is to keep them occupied, content, and NOT SCREAMING. But I think that iPads and tablets are taking over our kids!

As I scanned our flight, nearly every child—and grownup for that matter—had an iPad, Kindle, nook or other tablet device. Times have definitely changed!

My 5-year-old especially took notice. We let him use our iPad, but he has to share and until this week, his access has been very limited. He used to love to play his Nintendo DS, but it seems that phase is over! I didn’t see anyone – except my poor deprived son—playing handheld gaming devices.

So, what’s the deal? Are you buying your kid their own iPad? Do they have unlimited access to it?

Guidelines recommend limiting television and gaming to one to two hours per day. This is next to impossible as it is and made even more difficult if kids have constant access to games? I admit that my kids watch far too much TV, but now adding an iPad into the mix, and I’m afraid they are going to be “mush” brains by the time they are teenagers!

Even my 2-year-old likes to play the iPad. For him, I’ve downloaded some fun games that are both educational and age appropriate—Monkey Math, Curious George, The Lorax—great apps for little ones. But if he finds is sitting on the coffee table, even at age 2, I’ll find him playing Glow Air Hockey, Temple Run or other games which belong to his big brother.

Recently, I had the opportunity to talk to some parents about their kids’ usage. Many feel that their kids need to learn the technology, or that it’s just part of life. Kids enjoy playing the devices and seem to have few qualms about letting their kids play unrestricted. Some parents make sure the child is alternating between educational material and fun games. How they do that is beyond me.

I’m all for the technology, and I absolutely love my iPad (that is when my kids let me use it), and there are some great apps out there for children. My 2-year-old loves Disney Cars 2, Bowling, Spin Art and Skee Ball. I also found this site which had a few other recommendations worth trying out. My 5-year-old loves Where’s Perry, Battleship, Angry Birds Space, Uno, Rhythm Racer, and so many more—he couldn’t stop rattling them off when I asked him his favorite.

Certainly we’ve tackled similar parenting topics before about usage, but, what’s your take on this issue Perry Hall? Does your child have his/her own iPad? How much do you monitor what they are doing on it?

As tablets continue to grow in popularity, attentiveness from parents is essential. You need to know what your kids are downloading, what websites they are visiting, and who they are talking to. 

Apparently, I'm losing the battle in this household, as we just purchased another iPad …

So what is your child’s favorite iPad app? Tell us in the comments.