Now I've heard it all!

Well, as they say, time and tide wait for no man. This techno world is what the young ones understand and working smarter by using new technology is a lot better than being forced to work harder without it. They are still able to be involved in after school clubs and aren't missing out on play which is so important to child development. Having said that I've met parents that just can't be bothered to let children be children and have got their bottoms superglued to the sofa and the tv or facebook and that is a big problem.

Technology is marvellous. If anyone had told me even 20 years ago that I would be able to talk to and see my family in real time on a little screen, and at no cost, I would have thought it impossible.
The modern child has been born into a world of technology and this is what they have to grow up with. It is beautifully designed and clearly intuitive as it can be accessed by toddlers. My two granddaughters quickly learned to switch on a phone and choose the photo icon and then spend time looking at pictures of themselves. At the age of 4 they are now proficient on the iPad and there are many free or very cheap apps which are very educational. For them this is as normal as looking at books, which they also do.
However, like everything in life it is up to us adults to decide how we want the children to be brought up. Personally, I love it that one granddaughter is fascinated by science and chooses to watch Nina and the Neurons on BBC iplayer and also that the two little cousins can Skype every week, as they live miles apart.
On the other hand we do need to be vigilant. I am less enamoured with social media and the horrors of cyber bullying etc. When the girls are older, I can see myself becoming a boring old fart and lecturing them on the dangers. But with the speed at which technology is developing who knows what will be available in 10 years time.

One of my DDs has 3 children who are on their devices all the time. One has a 4 and 7 year old, both of whom know how to use these things, but do not have one - they read, race round the garden, feed chickens, make dens, as well as looking up info on the laptop. There is no question of them looking at a device while at the table with us all. Another set of GC are really too young, although I know that one (just 3) uses her other granny's iPad when she is there.

It is all about balance. One of my GS's is heavily into reptiles and he looks up info about them, prints out pictures of the them and colours them in. In that sort of context, the laptop is valuable. But the rest of the time he is romping about!

Not old fogie....just a worried Nan! I listened to a father on the radio recently who decided to take the 'machines' away from his sons...he decided it was an addiction, which I agree to some extent. His sons had withdrawal symptoms but eventually got used to being without them and actually started to play outside, with each other and talk to people instead of hiding away in bedrooms! This is why I worry about my own Grandsons as I know it's part of their world now and their friends. But one important thing this father said was that parents have to take control....that's assuming that the parents are not addicted also!! I remember my youngest Son who is now 30 used to sit in the corner playing his 'game boy' for hours it seems!! Maybe I was more relaxed about things then and there was less of it too. It's a difficult one and of course it's all about getting a balance. The technology is amazing....I'm using it now....but there is a 'but'. Don't let it take over from interacting with 'real' people and real life, not just a 'virtual' world!

What worries me is the number of mums with pushchairs who are permanently glued to their phones whilst walking along and never pay any attention to their offspring in their buggies! Apart from missing so many opportunites of interacting with their babies/toddlers, what example are they setting them!!

A sharp knife can be the most useful thing in the cutlery drawer or a weapon. As others have pointed out, the object is not responsible for our choices.

Modern communications technology has brought us untold benefits and untold ills. One thinks of the interconnectedness of the world now where one can Skype those on the far side of the world for free compared with the vicious evils of the Dark Net.

We need rules and boundaries to control the harmful effects of social media, especially where children are concerned. Each of us has probably evolved our own homespun rules such as 'no devices at the table when eating' but perhaps we need an enforceable 'Netiquette' to protect children from each other, themselves and online predators. And this should be reinforced by all adults backing each other up.

Perhaps the fault lies not in the technology but in overly liberal parenting and the 'me first' attitude which prevails today. Parents should not be afraid to lay down rules for the use of social media. If they were largely the same rules everywhere then children would know what to expect at home, at school and elsewhere.

There was a recent thread about children's games. Much healthier than standing around at break time glued to phones and not reacting with other children. Antisocial. Soon there will be no need for toys because they will not have time nor incentive to play with them.
Young Mums out shopping have their phones glued to their ears whilst their children run round out of control. What example are they giving? Young woman in front of me at the checkout was texting whilst being served.

I think they have their place. We bought a kids tablet for our 4 year old granddaughter. Sadly it is constantly going wrong and she needs her dad to fix it. She goes for days without looking at it. however she loves my phone. She looks at something called "Talking Tom". It's a cat that repeats everything she says, in a funny voice! She loves that. There's a lot of "poo poo head" type phrases being said and repeated.

It's called discipline - screens(interesting and educational as they are) are limited for my grandchildren, any fuss it is removed for longer. Then we play board or other in/outdoor games. There are never screens at meal times, we chat instead. Parents should 'grow some' and take charge, they are the grown ups. Same in school - mobile phones are fine but not in a lesson (unless part of the lesson) and the rule should be the same for teachers.

The 4 DC's mentioned in my OP do lead a very outdoor life, swimming, surfing, scootering, biking, skateboarding etc. but what concerns me is that when they aren't doing this, they are glued to their devices to the exclusion of everything else and do not seem to be able to hold a conversation, never mind answer a simple question. Last night, for instance, we were all going out to dinner but the 7 year old had a hissy fit because she was watching a movie and was not ready to leave, resulting in everyone screaming at everyone else, which is hardly conducive to a relaxing evening out. Of course, technology has its place and we couldn't live without it but I feel it is taking over to the detriment of 'normal' family life. [sigh]

As many people say, it's about balance. DH and I both have iphones and ipads and there are several laptops, PCs in the house as we run our small business from home, I think technology is amazing, I just wish I understood it more. However both sets of DGC have very limited access to screens - including TV, and all love being outside, or reading/being read to, sticker books, Lego etc. It's hard work for their parents keeping them busy and it would be much easier to just let them sit looking at screens, but thankfully they put the effort in.

My grand children have every gysmo going ( except phones) but I know that if I said to them, do you want to go out on your bikes, go swimming, adventure park, beach, they are out like a shot.
They are not all the same. I'm sure that the 6 yr olds reading would not be as good as it is if she hadn't had tablets etc since she was old enough to hold one.

My 4 year old GD uses her mother's old Ipad for educational games. They keep a password on it so she can't go on it whenever she likes and they do limit that time.

She loves being read to and enjoys jigsaws, drawing, Playdoh, her dolls house, bike etc so I don't think she's short of 'real' things to play with.

Technology will be a big part of her life in the future and it's right that she learns as much as possible but I do feel strongly that her 'real' toys and interests are just as important, if not more so.

Well there you are! After all my pontificating this morning on this thread, we have just come back from a walk and lunch, made a coffee, DH straight onto his phone and I lasted, oooh, must have been a good ten minutes before I picked up the iPad and came on here! We're dooomed! (yes I did mean to put an extra o in!).

Aye we are aw dooooomed. Fess up Grans. How much time do you spend on the interweb?

Technology is wonderful. My 3 year old grandson uses my iPad but not a lot and usually if he is tired after a busy day. We set a time limit but that isn't usually necessary as he's had enough after a while and goes onto something like Hide and SeeK (Urgh!) Duplo, you name it. Language skills haven't suffered either as he is pretty fluent in 3 languages, of necessity as his mum is Brazilian, dad English and they live in Spain. The not talking to children is another issue though. My son commented that he and grandson are the only ones talking to each other on the way to school and that is not necessarily because parents are on their devices. Many don't realise that communication starts at birth.

You might be justified but it's not our place to say a word. You probably weren't going to anyway.

DGS (7) loves the ipad, but his use is strictly limited, as is his television viewing. He also loves cribbage, learning chess, snap, snakes and ladders and all the old games, ( great fun at Christmas with charades) as well as loving swimming, climbing, tennis and any physical activity. So many have said it - it's all about balance and common sense. I'm planning to start teaching him to knit on Monday (he has said he wants to learn), but that may seem a bit tame after this week's skiing.

Computer games are scarily addictive, my 6 year old grandson would never raise his head from the I pad or x box if he was allowed to.
I work in a charity shop and we receive huge numbers of children's books in mint condition. I fear that reading is definitely on its way out.

I'm one of the worst offenders with technology and have one of everything else there is having to work and play with it all but draw the line at using any of it when out of the house and actually hardly ever use my mobile as a phone. I do agree that interaction between people seems to have disintegrated. On our visits to our family down south, who we don't see very often, with the exception of my son they are all on their phones most of the time including my dil - either talking to friends, work or on social media sites even when we go out for a meal. The girls are older now (18 and 14) but have grown up with technology which has been put to good use in music and film making. I don't know that things have changed much - my son got his first pc when he was 11 (he's 44 now) and spent much of his teenage years sat in his room playing games - or so we thought - he was actually learning to program as well which has served him well in his career. His younger brother wasn't interested but had a TV in his room and at 15 we couldn't get him to turn it off at night. On the opposite end of the scale said younger son who now lives in NZ and his wife are not the slightest bit interested in technology to the point we hardly have contact with them as they don't do social media, hardly Skype and never phone. Our little grandsons will not have any influence from them in technology so presumably will have to learn at school. Not sure which way is best these days!

I have to admit that I find it odd that my two oldest friends, although fully conversant with computers, don't use Facebook. With my other friends I find it so handy for telling them about an upcoming event or sending a photo. They don't seem to do texting either although my children and I text all the time. So much quicker to confirm an arrangement by text rather than get sucked into an hour long conversation by phoning. We all live ten minutes apart so it's not as if we don't talk to each other anyway.

Agree with Thingmajig. Time and place.

My two 8 and 5 year olds GD have tablets. When novelty wore off they aren't bothered with them.

Had them today and played schools all day. No technology in sight except for typing and printing the Register, timetables and worksheets (with little help).

They haven't got phones but when they do they will be banned at mealtimes.

I love that my DGC enjoy their technology! Makes it easier to watch them for long periods, if need be, and it engages their minds more than television or DVDs ever do! I still encourage them to spend some time drawing/coloring, reading and other non-tech activities. And I've never had a problem getting them to put down the tech stuff and go to the park. But overall, their love of their tech toys makes things easier for me. Rarely do I hear the dreaded, "Gramma, I'm bored!"

I do think there need to be rules and limits - for adults as well as kids. We need a whole new etiquette dealing with the use of tech. And parents need to be aware of the ways their involvement with their phones and so forth could hurt or even endanger their children. What Imperfect told us concerns me, too, though I don't know if it's all cuz of technology. Adjustments have to be made like they did when television came along and, hey, maybe even when books first became available to the general public. (Remember all those old stories where parents worried that reading novels kept their kids from playing outdoors?) Overall, though, I think modern tech is great!

My two grandsons aged five and six seem to be addicted to Minecraft, a computer game that looks a bit like a rather dark Lego. They complain that my house is boring because I don't have computer games, although we usually end up having fun in other ways.
My son works long hours but I feel could spend more time with his children than he does. My DIL does not work and spends most of her time on Facebook or playing computer games, though to be fair she also helps the children with their reading and schoolwork. The children have lovely bikes that they cannot ride, a park and swimming pool nearby which they are never taken to unless I visit, a garden which they never play in. My DIL seems to think that being indoors glued to a screen is the normal way to pass the time as it's the way she and her two brothers grew up. She has completely bought into the Minecraft culture as she plays it as much as they do and Christmas gifts last year were nearly all Minecraft related in some way .
I recently read an article saying some schools were going to introduce Minecraft onto their curriculum as it could be a valuable educational resource....
What do other gransnetters know/feel about Minecraft?

My techno mad younger GS has just started playing Minecraft. I'm pleased about that. It is supposed to help with their maths skills. There must be a time limit put on their game playing though. I think most parents realise that.