Now I've heard it all!

My 13 year old grandson, George, can put up a well thought, reasoned argument for including games-playing in his school curriculum. He maintains that he is learning, and putting into practice keyboard skill, decision making, strategy, and I can't remember the others. He lives in a small village with no play areas, or other children. So his "tribe" are people who he meets while playing games, some from other countries. He has explained, and shown his American friends what a Jaffa cake is. Cultural exchange! His father works in IT and has online safety sorted out I am happy to say.

I haven't read all the posts, just wanted to say that it's well documented that Steve Jobs who founded Apple encouraged his family & employees families to be low tech at home. He understood the need for balance in life & connecting as people. I see children shutting themselves away & not being able to communicate 1 to 1 and it worries me. Have any of you seen the clip on You Tube about the gadget that looks like a pepper grinder that can turn off the wifi at home, so the family can sit & eat a meal TOGETHER? It's funny but poignant at the same time.

On not in!!

I am fed up with this tablet though, I can type a post but it doesn't spell as I do, then I can facebook it, like it, pin it, tweet it, add a file or photo but it takes five minutes to post it by which time the thread has often moved on!

Is there such a thing as a flying tablet?
Or is it just GN that is a very slow site?

My DGS loves Minecraft as well, and we bought him some Minecraft Lego - hoping he can apply what he's learnt in a practical fashion.
He also learnt to read with the help of some programme in DD's iPad way before he started school, (as well as being read to and reading to mummy and daddy.)

I did notice, though, that, because DD limits the amount of time he spends on Minecraft, he would find a quiet hidden corner to play and then would get quite upset when told to finish that game and do something else, eg play outside.
It is addictive (as is GN).

I'd never have guessed jingls

I could never bother with 'puter games though. Ugh!

But I do like talking on GN. (That surprised you, didn't it?! )

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.

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?

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!

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 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.

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!

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.

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.

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

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.

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

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!).

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.

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.

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.

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]

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.

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.

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.

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.