Top tips for raising children in a technology-focused world

When I joined a VTech roundtable on learning through play last month, we returned home with a VTech toy that resembled an Apple watch. The colourful VTech SmartWatch turned out to be a super cool toy watch with camera, video, games and more. It is brilliant for travelling since it takes hardly any space, and can be fantastic entertainment on road trips.

After seeing Big Girl’s joy of taking her own pictures and figuring out how to play games on her new watch, it’s struck me that she’s growing up in a very different world from what I was used to at her age, and I was excited to have the opportunity to ask child psychologist Dr Angharad Rudkin her views on the topic:

What is the best way to prepare children for the tech-focused world they’re born into?
Dr. Angharad Rudkin: The evidence is still not robust enough for us to develop clear guidelines. Children’s brains are the same as they have been for hundreds of years. However, children are growing up in a very different world to even a generation ago. Research shows that children’s brains and abilities grow within a social context. For example, the more they’re spoken to as a baby, the greater vocabulary they have as a preschooler. Making sure that your child still has the opportunity to chat to you and that you chat to them throughout the day through conversation rhymes, singing and play will help them to continue to learn language and social skills even if they are watching a screen for a portion of the day as well. The context in which technology is used also influences how it may impact on development.

What is your view on technology-focused toys, such as toy mobile phones, cameras, play computers and so on?
Dr. Angharad Rudkin: If a child is using a mobile phone or a camera as part of an interaction with their parents or other children then it can be a social tool. Children learn through imitation, and it is good to have props to help them in their role play (e.g ‘playing mummy’ and talking into their toy mobile phone such as VTech’s Tiny Touch Phone). In terms of screen time in general, it can serve as a babysitter, so parents need to monitor how much screen time their child is having and help their child to manage this if it seems too much.

Tags: Apple, Child psychologist, Digital world, Growing up, Interview, Parenting, Technology, Toys, VTech, Watches