Why your 3-year-old needs an iPhone

I am not concerned about the future, only because I am told that humans will soon be in the clutch and thrall of robots and perfect harmony will be enjoyed by all. However, I must register the initial frisson of disturbia I experienced on reading a report from the Boston Globe magazine that suggests the iPhone may be a wise toy for 3-year-olds.

No, this is not some mocking suggestion that those who use an iPhone do, indeed, have the minds of children less than 4. It is, rather, a fascinating analysis of what happens when you just hand a 3-year-old an iPhone with the initial aim of keeping the little rodent in your life quiet.

It seems the iPhone's happy, colorful design is not only a great attraction for a little child's imagination, but the keyboard tends to suit tinier fingers rather better than larger ones.

Indeed, there is a considerable possibility that the iPhone might just help in children's education, something app developers have not been slow to realize. The Globe tells us that 60 percent of the apps in the education section of the iTunes store target extremely little people.

Now I know there will be those who worry that if you give a little one an iPhone they will be zapped with gamma rays and all sorts of deleterious electronic waves that will seep into their brains and be an enormous health risk.

One might heed the words of Dariusz Leszczysnki, a researcher for the Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority in Finland, who told a Senate subcommittee: "In my opinion the current safety standards are not sufficiently supported because of the very limited research on human volunteers, children, and on the effects of long-term exposures in humans."

But most of the things parents give children to keep them quiet carry a certain risk to health: plastic toys that kids lick, bite, and try to swallow with the result that all sorts of paint and gunk might enter their bodies; candy that children lick, bite, and try to swallow with the result that they then put on weight; and let's not even start with the quality of teenage babysitting in the world.

I know that some will feel it's better to get children up to speed more quickly so that they can somehow gain additional ingenuity to save us from the difficult prognostications that make our horizons so uncertain.

If putting an iPhone into their hands makes them happier and smarter, and, well, hushed in concentration, then might this not be a good thing?

I canvassed some of CNET's baby makers to see if their children already had special Apple skills. CNET News reporter Stephen Shankland's son, Levi, was already something of a whiz on his Dad's iPhone 3G last December when he was just 3. And Jeff Sparkman tells me that his 2-year-old is already so adept at navigating his wife's iPod Touch that she even looks bored flipping through the album covers. (So, no Sabbath, then, huh?)

You see, there is hope. And perhaps some of you out there are discovering that your smartphones might just be helping your kids get a little smarter. Or, at least, a little more, um, focused.

[deanbailey02]

My niece now four has been using my iTouch for over a year. She loves the interaction and challenges different apps give her. I found myself looking for kids games and shows just for her. It is an excellent learning tool providing the right oversight.

[NervClaX]

I love tech as much as the next guy (I'm reading this blog, obviously), but most parents use technology as a babysitter. I get sickened every time I see a toddler in a stroller holding an iPhone or a portable DVD player, watching Dora the Spanglish Explorer for the 1,000,000th time. They seem so disconnected from the world. The kids watching DVD's in the back of mom's minivan? The could get lost two blocks from their house, unable to find their way home because they don't recognize their neighbor's yard.

[B-Ri]

I would only agree in so far as to say that if the iphone/ipod is only just to "keep them quiet" it is no good. I don't agree that just because a kid uses one of these that they become disconnected from the world. My daughter has her own ipod touch and she's 6. Last year on her first day of school the bus dropped her off at the wrong spot. This ipod using child didn't get lost, she made her way to a nearby friends house and was able to get help from her friends Dad. It's all about balance. No one activity should absorb all a child's time. I don't think it's fair for you to judge someone on the short time of your observation. Kids growing up in this time as in most other times are going to be living in amazing times and the more interactive tools they have to enhance all of their skills the better. Books are great but you can't live your whole life through them.

[jaybee75]

Maybe we could just go with an iPod Touch? :) I am ok with it up until you realize the cost of the devices (phone or touch) and think about how kids can treat their toys. In a controlled environment it could be a great educational tool, but not so when mom/dad give 3yo little Johnny one just to keep him quiet.

[doughboy_10466]

An iPhone will definitely keep the kids occupied, but the hardest part is trying to reclaim what is rightfully yours from the toddler. Also, I think reading a book to/with your kids will do them a million times more good then handing them any gadget to keep them occupied. I get that the point of the unscientific study was to show just how quickly a child can pick up and use an iPhone, but they still don't get any necessary life skills from using it (even if they do use a child education app).

[donjericho]

My son is 20 mos old. He's been using my iphone and my wifes iphone (he lost that a couple of months ago) since he was a year. He's learned shapes, numbers, letters and figured out puzzles so far.

My Mom recently got him his own ipod touch because of the fear about the radiation. That and he calls, texts and emails randomly from my phone.

It's an expensive pacifier, but he's also learned alot. Everyone that sees him is amazed at what he can do and knows.

[Seaspray0]

I just keep thinking about why all those warning labels got put on products in the first place. Like the one that now comes on McDonnald's coffee because some woman got millions for sticking the cup between her legs while driving and burned her... Or the one on bicycles warning that the reflectors are not sufficient for riding in the dark. Yep, sombody crashed into a parked car while riding at night and got $$$. How about "This is not a step"? No further explanation needed. You get the general idea. I just have one question. How much space is there on the back of an iphone for stupid warning stickers?

[Someone-else]

I wonder what this post is doing in NEWS.cnet.com. Instead of APPLEFANBOYISM.cnet.com.

[eastmanweb]

That 3-year-old needs to get a job. iPhone indeed!

[iamwho]

To offset the precious brain cells being killed off by the cel phone, download some Baby Einstein videos (pre-Disney era). It is supposed to aid development and learning and will definitely keep 'em occupied for many, many hours.

[Slick1of2]

For starters, this was a ridiculous Apple fanboy add. Second, this "unscientific" experiment was completely useless. If a kid hits something and it makes a noise or does just about anything, the kid is going to keep hitting it. That's just how kids work. Now if the kid can take a picture of their snot and send it off to grandma, then that is impressive. But popping digital bubble wrap? Not that impressive. When my cousin was preschool age she would punch me in the gut and I would hunch over as say "Oooff!" She would laugh her little head off and do it again until I picked the little slugger up and tossed her around a bit. But sometimes she would just come right back and punch me again.

[tgdelb]

Ever since my wife's and my upgrade to the iPhone 3G, both my son and Daughter have had our 2G iPhones and I have downloaded many educational apps. YOu can not imagine how intuitive the iPhone really is until you see my 2 yr old Daughter move through the screens. She can start almost any app though designers should take note, symbols, not reading are important in an app made for children. She also loves to look at family photos as well. I see one day that a device not unlike the iphone will contain all a students homework assignments and textbooks as well. This is currently untapped as a learning tool for kids but I am sure that Apple has already prepared an app for that.