Toddlers Favorite Toy: The iPhone

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From NY Times 10/15/2010

Toddlers' Favorite Toy: The iPhoneBy HILARY STOUT

THE bedroom door opened and a light went on, signaling an end to nap time. The

toddler, tousle-haired and sleepy-eyed, clambered to a wobbly stand in his crib.

He smiled, reached out to his father, and uttered what is fast becoming the cry

of his generation: " iPhone! "

The iPhone has revolutionized telecommunications. It has also become the most

effective tool in human history to mollify a fussy toddler, much to the delight

of parents reveling in their newfound freedom to have a conversation in a

restaurant or roam the supermarket aisles in peace. But just as adults have a

hard time putting down their iPhones, so the device is now the Toy of Choice —

akin to a treasured stuffed animal — for many 1-, 2- and 3-year-olds. It's a

phenomenon that is attracting the attention and concern of some childhood

development specialists.

Natasha Sykes, a mother of two in Atlanta, remembers the first time her

daughter, Kelsey, now 3 1/2 but then barely 2 years old, held her husband's

iPhone. " She pressed the button and it lit up. I just remember her eyes. It was

like `Whoa!' "

The parents were charmed by their daughter's fascination. But then, said Ms.

Sykes (herself a BlackBerry user), " She got serious about the phone. "

Kelsey would ask for it. Then she'd cry for it. " It was like she'd always want

the phone, " Ms. Sykes said. After a six-hour search one day, she and her husband

found the iPhone tucked away under Kelsey's bed. They laughed. But they also

felt vague concern. Kelsey, and her 2-year-old brother, Chase, have blocks,

Legos, bouncing balls, toy cars and books galore. ( " They love books, " Ms. Sykes

said.) But nothing compares to the iPhone.

" If they know they have the option of the phone or toys, it will be the phone, "

Ms. Sykes said

Brady Hotz, who will be 2 at the end of this month, was having a hard time

getting out the door of his family's home near Chicago the other day. He'd woken

up late — 6:45 instead of 6:15. His mother, Kellie Hotz, was in a rush. She got

him dressed, gave him milk and cereal, and announced, " We're ready to go. "

Brady, not budging from his position, dug in. " Mickey! " he said plaintively.

" Mickey! " (Translation: I'm not going anywhere till I get to watch " Mickey Mouse

Clubhouse " on TV.)

Ms. Hotz, a veteran of such standoffs, switched instantly to what she called her

" guaranteed success tool. "

" What about Mickey on the phone? " she suggested.

That's all it took. Mother swept up the now entirely cooperative toddler, cued

up the show (via YouTube) on her little iPhone screen, and strapped him into her

car, where he sang happily along with the video for the 15-minute ride to day

care.

Then trouble began again. Brady wanted to stay in his seat with the iPhone.

Finally he put it in his coat pocket and went inside — where Ms. Hotz was able

to surreptitiously reclaim her gizmo and leave for work. But it's not always

that easy. " Sometimes I'll need it because someone is calling, and he is not at

all willing to give it up, " she said.

Apple, the iPhone's designer and manufacturer, has built its success on machines

so simple and intuitive that even technologically befuddled adults can figure

out how to work them, so it makes sense that sophisticated children would

follow. The most recent model is 4.5 inches tall, 2.31 inches wide and weighs

4.8 ounces: sleek, but not too small for those with developing motor skills. Tap

a picture on the screen and something happens. What could be more fun?

The sleepy-eyed toddler who called for the iPhone from his crib is one of

hundreds of iPhone-loving tykes starring in videos posted throughout the

Internet, usually narrated by parents expressing proud wonderment at their

offspring's ability to slide chubby fingers across the gadget's screen and pull

up photographs and apps of their choice.

Many iPhone apps on the market are aimed directly at preschoolers, many of them

labeled " educational, " such as Toddler Teasers: Shapes, which asks the child to

tap a circle or square or triangle; and Pocket Zoo, which streams live video of

animals at zoos around the world. There are " flash cards " aimed at teaching

children to read and spell, and a " Wheels on the Bus " app that sings the popular

song in multiple languages. Then there's the new iGo Potty app (sponsored by

-, maker of Huggies training pants), with automated phone calls

reminding toddlers that it's time to " go. "

Along with fears about dropping and damage, however, many parents sharing

iPhones with their young ones feel nagging guilt. They wonder whether it is

indeed an educational tool, or a passive amusement like television. The American

Academy of Pediatrics has long advised parents not to let their children watch

any TV until they are past their second birthday.

Dr. Gwenn Schurgin O'Keeffe, a pediatrician who is a member of the academy's

council of communications and media, said the group is continually reassessing

its guidelines to address new forms of " screen time. "

" We always try to throw in the latest technology, but the cellphone industry is

becoming so complex that we always come back to the table and wonder should we

have a specific guideline for cellphones, " she said. But, she added, " At the

moment, we seem to feel it's the same as TV. "

Jill Mikols Etesse, a mother of two daughters, aged 3 and 8, outside of

Washington, believes her younger daughter is further along in vocabulary,

reading and spelling than her older daughter was at the same age, and she

attributes this progress to the iPhone and iPad. The 3-year-old has learned to

spell compound words like " starlight and fireworks " through an app called

Montessori Crossword, her mother said. " She uses words that I don't use, so I

know it isn't coming from me, " Ms. Etesse said. " She says `That's peculiar.' I

don't use the term peculiar. "

But Jane M. Healy, an educational psychologist in Vail, Colo. said: " Any parent

who thinks a spelling program is educational for that age is missing the whole

idea of how the preschool brain grows. What children need at that age is whole

body movement, the manipulation of lots of objects and not some opaque

technology. You're not learning to read by lining up the letters in the word

`cat.' You're learning to read by understanding language, by listening. Here's

the parent busily doing something and the kid is playing with the electronic

device. Where is the language? There is none. "

Despite Ms. Etesse's generally positive experience, she and her husband decided

to set limits when their two daughters spent six hours straight staring at the

iPhone during a car trip. Now they allow each child no more than one hour a day

of screen time. (That means the iPhone and the iPad; neither girl is interested

in TV, she said.)

h P. Klein, the director of Columbia University's Barnard College Center for

Toddler Development (where signs forbid the use of cellphones and other wireless

devices) worries that fixation on the iPhone screen every time a child is out

and about with parents will limit the child's ability to experience the wider

world. " Children at this age are so curious and they're observing everything, "

she said. " If you're engrossed in this screen you're not seeing or observing or

taking it in. " (Though some, like Giroux-Nix of Cedar Park, Tex., a suburb

of Austin, applaud the iPhone's photo function. She said her 3-year-old, Bella,

took a series of photos during a shoe-shopping trip, focusing on her mother's

feet and legs. )

As with TV in earlier generations, the world is increasingly divided into those

parents who do allow iPhone use and those who don't. A recent post on

UrbanBaby.com, a popular and often contentious parents' Web site, asked if

anyone had found that their child was more interested in playing with their

iPhone than with " real toys. " The Don't mothers pounced:

" We don't let our toddler touch our iPhones ... it takes away from creative

play. "

" Please ... just say no. It is not too hard to distract a toddler with, say ...

a book. "

Kathy Hirsh-Pasek, a psychology professor at Temple University who specializes

in early language development, sides with the Don'ts. Research shows that

children learn best through active engagement that helps them adapt to the

particular situation at hand, she said, and interacting with a screen doesn't

qualify.

Still, Dr. Hirsh-Pasek, struck on a recent visit to New York City by how many

parents were handing over their iPhones to their little children in the subway,

said she understands the impulse. " This is a magical phone, " she said. " I must

admit I'm addicted to this phone. "