Gaga for Gadgets

Exposing toddlers to new and different technologies can be a natural part of growing up, says Dr Alistair Campbell
By Jemma Nott
Have you ever had that experience where you just wanted to sit your kids down in front of their favourite TV program and walk away? Well, Senior Psychology Lecturer at James Cook University, Alistair Campbell, says that this is not always such a bad thing.
With recent media reports and organisations like the American Academy of Paediatrics and the Raising Children’s Network arguing that young children should have little or no screen-time, Campbell says that arguments such as these are a generalization of a more complex topic.
“To argue for a blanket ban on TV and technological activity for toddlers is a serious misunderstanding of the evidence we have about a child’s need for care.”
“In my view, the most important question in child development is whether the child has the opportunity to engage with the primary care givers,” he says.
Campbell says that technology can, in fact, be a useful way of encouraging this engagement.
“I well remember watching Telly Tubbies with my girls...in engaging in that activity, watching the TV, they where also engaging with me and I was engaging with them.”
“Sometimes, I would leave them to watch, while I went and did something else, but when I came back I would have questions and observations. ‘Where is it up too?’ ‘What’s LaLa doing?’” he says.
Similarly, Campbell makes the point that using technology can be a natural learning process, but recent media reports on the other end of the spectrum that argue children are deprived without it are somewhat of an exaggeration.
“Human beings are tool users...It is our adaptive use of technology that has made us the most dominant species on the planet. Playing with technology will only make a child more capable of using technology in so far as it enhances adaptive capacity,” he says.
The exception to this is constantly exposing a toddler to extremely violent or sexual images, however, Campbell says that in this instance the onus is on the parents or caregivers.
“In my view, exposure to disturbing images can be damaging, but are unlikely to be if the child has good parenting.”
“If the child has exposure (to disturbing images), which leads to reassurance and security (from the care giver), the child is enabled to develop secure and adaptive coping mechanisms. The critical issue here is that it is the response of the caregivers that makes the difference,” he says.
Campbell encourages parents not to feel overwhelmed or guilty about exposing toddlers to different technologies.
“Don’t panic. Use your common sense. Don’t pay too much attention to the so-called experts in this. There are major political issues at play and people’s statements on these ideas reflect (this)” he says.