Wired

I’ve been letting my 4-year-old play with my laptop. Sometimes he just types his name and other random letters. Other times, we might do an activity on pbskids.org . I was a little hesitant at first to let him play on the computer. But I soon relented. After all, I’m the one who’s constantly checking e-mail, surfing the web and chatting away on the cell phone.

In this New York Times article, “ So Young, and So Gadgeted ,” Warren Buckleitner interviewed several parents whose children have been on the Web even before they started walking. “My 6-year-old has an iPod and wants a cellphone, although my husband and I aren’t sure who he’d call,” said one mom.

Other parents, however, weren’t as keen about having all this technology around their children. “I’m not a huge fan of flooding my children’s lives with the latest gadget,” said another mother. “My children go online for schoolwork, but our computer is in my sight, and protected to the teeth.”

What kinds of gadgets do your kids use? How can parents use the latest technology to support child development?