Gen Z has a lot to say about parents today allowing "excessive" screen time for their children, who Gen Z condescendingly refers to as "iPad kids."
These screen-loving children are a part of Gen Alpha, the subsection of people who were born from 2010 — the year Apple iPads were first available to the public — until today.
As a result of staring at screens, Gen Alpha's "iPad kids" have developed unwanted, unhealthy and downright strange behavior, say Gen Z critics (born between the late 1990s and 2010), who have been posting their thoughts about the younger generation on TikTok.
Gabe Escobar (@gabesco) shared a rant about "iPad kids" in November 2023. The video has 23 million views to date. He said, "I need everyone else in my generation to promise that we are not going to raise 'iPad children.' ... You've been shoving media and screens in these kids' faces since birth."
Escobar said that these kids likely "can't read" and "have no imagination." Horrified by seeing kids using screens in restaurants, he asked parents, "Can you not make your child behave for more than five seconds?"
Comments under Escobar’s video mostly support his stance:
- "I literally cry when I see old people with their grandkids on devices. I am not letting that happen"
- "my cousins are gen alpha and gen z but they’re both ipad kids and the gen alpha has a meltdown when ever he’s told to get off his ipad"
- "Like I work at a restaurant and I’m tired of seeing kids with giant ipads at the table instead of coloring on the kids menu😭"
- "parents don't parent anymore😭"
A Gen Z creator named Andra (@hopeyoufindyourdad), who worked as a nanny for eight years, commented on Escobar's video saying that "the families that were the easiest to manage were the families that extremely controlled screen time for their kids."
She added that in her experience, "if you try to take an iPad out of an iPad kid's hand, not only will they throw a tantrum so large, but they will start physically hitting you."
Andra admitted that iPads are "inevitable" in the caption and placed the blame for behavioral issues on parents not setting limits.
What is the recommended screen time by age?
As a mom of two, I want to defend parents everywhere. We're tired! We need a break! We deserve to have a quiet night out to dinner, and if the babysitter bails, sometimes an iPad in a restaurant is the answer!
But I'm keeping the "Get off my lawn!" attitude in check to look at some hard data.
A 2023 study on the "Effects of Excessive Screen Time on Child Development" states that some screen time can improve education and learning (yay!). However, "excessive screen usage has detrimental effects on social and emotional growth, including a rise in the likelihood of obesity, sleep disorders, and mental health conditions including depression and anxiety."
Womp womp.
The authors of the study say that the key to successful screen time seems to be setting appropriate boundaries, using parental controls, co-viewing and selecting age-appropriate content. Parents should also set an example with their own screen time usage.
But what constitutes "excessive usage" for kids?
According to Children and Screens: Institute of Digital Media and Child Development, screen time for babies who are 0 to 18 months should be limited to video chatting only. From 18 to 24 months, toddlers should have very limited screen time, co-watching high-quality educational content with an adult. From 2 to 5, screen time should not exceed one hour per day, and co-viewing is still encouraged.
For ages 5 and older, there is no consensus about the appropriate amount of screen time, but "the general rule of thumb is that screen time should not displace other activities important for health and well-being."
“For most youth, screen time alone is not the best predictor of negative outcomes,” says Kate Blocker, director of research and programs at Children and Screens. “When screen time becomes excessive — 10-plus hours per day, for example — findings related to school problems, behavior problems and general well-being declines become more consistent.”
"The average American teenager is projected to spend about 30 years of their life behind a device," says Larissa May, the founder of #HalfTheStory, a nonprofit dedicated to the digital well-being of the next generation. "Technology can sometimes hinder their ability to emote, feel, create, connect and imagine."
She encourages parents to let kids get a little bored because "strengthening imagination is one of the most fundamental things we can do as humans."
How has the pandemic affected screen use in kids?
"All children saw a drastic increase in screen time during the pandemic," says Blocker.
"According to one meta-analysis, from January 2020 through March 2022, screen time for all children under 18 increased by an average of 50%, or 84 minutes a day," she explains. This increase refers to recreational use only. It doesn't take into account school-required screen use.
Both Blocker and James P. Steyer, founder and CEO of Common Sense Media, agree that "how they are using screens, versus for how long, is even more important."
Steyer cites autoplay, which automatically advances from one video to the next, as an "addictive" feature, potentially exposing kids to "harmful content, which can be much more consequential than how much time is spent on a screen."
Though it's important for parents to establish healthy boundaries and consider the content their kids are watching, Steyer thinks that parents shouldn't shoulder all the blame. He wants Congress to pass the Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA) to encourage platforms to "act in the best interest of minors on the platform."
Changing the channel
Screens in and of themselves are not inherently bad, especially when they allow so-called "iPad kids" to boost language comprehension, learn about age-appropriate, thought-provoking topics or video chat their way to a closer relationship with long-distance relatives. Even watching a movie with your child and talking about it afterward can be a lovely bonding moment.
The creep into negative iPad kid territory begins when children are granted seemingly never-ending, unsupervised, all-access screen time.
So parents, keep an eye on what your kids are doing online, share the experience with them whenever possible and try to have as much screen-free time as you do screen time.
And to the Gen Z TikTok posters, I say this ... I was great at parenting until I became a parent, too. #iykyk
