Tablets and laptops aren't necessarily addictive - its the games and apps and social media and email/chat etc that kids can get wrapped up in. We manage that with limits - the electronics are used for academic purposes, and sometimes for fun - but with time limits - and those limits depend on each individual child - we have one child who is known to try to sneak extra time and play games when she doesn't have permission, so she has a stricter set of tech rules than our other children.
Our kids are only allowed to use their electronics in the living/dining rooms in our house -they have to be working where I can see them and where I can easily see their screens. We also have a "look up!" philosophy - I watch and make sure they are looking up and interacting with the rest of us and not just zoning into their electronics. If they've been working on them a long time I make them get up and do something different.
Re working in a common area and not taking electronics to private areas like bedrooms - this is recommended in every Internet safety talk I've attended.
Re iPads - our ds uses an iPad exclusively for school and it works fine for word processing - the word processing software is called Pages and is relatively inexpensive compared to purchasing word processing software for a laptop. It's not as sophisticated as MS Office, but it's got all the utility that a student needs for word processing. You can also easily import Word docs and export to word and PDF formats.
polarbear
Last edited by polarbear; 06/02/14 07:12 AM.
