Convincing kids to limit their screen time is largely a matter of willpower and of finding attractive alternatives – not just using an app so that a tablet automatically turns itself off after a certain period of time
Will Gore
@willjgore
The Independent Voices
Screens are useful tools for learning too ( Getty )
I am not, for the most part, a technophobe. True, I’m not at all convinced that technology has made our lives better in every respect (is anyone?) – but the balance is in its favour, across a whole range of measures in a multitude of sectors. And for the most part I know what I’m doing when it comes to electronic devices, though I’m always anxious about the possibility of breaking them (even if I rarely do).
Nevertheless, I’m painfully conscious that I don’t have the intuitive grasp of everyday technology that is evident among those under the age of 30 who did not know a time before mobile phones. In fact, forget mobiles, before I went to university in 1997 I don’t think I knew what emails were.
My eldest child, at nine, already has a kind of immediate instinct for electrical gadgets that I will probably never have. There is no fear of trial and error, and a keenness to understand the mechanics that lie behind computer games and other screen-based tools. She can put together a powerpoint presentation that puts my efforts to shame.
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