The FINANCIAL — On February 9 Logitech released survey results about children’s tablet and mobile phone use, confirming that kids are indeed getting their hands on expensive tech at a younger age, and proving that it’s more important than ever for families to use protective cases, such as the Logi BLOK family of cases for iPad.
The survey, conducted by Wakefield Research, polled more than 1,000 parents in the U.S. and U.K. with children ages two to seven, revealing patterns of mobile device use for children and corresponding parental attitudes.
The results suggest that while a majority of children use tablets and smartphones, parents are divided on whether they want their kids using tech so early. Although more than 92 percent of children are using mobile devices, just 51 percent of parents believe it’s appropriate to introduce kids ages five and under to mobile devices. And, in the U.K., most parents (60 percent) believe you should wait until after age five to share tablets or smartphones with their children.
This may be due in part to the fact that children are often mishandling these devices, be it their own device or a device belonging to their parents. The survey said:
Parents report that approximately half of children (47 percent in the U.K. and 56 percent in the U.S.) are frequently mishandling mobile devices. This accounts for 47 percent of U.S. children and 36 percent of U.K. children who have damaged the tablet or smartphone they’re using.
More than 45 percent of parents are handing their mobile devices over to their kids (45 percent in the U.K. and 49 percent in the U.S.), while more than one in three children have a device to call their own (35 percent in the U.K. and 40 percent in the U.S.).
“There’s no denying it, screens are increasingly a larger part of childhood and at a much younger age,” said Michele Hermann, vice president of mobility at Logitech. “And after the holiday season, there is surely a new wave of tablet owners under the age of seven. Our survey underscores that while parents might not agree on whether young children should regularly use mobile devices, they recognize how important it is to protect their devices from damage. An overwhelming 70 percent of U.S. parents and 63 percent of U.K. parents say that the most important feature of a case is impact protection. We designed the Logi BLOK family of cases with cushioned square corners to protect the iPad from drops up to six feet high onto concrete, so parents can hand it off to their kids without fear of damage.”
While parents may be split on what age is appropriate to bring tech into their children’s lives, they agree on what it should be used for; 88 percent of U.S. parents and 84 percent of U.K. parents think that educational purposes are the best reasons to allow children to use mobile devices. For those parents looking to introduce tech to their children, Logitech has the following tips:
Use a kid-friendly browser designed with games and parent-approved websites to ensure that your children are accessing approved sites.
Time limits can help keep boundaries in place. Set a timer on your mobile device for 30 minutes, so when it goes off, your child will know it’s time to move on to another activity.
When you take care of your tech, your kids will, too. Teach your kids the right way to handle and care for tech, protecting your devices with cases such as the Logi BLOK family.
Protecting Your Kids’ Tech
The Logi BLOK Protective Shell, the Logi BLOK Protective Case and the Logi BLOK Protective Keyboard Case are designed to protect your iPad from impact, without adding unnecessary bulk or weight. The square corners have extra-absorbent polymers to give your iPad more protection where it needs it most – the corners. The absorbent polymer structure supports and flexes with your iPad upon impact, ensuring it can withstand drops from up to six feet high and survive surfaces as hard as concrete.
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