Our child may have asked for an iPad for his/her birthday or for any other occasion. We may have given in to his/her wish out of our love for it or because we want our child to be ahead of the curve in technology. iPads have been heavily advertised and the company is making great efforts to promote them.
But did you know that Steve Jobs, former CEO of Apple and the man behind the iPad and other Apple innovations, didn't let his children use the iPad when they were young?
Many people don't know this, but when New York Times reporter Nick Bilton asked Jobs, "So, your kids are supposed to love iPads?" Jobs replied, "They haven't used them. We've limited how much our kids use technology at home."
But Jobs isn't the only one controlling his kids in Silicon Valley. Many CEOs and techies shield their kids from technology. There's actually a trend among Silicon Valley techies and engineers to send their kids to non-tech schools, like the Waldorf School in Los Altos, where computers are nowhere to be found because the focus is solely on hands-on learning.
Yet CEOs and technology executives, as well as engineers, are developing products, apps, and games to entice our children to do what their own children are protected from!
Another top Silicon Valley CEO, Chris Anderson, CEO of 3D Robotics and father of five, explained to The Times what leads those working in the technology field to keep their children away from it.
“My kids accuse me and my wife of being fascists and overly concerned about technology and say none of their friends have the same rules… That’s because we’ve seen the dangers of technology firsthand. I’ve seen it myself and I don’t want to see it happen to our kids.”
This sheer hypocrisy doesn't seem to bother the CEOs and developers who travel the globe to sell their products to other people's children.
So the next time we think about how to raise our children, we better think (a lot) before buying them everything new that technology offers while they're growing up.
