A rare look at Steve Jobs parenting style may give insight on success of future generations
It’s only natural to think of Steve Jobs as one with his designs, and evangelist of innovation, to the extent of assuming him as an over-indulgent parent in the realm of technology.
Since the iPad and the iPhone, the world has changed, and now, even young children, not only own an internet connected device, like an iPod or an iPhone, but have also more frequent access to it than their own parents.
Amidst of the recurrent polemic surrounding children and technology, an unusual perspective comes from New York Times columnist Nick Bilton, who recalls his interaction with Steve Jobs in 2010 in a blog post last Wednesday.
Much like many others people, Bilton’s initial perspective of Steve Jobs, as well as other shakers and movers in the tech world, was that of being obsessed with his own products, and prone to integration in every aspect of his life and his family.
When Bilton asked Steve Jobs whether his children liked the iPad, Jobs’ answer left Bilton dumbfounded, as Jobs revealed, rather candidly, that his own children have not been given access to iPads, as yet: “We limit how much technology our kids use at home.” Jobs elaborated.
In Bilton’s account, his conversation with Steve Jobs prompted him to ask similar questions with other technology CEO’s, who, amazingly, responded in a very similar fashion.
Most tech executives reported concerns having to do with inappropriate content, bullying and device addiction.
3D Robotics’ CEO, and former chief at Wired, Chris Anderson admitted to enforcing very strict rules in regard to devices, such as instituting time limits, and parental controls.
Blogger, Twitter and Medium founder, Evan Williams, has made available to his children a vast library of physical books, which they can pick from at anytime in lieu of iPads.
Looking back to Steve Jobs, author Walter Isaacson recounts of how Jobs and his children would have dinner “at the big long table in their kitchen, discussing books and history and a variety of things.”.
Bilton’s experience is very telling of the impact of unrestricted device access by young children, and sheds light on how important it is to establish access rules designed to allow a child to understand how to manage electronic devices, in a way that does not let the device take over.
Studies have shown that when a child’s developing years are ruled by addiction, whether it is by a substance or a device, the attention span, and ability to focus on studying, is severely hindered. The fascination associated with the novelty of a high-tech gadget has a much stronger and long lasting grasp on a child’s mind than it has on adults.
Parents who do not establish rules in regard to anything that can potentially distract a child longer than necessary, and away from natural development, carries the risk of endangering the child’s potential for academic success, later in life, by setting a belief system in which a mind will learn to rely on electronic devices, to an extreme extent.
Most parents who understand the need for such boundaries tend to grant their children access to devices, under strict rules, in consideration of their interests and academic requirements, and at any rates, no access to children younger than 14, and no data plan until the child is at least 16.
Of course not everyone agrees to strict rules, and there are different approaches, as Twitter CEO Dick Costolo’s stance is to allow unrestricted access to devices by his children, as long as they are in the living room.