Why Big Tech Execs Don't Let Their Kids Use Technology. The Reasons Are Bound To Alarm You.

Remember that ad showing toddlers trying to use a magazine like an iPad? If you haven't seen it already, it's provided below.

Adorable, isn't it. How many parents use these devices to keep their kids occupied, quiet, even engaged? More than we'd imagine. It's just all too easy.

But what if you found out that the people creating these technologies don't let their kids near them? What if you learned that the tech executive million and billionaires are sending their children to schools that have zero technology? What if you read that tech executives will only let their children use technology for 30 minutes on the week-end, and never during the week? 

As Arsenio Hall used to put it: These are things that make you go hmm.....

Here are the reasons why tech executives don't let their kids use technology, and why you shouldn't either:

1. They know more that we do: Those people creating these technologies understand their pitfalls more than we do. They're exceptionally smart, well-educated people who have high expectations for their children. And working in the tech industry, they've witnessed tech-abuse on off-the-charts levels. According to a telling article in the New York Times, Steve Jobs didn't let his children have iPads and such. According to his biographer, Walter Isaacson, at the dinner table Steve would talk to his kids about history and books, and not a computer or iPad was around. 

2. Too young, too addicted: Your child can become addicted to a tablet or mobile phone without being old enough to know it. And tech execs understand that. Chris Anderson, the former editor of Wired Magazine, claims that his kids consider him and his wife tech-fascists for the restrictions imposed on their technology time. Anderson claims he doesn't want his kids becoming addicted like he's been in the past.

3. More tech, more problems: Tech execs don't want their children to be exposed to the dark-side of mobile devices, such as pornography, bullying, and addiction. Anderson maintains the strict rule of no screens in the bedrooms--ever. And some parents will restrict their children from all social media so the children don't have to worry about things posted coming back to haunt them later in life. 

4. Learn better without them: There is a trend among computer executives to send their children to schools that have absolutely no technology simply because the learning is more impactful. A Google executive with a degree in Computer Science from Dartmouth claims his grade 5 child doesn't know how to use Google. Evan Williams, the founder of Blogger, Twitter, and Medium, and his wife claim that in the absence of iPads and other mobile technology, their boys have hundreds of real books they can read anytime. Technology hinders learning and creativity, both of which take place better with hands-on activity with real materials. 

Here are some rules from top tech execs you can begin to impose now to save your children:

1. No technology gadgets during the week when child is under 10. Between 10-14, computers can be used, but for homework only.

2. 30 minutes of technology per day on the week-end.

3. No computers or tablets, etc, in bedrooms.

4. No social media for teenagers, simply given the tracking and profiling of every statement made.

5. No cell phones until child is 14 years old and older. If you have an old iPhone and want to give it your child, disable the wifi and cellular connection.

6. Make distinction between working on a computer and just watching it. If you child is creating something like a movie or a piece of music, be lenient--but regulate it to the living room. 

7. Create a library of good books. With all the computer consumption going on, books have become somewhat cheap--a perfect time to start a library, if you haven't done so already. 

8. Take your kids to the library every week to stock up on books--it'll keep them occupied and away from the computers.

9. Parental restrictions: Would you leave your child in the downtown core of a major city at dusk and drive off? If not, then why would you let them have free reign of the internet? Put some good parental restrictions on all websites and content--after a while, they'll grow tired of fighting it and get their information from books. 

This is not some kind of knee-jerk against technology--these restrictions have been imposed by the very people creating the technology in the first place, including the legendary Steve Jobs himself. If that doesn't give you pause, and question your child's use of technology, I don't know what else would.