In their natural habitat, children seem to aimlessly tap at the screen with glazed eyes, ignoring the world around them. The outside world is only a moment’s glance away, yet it seems so distant for them. Instead, cartoon characters with rapid movements, pop-ups with flashing lights, and hypnotic patterns constantly flood the senses. As soon as a guardian tries to snatch the device away and bring the kid to reality, screams and cries follow. Restaurants, sporting events, vehicles, and even the usually amusing theme parks have become easy places to spot an “iPad kid”. This leaves us with several questions. What exactly is this zombie-like iPad kid? An iPad kid can be described as a child, usually of generation Alpha, who has a severe addiction to an iPad or iPad-adjacent device. While these devices have their drawbacks, such as addictive content, a distractive nature, and lower test scores for learners, tablets may mark a pivotal moment in the evolving education of the next generation. 

In the context of the above scenario, kids’ content is often noneducational and addictive. Such content is commonly referred to as Oxford’s 2024 Word of the Year, “brain rot”. Brain rot has some serious consequences for children, being synonymous with addictive online content, which results in excessive use of screen time by children. This overuse of screen time has been shown to reduce language development, increase feelings of depression, develop sleep disorders in children, and a long list of other harmful outcomes. A child’s obsession with brain rot not only leads to negative consequences in children’s personal lives, but it also affects the way they learn. 

One such manner in which it affects learning is the overloading of media, which can have further drawbacks for children. Media multitasking refers to the act of simultaneously switching between and interacting with multiple media sources. Typical examples are watching television in the background while doing homework, listening to music while reading, or scrolling while a video plays. These are all ways tablets are adding to an iPad kid’s already extensive media availability. This lack of stability within the digital constructs has been shown to lower working memory, inhibition, and standardized test scores.

In order to address these effects, experts believe that kids must have guidelines for using tablets. Michael Rich, an Associate Professor of Pediatrics at Harvard Medical School, noted in a podcast that due to the abundance of digital media around us, screen time is an outdated concept. Rich instead emphasizes increasing screen-free time in children’s lives. According to an American Academy of Pediatrics article, the AAP advises that pediatricians should recommend less than one to two hours of screen time each day, discourage screen exposure for children less than 2 years of age, and advise that parents monitor the content children are exposed to while using their screens. In addition to parental guidelines, the organization has a list of recommendations for schools, including educating school boards on the risks of unlimited screen time, working to educate parents to instill parental guidelines, and encouraging the use of technology in places that are not currently utilizing it effectively. 

Moreover, educational programs on tablets are another tool for educators to use. Instead of concerns linked to brain rot on tablets, what if the content children consumed was educational? Screens and interactive media allow children to explore material in a way that is more accessible than a keyboard and mouse and, more importantly, not possible in the physical world. Children can record themselves retelling a story and share it online with peers. They can document their progress in real time and see exactly which goals they are succeeding in and which ones they are struggling with. For example, if a student is working on multiplication, they may have unlocked an achievement badge for multiplying single-digit numbers while still working toward the goal of multiplying double-digit numbers.

This concept, gamification, is being increasingly incorporated into digital learning tools by educational program companies. Gamification can be defined as the use of game-like elements in non-game activities to enhance engagement and interest levels within those activities. Think of continued badges, achievements, level-ups, quests, and more. Gamification has been shown to improve the ability to learn new skills by 40%. Gamification’s use in adolescent education increases brain development and can increase the brain’s rate of processing and maintaining information. Moreover, another benefit of gamification is that it’s not just limited to the classroom. Many apps that gamification has been integrated with, are still accessible for children at home. The use of gamification within tablet-based learning helps motivate and build the foundation for children’s education. A study has shown that tablets, specifically iPads, enhance literacy skills in young learners. Children learn literacy by connecting words, phrases, and stories to the world around them. Simply looking at text is not enough to fully develop a child’s literary comprehension. The digital environment iPads create leads to digital print recognition, where students are able to carry the concepts they learn in one app and apply it in another. The students do not just read stories on their iPad; they create their own. Students can write letters, or if they have not developed handwriting yet, the onscreen keyboard allows them to get their ideas across earlier in development than before. When they write, the students have access to a variety of tools at their fingertips. Digital markers in any color, highlighters, shapes, thin lines, and thick lines. All of these tools, which are now easier to access, add another layer to students’ stories. A layer that, again, helps them relate text to the real world. A common activity for younger learners is using magnetic letters to spell out words and sentences. With apps, however, there is no limit to the number of letters that can be used.

Additionally, coding apps are a viable method to build students’ computational thinking skills. Coding apps teach students more than the technical skills needed to build projects. Apps such as Kodable, Lightbot, and ScratchJr are all viable options for younger learners. These apps promote skills that are the foundation for cognitive, language, and emotional development. Coding provides young learners with environments specifically for them where they are able to solve problems in their own unique ways. Coding teaches students how to think analytically about a problem and implement their ideas in a formulated manner.

However, regardless of apps aiming to combine both education and technology, there is not always a guarantee that online apps are as helpful as they claim. Even with the amount of genuinely educational apps on the market, does every app that claims to be educational have true educational value? Many apps use the term educational, but there are no strict guidelines on the app store to qualify for this designation. To be truly educational, an app must have content that not only teaches kids but also helps them relate what they learn on a screen to the real world. 

Furthermore, iPad kids need to have a social interaction aspect. Assistant Professor of Psychiatry at Tulane University, Dr. Kristen Pearson, discussed the use of applications in an educational setting. 

“Children develop in the context of relationships, so that can’t be in lieu of a supportive, nurturing, attentive adult,” says Dr. Pearson, when asked about app engagement level with her students. “You know, it has to be like something in conjunction with that.” While apps are great on their own, students need to have conversations and enforcement to gain a solid understanding. 

Another drawback is that the passive nature of tablet-based learning lacks the interactive features necessary to truly engage students. Many apps fail to engage the students in what they are learning and instead passively display information, which does not provide the same benefit as other apps. While some apps may seem to be engaging due to their flashy features, children must be actively engaged with the tablet at the core and the material behind the screen.

A 2022 study published in The International Journal of Education in Mathematics, Science and Technology shows the use of tablets within a class to learn mathematics, and also surveyed students to get their opinion on the paper vs. tablet debate. Overall, more students preferred the iPad over paper-based learning. Reasons included that students understood new math concepts better on the iPad, and students preferred to practice new math skills on the iPad over paper worksheets. The students also generally enjoyed math more when they used iPads instead of paper, and some of the kids found the iPad to be more motivating. 

Students in special education also benefit from tablet usage. 

“Being able to communicate, it does a lot for a child’s ability to regulate once they’re able to express their needs,” says Dr. Pearson. Tablets are a more accessible way for students with disabilities to communicate, as opposed to expensive and clunky forms of assistive technology. Tablets give kids who would struggle to communicate on their own the independence they would have never had before. The apps on the tablets are tailored to special education students as well. In a traditional textbook or worksheet, many students would have been uninterested in learning from it. However, with a tablet, the content is brought to them in a format that genuinely excites them to learn.

Moreover, mental health has a direct influence on academic performance, which technology can positively influence. Low emotional well-being has been shown to hinder learning. Dr. Pearson spoke on the mental health benefits of technology when used correctly. When asked about the process of treatment for students undergoing trauma, she touched on the communication benefits. 

“Really at the school and community level, it’s about building relationships and making sure the child knows that they’re not alone and that they have people who understand what they’re going through, that they’re there to support them,” says Dr. Pearson. 

For students who may have trouble connecting and socializing with others in real life, tablets are also there to support them. 

“I think there is a level of comfort that comes with being able to have a little bit of distance between another person,” says Dr. Pearson, “And there’s also, like, these really niche groups where, yeah, definitely someone who’s like, super interested in the same thing you’re interested in, and so your access is so wide to all different types of people.”

Journaling is also an important aspect of mental health. Dr. Pearson recommends to the students she works with that they use their phones or tablets as a tool to journal their thoughts and feelings, as they almost always have access to them. 

The future of the iPad kid and ultimately the future of our world does not reside solely on the device. It is up to parents and teachers to carefully curate the content they choose to allow their children and students to absorb. This includes content that does not just display information in a way that children cannot deeply comprehend, but dually content that invigorates and paves the path to deeper comprehension for students. iPad users, especially children, often require external reinforcement, regardless of how educational the tablet content may be. Social interaction and teacher reinforcement must go hand in hand with what the student learns. Individuals have a responsibility to monitor what their students, younger peers, and siblings are engaging with online. iPad kids have the possibility of being exposed to brain rot on their coveted devices, but that very device could also fuel their success. The iPad kid is left at a crossroads: succumb to their tablet’s addictive measures or utilize the tool to drive the foundation of their innovation. The choice they make will not only affect their own future, but the future of their generation as a whole.