LifeProof have recently conducted some research about parents’ and children’s use of smart phones and tablets. With more than half of the 2,000 parents studied allow a child aged three years or younger to use their phone or tablet, it seems that use of technology by younger children is growing all the time. This doesn’t really surprise me as all of mine have been given the chance to play with my phone before they reached 3 years old – although of course it has been limited!
The research also revealed that seven in ten parents feel their children are brighter because of early exposure to technology. While four in ten parents admit that they sometimes use their smart phone or tablet as a high-tech babysitter to keep their kids entertained, nine in ten also believe that using gadgets can be educational for their kids. I would agree with this, if the apps that are used are chosen wisely.
Broken or damaged phones is obviously one of the costliest downsides to allowing your child to play with your phone or tablet. I learned this the hard way when Mr Z was a baby, he water damaged my phone and as this was really my own fault for letting him play with it the warranty would not cover that at all. I had to pay out for a new one! I regretted my mistake and then I did start to be a little more cautious about how the children treated my technology.
LifeProof have the most heavy duty phone and tablet protection that I have come across! They sent me a case for my iPhone 5s and it is now feeling much more protected and ready to handle being used by the kids! This will be useful as their iPad is a 1st generation iPad and some of the apps are not available on there. I had been reluctant to let them use my phone as it is brand new so I don’t want it broken or damaged so soon, but with the LifeProof case on I would worry less. I went for a Fre case which is waterproof, dirt proof, snow proof and shock proof. It is basically everything-proof and is the most comprehensive type of case which they offer!
Here’s my phone, fully protected!
Have you had any technology disasters with your kids damaging any phones or tablets? Let me know in the comments!
As well as Mr Z’s phone damage as a baby, the kids have also broken the screen of our galaxy tablet – I’m still quite gutted about that one. I do wish I had got a case or some protection for that, as it’s such a waste to see things damaged.
Anna Marikar, mum of four and seasoned blogger, has spent over a decade sharing her parenting journey and passion for kid-friendly crafts and free printables.
Her easy-to-follow craft ideas and practical parenting advice have transformed In The Playroom into a cherished resource for parents.
This would be good for my Dad too – he’s a builder so his phone is always at risk too!
Looks great
Touch wood the kids haven’t broken anything ….. yet!
My husband left the tablet on the end of the bath and my son found it while he was IN the bath and dropped it in the water… Bye bye tablet… :-/
my girls are always messing around with the phones, I use an old one now that’s virtually indestructable
great idea as our phones and tablets are expensive if we have to replace them!!
This looks fab, I wonder if it would have saved my Nokia Lumia from a broken screen? I do think it’s important to introduce children to technology, in a monitored way. Use of these is just as much of a lifeskill as anything else in today’s world.
I believe that smartphones, tablets (iPad etc), should come with protective covers. As the items should be as practical, useful, safe and hygienic as is possible. These items are used so much nowadays, that to be without them due to repairs being required could be very inconvenient.