Dear Ms. Smartphone: I made the mistake of asking my nephew what he wanted for Chanukah and got a quick answer. He wants a subscription to the Apple Arcade so he can play games. It’s only $4.99 a month so it’s not going to break the bank, but I am wondering whether this is appropriate since he’s only seven years old. Summer
Dear Summer: To answer appropriately I need a few more pieces of information. You didn’t mention whether this seven-year- old reads well, whether he intends to play Arcade games on an iPad or on a smartphone, and critically, how his parents feel about the subscription. But even if he reads well and his folks are agreeable, I would still have reservations about gifting a subscription to the Apple Arcade or to the Android equivalent, Google Play Pass.
The main reason is that by age seven, pre-teens are already spending a lot of time on their devices. Electronic games, with whizz-bank graphics and heated story- telling, are replacing the comic books and fantasy board games that pre-teen boys used to immerse themselves in.
Remotely Social:
Electronic games are social, and your nephew might enjoy playing Arcade games with friends after school or during a sleepover. However, if he becomes proficient he might then seek game-level challenges, reaching out to remote (distant) competition. You just don’t ‘who’ a seven year old encounters online. Moreover, in a previous DearSmartphone, a parent sought advice because their ten year old was hustling over the Internet, surreptitiously offering gaming tips and tricks (for-a-fee) to younger players. You probably have read that video gaming can become addictive, particularly for young boys. Here is a good source on that. Younger readers may push back on his findings, for sure.
Your Pad or My Phone?
Finally, before you gift, consider “where” your nephew is going to download the Arcade games. It’s a NO to download the app to a smartphone. Seven- year-olds should not have personal smartphones. And, it sets a bad example to play them on parent’s devices. When we pull them out in social situations, the mere presence of the phone will affect how we behave and how we relate to each other.
The iPad, the alternative choice for downloads, share similarities to smartphones. These devices can receive phone calls and have front cameras. They are also easy to hide in a bedroom or under the covers. Chances are that your nephew’s school is already using them, or overusing them, for reading and math drills (See last week’s post). Ed-tech continues to grow despite a growing literature that for teens, mental health and well being are compromised by excessive time online. For younger children, digital media may impact the development of brain areas responsible for visual processing, empathy, attention, and early reading skills.(Hutton, 2022). Your seven -year- old nephew sits squarely in the middle of these two age groups.
I wish I had an alternative gift suggestion for you. Perhaps roll back to an earlier time, and imagine how seven year old boys had fun and used their imagination before adults decided to fill that playtime with so many electronic devices.