Today is Father's Day and I wondered if the geek dads who work at Adviso had equally geek children... They give us their opinion on the controversial subject of iGeneration through their expert eyes, but above all their parents' eyes.
In a world where we adults are so connected that we need to create a special unplugged day , what about our children? Are they as connected to electronic devices as we are? What use do they make of it? How does this influence family dynamics?
All of Adviso's dads readily admit that their children (aged 1 to 8) have access to electronic devices at home: smartphones, tablets and laptops (even have their own devices). It seems that this is not so far from reality since a recent American study finds that before the age of 2, 38% of children have already used a tablet or a smartphone.
Etienne Delagrave, ergonomist at Adviso, wrote in the introduction to one of his articles : “ From 18 months, my son was able to unlock my iPhone by sliding his finger on the screen ”. Indeed, the efforts made by companies like Apple in terms of ergonomics and user experience have led to such an instinctive use of mobile devices that it makes them accessible even to very young children.
Moreover, 40% of parents master technology and its use thanks to their children. Christophe Bélanger, SEO specialist at Adviso, admits that Tristan, his 6-year-old son, often discovers keyboard shortcuts or hidden views that he himself did not know! But they are still children and their innocence will always make us smile… Especially when the granddaughter of Louis-Dominic Parizeau, our director of operations, tries to unlock the family desktop with her index finger on the screen!
Beyond their demonization, technologies can be integrated into the environment of young children, in a balanced way and thus participate in their development. Adviso dads claim that their children use technology a lot for educational purposes. In this sense, among the 40,000 children's game Apps available on iTunes, many play on the playful and interactive dimension to learn.
It is therefore possible for parents to positively engage with technologies, even when it comes to entertainment. Jean-François Renaud, partner at Adviso, explains the system set up at his place: “My children have their own devices (iPod); but depending on whether they were wise or not, they win or lose periods of 15 minutes of play”.
Technologies are also an opportunity to connect with your children since many games are interactive and multi-player. Etienne Delagrave and his 3-year-old son Noah develop their creativity with GarageBand available on iTunes or observe the stars together with the SkyMap application for Android.
Adviso dads are therefore pro-techno for their little ones, as long as the use is reasonable and well supervised in order to avoid slippages! Jean-François shares an anecdote on this subject: “ one day I discovered that my son had shared a video of a guy inflating a balloon by farting in it on my facebook wall! He had used the iPad at home… ”.
And you, are you a geek dad (or parent)? Are your children too?
Note: Thank you and happy birthday to the dads and future dads of Adviso: Roger, Jean-François, Fares, Yannick, Thoma, Loic, Etienne, Christophe and Louis-Dominic.
