Bill Gates — a co-founder of the Microsoft Corporation
Bill has 3 children. They were not allowed to use smartphones and tablets until they turned 14. According to Gates, they complained about not being able to have different gadgets while their friends already had them. However, the parents stood their ground.
As soon as the Gates children had their devices, the family applied several ground rules about the use of different gadgets:
- The gadgets could only be used to do homework or to chat with friends.
- They were not allowed to use any gadgets while eating or before going to sleep.
- The parents had the right to limit the time of using the gadgets.
Chris Anderson — the CEO of 3D Robotics, a drone-manufacturing company
Chris’s children follow several strict rules that serve to minimize their use of smartphones and laptops. According to his words, his children complain that none of their friends follow the same rules.
However, Anderson says that he doesn’t want his kids to depend on electronic devices and suffer from the changes it might bring to their lives. The caring father also wants to protect them from the abundance of erotic content and humiliation from anonymous people that can be found everywhere on the internet.
Dick Costolo — the former CEO of Twitter
Dick decided not to limit the amount of time his kids could use gadgets. But he constrained them with territory borders.
The Costolo children can use their gadgets only in the living room. This means they can’t take a tablet to bed before sleep or get stuck on the internet during lunch.
Alex Constantinople — the CEO of the OutCast Agency, one of the world’s biggest IT partners for business
Alex is a strict parent regarding the use of gadgets and everything connected to them. Her youngest son is not allowed to use gadgets on weekdays. The older children can use their devices for no more than 30 minutes a day.
Evan Williams — the founder of Twitter and co-founder of Pyra Labs, which developed the web application Blogger
Evan and his wife, Sara, have 2 sons. Neither of the boys has an iPad.
Instead of gadgets, the shelves in Williams’s house are packed with books. According to Evan, those books are enough to find any necessary information for self-entertainment in one’s spare time.
Steve Jobs — a business magnate and co-founder of Apple Inc., NeXT, and Pixar
It seems that all the members of the Jobs family would be equipped with the latest types of ultra-thin modern gadgets and always have one in their hands. However, it’s far from the truth.
Jobs once revealed that he didn’t allow his children to use an iPad. He tried to make them love real-life conversations more than gadgets. That’s why the whole family loved to spend time talking in the evenings or during dinnertime.
What conclusion can we make?
Each reader can decide on the advice from these people they might want to follow. We’ll know whether their rules were right only when their children become adults and make their own decisions in this world.
However, no one can argue the fact that the business people listed above know much more about the IT world than we do. So maybe they like to think ahead.
What do you think about such limitations of gadget use for children? What kinds of rules do you have in your family? Share your parenting experience in the comments.
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