Kids and Mobile Use, what should parents do?
Posted on December 16, 2015 by Greg Yoder
Grand Rapids, Mich.. (KFK) -- Hundreds of studies tell us our kids are becoming more and more mobile savvy than ever before. A study from the journal Pediatrics reports 97% of children under 4 use mobile devices daily regardless of their family income. Another study from the American Association of Pediatrics says kids four and younger should spend 30 minutes a day on a mobile device.
You may not agree with these studies, but the reality of our world today is that mobile devices are a part of our culture. Like it or not, children in today’s culture are embracing the technology.
One study encourages parents to spend 30 minutes a day on your mobile device with your child, especially young children. Why? Because it encourages you to read to your child. It also teaches kids at an early age the appropriate use of a mobile device. It’s a training ground, much like how you teach your kids baseball, piano, or other everyday activities.
Keys for Kids encourages you to do that, too. One of the ways you can do that is to download the Kids for Kids mobile app at iTunes or for Android. Our app will give you a Keys for Kids devotion that’s centered on the truths of Scripture, while helping children understand best practices in technology.
But that’s only the beginning. Keys for Kids also has Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest pages that can be a great source of information and interaction for you and your kids.
Our radio website, keysforkids.net, offers 24/7 audio programs and music for children. Geared toward kids ages 6 to 12, this online radio station can be heard on mobile devices or on home computers.
While we’re excited about our current projects, Keys for Kids needs to do more. That’s why we just launched the Keys for Kids Growth Initiative. It’s a $206,700 project that will propel Keys for Kids into the future. It will provide the funding needed to take our app to the next level. The funding will also help us update our web server infrastructure, and pay for the additional tools and staff salaries—all of these things will work together to provide a plan to make our programs self-sustaining.
We’re excited about these possibilities! We’ve already had a commitment of $50,000 to help with this investment. We’re in the process of asking others to get involved. Can you imagine not only having the technology to meet kids where they are today, but also having a platform that’s so popular that kids want to be on it whenever they can?
The research is there. Kids aren’t listening to radio as much as we did when we were kids. While it wasn’t new technology when we were growing up, it was still a technology that was intriguing to us. Technology is not only intriguing to kids today, it’s also how they communicate and learn.
Would you like to invest in the Keys for Kids Growth Initiative? We’re encouraging friends of Keys for Kids Ministries to help raise $36,000 of the $206,700. We’re asking foundations and key partners to take care of the rest.
If you’d like to help us, go to https://www.keysforkids.org/ForPartners/HowYouCanHelp/Donate.aspx.