Three of Beijing’s top tech dads put their iPhones down for a few minutes to speak to beijingkids about how they balance digital life with family life. They reveal which gadgets their kids love to use – from educational tools like LeapFrog and TeachMe: Kindergarten to just-for-fun games on the Wii and the iPad. And we ask the important question: Where do you draw the line when it comes to screen time?
American Richard Robinson is the co-founder and President of Youlu, a start-up company in the mobile social networking space. He has two sons, Declan (6) and Aidan (4).
What role does technology play in your family?
We embrace technology since our businesses are both in the tech space but for the kids, tech plays an ancillary role.
Do you share tech with your kids or do they have their own gadgets?
Both. The kids have their own PCs which have kid-friendly mice. They also have some cool Leapfrog stuff that I wish I had as a kid, but unsurprisingly they love to use the grownups’ iPad and iPhone.
How do you balance tech time at home?
House rules are a maximum of two hours of screen time per day, which includes TV, PC or any other interactive screen. We limit [screen time]to after lunch only, so on weekends the mornings are for toys or reading only.
What products do you recommend for kids?
We love LeapFrog products. On their PCs, we’ve installed some old-school interactive CD-ROM material, like Living Books and JumpStart, which are standing the test of time very well.
Which gadgets do your children love the most?
As much as we try to steer the boys to other items, I have to say that the iPad and iPhone have trumped everything else. The intuitive swiping motion has got them hooked.
What’s your favorite educational tech for your children?
The LeapPad by LeapFrog rocks. It’s an electronic children’s book platform with a pen to interact with the books in audio.
Do you and your kids explore new tech together?
Mostly on the weekend, but to be honest, even though I’ve been a tech entrepreneur in China for 14 years, it’s usually the lil’ guys who are teaching me half the time!
American Brent Cohen is the Managing Director and General Manager for
Ybrant Digital, a digital marketing company offering solutions to brands, agencies and publishers worldwide. His son Brandon is 12 years old, and his daughter Hannah is 10.
What role does technology play in your family?
Our family is extremely digital. We have friends who joke that Brandon was born with a mouse in his hand. It’s an occupational hazard, I suppose, since I’ve been working in the tech sector since 1995 and the Internet has always been “on” in our household. My kids have grown up surfing the Web for information and playing games online. We’ve also got the usual assortment of iPads, iPod Touches, Kindles, Wii and other tech-driven toys to occupy our time.
Do you share your gadets or do your kids have their own?
We have a family computer that is shared by everyone. Until this year, the family computer was the only way our kids were allowed to go online. With Brandon entering Grade 6 at WAB this year, he was required to get his own MacBook. He’s now primarily on that computer while Hannah still uses the family computer. We bought them an iPod Touch because they wanted to have their own [music]play-lists and games. When we moved to Beijing, we bought Brandon a Kindle so he could stuff it full of English-language books. My wife and I each have our own iPads, which we let the kids use when we travel … sometimes.
How much tech is too much?
When the kids were younger we used to talk about “screen time” which included TV, computers and gaming. We would limit them to a few hours a day. But we seem to have gotten away from this as the kids became older and needed to go online for homework or to Skype or e-mail their friends. Besides, I’m the last person to talk to them about setting limits as I’m online pretty much 24/7.
Do you place any restrictions on tech time?
We have a family rule that the kids can only go online in a public area (usually our family room) where an adult can supervise. We’ve had a number of discussions about what is – and is not – proper online behavior and the kids have heard a number of lectures about the dangers lurking in cyberspace. No Skype sessions or [Internet] surfing is to take place behind closed doors.
What gadgets do you recommend for kids?
When it comes to gaming systems – which can also be quite educational – I’m a big fan of Nintendo’s Wii system as it gets the kids up off the couch. The iPad is a fantastic educational tool for very young kids as they quickly learn how it works and will have hours of fun interacting with the virtually unlimited supply of programs available.
Which tech do your kids love the most?
We can’t live without an Internet connection. We watch TV from the US, Skype with family and friends, and use it to look things up all of the time.
What’s your favorite educational tech for kids?
For younger kids, I’d strongly recommend the iPad. It’s great!
Do you take time out to teach your kids about tech?
We learn tech things together all of the time. Projects from school require learning how to use presentation (Apple Keynote or Microsoft PowerPoint), design (Adobe Photoshop) and word processing software (Microsoft Word). Each new assignment seems to bring with it new learning opportunities. WAB’s teachers integrate technology into every subject and the kids pick up these tools so quickly. It’s only a matter of time before my children will be teaching me new tricks!
Canadian Victor Wong is the co-founder and Chief Technology Officer of SmarTots, a kids’ education app for mobile devices. He has two boys: Victor (11) and Ethan (6).
What role does technology play in your family?
As a tech entrepreneur, software developer and hardcore geek, I am surrounded by technology all the time and this means my family ultimately has access to it as well. For me, technology is my job, but it’s also my passion, and this has definitely rubbed off on my kids (but not my wife, yet). One of my proudest moments as a father was when my older son asked me, “Could we make a game together, Dad?”
Do you share your gadgets or do your kids have their own?
Mostly we share technology – I need a lot of it for work, so sometimes I need to take some devices away for a while so I can test things on it. My oldest son Victor has a cell phone, but not a smartphone. Also, one thing we do is make sure that all of our technology is in a shared area. We don’t allow our kids [to have]their own computers in their room to make sure they are seeing content that is appropriate for them.
How do you balance tech time at home?
I think my wife and I would have two different answers about this. For me, there’s never too much tech, [while]my wife would probably prefer to have less than a dozen gadgets and power chargers on our dinner table all the time. But even though I love tech, I do believe it’s very important to learn how to manage your time with it. Just because you have a TV or a computer, doesn’t mean it should be [on]all the time. I think that as parents we have to try set a good example. I had a nightmare moment about a year ago when I looked up at the dinner table after typing a “quick” e-mail on my phone and realized all of us were staring at a gadget of some sort and not paying any attention to each other. The American Academy of Pediatrics has recommend children get no more than two hours of screen time a day, and we’ve adopted this rule in our house – for all of us.
Do you place any restrictions on your kids’ tech time?
Absolutely, I think one of our key roles as parents is help kids learn how to manage technology. We set limits on how much time they can play [with tech], and also finding content that is appropriate for them. We have pretty strict rules about the level of violence that the games can have. On the other hand, we don’t set limits when they are using devices for productive purposes, like homework or reading.
What gadgets do you recommend for kids?
Of all gadgets we have in our house (and we have a lot), the one that everyone wants to use is the iPad. I’m amazed at how easy it is to use – I’ve seen kids who can barely walk pick it up and start playing right away.
What tech items do your children love the most?
We like games that we all can play together, especially music games like Guitar Hero and Rock Band, and stuff that gets you moving around like Wii Fit. My oldest son liked Guitar Hero so much that he started learning how to play real guitar. On the iPad, my younger son loves a puzzle game called Cut the Rope.
What’s your favorite educational tech for kids?
My oldest son loves English comic books, but we had a hard time finding them here. Now, with the iPad and the Marvel app, he can get almost any comic he wants right away. My younger son likes the TeachMe: Kindergarten app. We’re also big fans of the Laz Reader series, which are graded readers for younger kids. It’s like having access to English bookstores any time we want.
Do you take time out to teach your kids about tech?
All the time! I really believe that technology can be used to bring families together as long as you find things that you can share and you manage it properly. One of the great things about technology is we are all learning about it together.
