Why iPods and iPhones aren't that exciting

Quick rant. My daughter's iPod Touch came yesterday. My parents bought it for her birthday. Just like everyone says, it is really cool.

We only had a few minutes before bedtime to setup an iTunes account for her and get the iPod talking to our WiFi. The rule is that she needs to buy whatever games or apps she wants. But since we are nice parents, I offered to buy her one starter game.

We started browsing. Sex Quiz was the game that jumped out. It's little icon blazed "sex" on the screen. While we've talked about the birds and the bees with our kids, they aren't too interested right now, so I doubt it made much of an impression.

My daughter takes horse riding lessons and loves all things horses. So we decided to search for a horse game. There are a handful. All of them are pretty much aids for horse race betting. But one seemed like a real live horse game. We downloaded the trial version for free. Oops. It's a game where you bet on horses and then watch the iPod race them around the track, hoping for your trifecta.

Obviously not all iPod/iPhone games/apps are nonsense. Even the ones that are nonsense can be a little bit of fun, I'm sure. But the other day our daughter read Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets because she wanted to take a quick break from reading The Lord of the Rings. She and her sister are helping our family support the village of Muzye in Burundi with their own money. They love the fact that we support and pray for a little girl in India through World Vision. They love to go outside and play.

In some ways I'm happy that she has an iPod. She needs to loosen up and enjoy gadgets and have fun (she's our serious, rule-following child). But I'm also aware that the world of iPods is overwhelmingly stuffed full of junk. Mindlessness. Un-virtue. Distraction. Escape. I don't think we live in a world where we can ignore such things. It's just a tiny bit sad as a parent to get to that point when your kids have to start dealing with them.

That said, I'm excited for the opportunity to parent well. For the opportunity to walk along side my children as they grow up into adults. Help them make good decisions and use stuff to do good things.

Comments

[Lbkwrm]

Get her a free ereader like stanza. Then she can take books with her and won't have so much room for junk apps. It's also a good tool for teaching her to wade through the chaff:)

[leah]

just discovered your blog & your work. excellent!

self-plug re your daughter's iTouch. if she has any interest in yoga / exercise, search Nike Training Club. there's a free program. it's fun! i am the yoga teacher. =) this is just newly launched.

be well.

[Jaryd]

You can set parental controls on the iPod touch so it requires a four digit pin to open the app store. That way you can regulate what apps are downloaded. You can also block Safari if you want.