向iPad妥协，还是教会孩子如何独处？.docVIP

向iPad妥协，还是教会孩子如何独处？ 　　I recently watched my sister perform an act of magic. 　　We were sitting in a restaurant， trying to have a conversation， but her children， four-year-old Willow and seven-year-old Luca， would not stop fighting. The arguments―over a fork， or who had more water in a glass―were unrelenting2. 　　Like a magician quieting a group of children by pulling a rabbit out of a hat， my sister reached into her purse and produced two shiny Apple iPads， handing one to each child. Suddenly， the two were quiet. Eerily3 so. They sat playing games and watching videos， and we continued with our conversation. 　　After our meal， as we stuffed4 the iPads back into their magic storage bag， my sister felt slightly guilty. 　　“I don’t want to give them the iPads at the dinner table， but if it keeps them occupied5 for an hour so we can eat in peace， and more importantly not disturb other people in the restaurant， I often just hand it over，” she told me. Then she asked： “Do you think it’s bad for them？ I do worry that it is setting them up to think it’s OK to use electronics at the dinner table in the future.” 　　I did not have an answer， and although some people might have opinions， no one has a true scientific understanding of what the future might hold for a generation raised on portable screens.6 　　“We really don’t know the full neurological effects of these technologies yet，” said Dr. Gary Small， director of the Longevity Center at the University of California， Los Angeles， and author of iBrain： Surviving the Technological Alteration of the Modern Mind.7 “Children， like adults， vary quite a lot， and some are more sensitive than others to an abundance of8 screen time.” 　　But Dr. Small says we do know that the brain is highly sensitive to stimuli， like iPads and smartphone screens， and if people spend too much time with one technology， and less time interacting with people like parents at the dinner table， that could hinder the development of certain communications