A lot of people admire the likes of Bill Gates and the late Steve Jobs for their business acumen and contributions to the development of computer technologies. But did you know that you can also learn a thing or two about good parenting from them?
Psychologists, educators, and parents are now realizing the full effects of using gadgets like smartphones and computers on children and teens. That’s why experts can’t help but praise the way Gates and Jobs raised their own kids long before the negative consequences of excessive technology use have become more known.
Ahead of the Times
Educators Matt Miles and Joe Clement particularly pointed out how the two tech figureheads didn’t let their children play with the products they helped to develop that often. The educators concluded that they were aware of the power of technology to become addictive, a thing that some people weren’t aware of at first.
The Microsoft co-founder, for example, admittedly set a limit on his daughter’s screen time after she began having an unhealthy attachment to a video game. Another thing Gates did is not letting his three children have a phone until they were 14 years old.
Meanwhile, Jobs said before his 2011 death that he actually forbid his children from using the iPad. The former Apple CEO found it important to limit how much technology his kids used while at home.
Interesting Approach
Miles and Clement also found it interesting how it would be Gates’ and Jobs’ children who would likely opt out of using the electronic devices used in schools today despite the fact their fathers played a great hand in the creation of such devices.
And if Jobs’ kids were in school today, they would probably be using the iPad for more hours in school than they ever would at home. This reliance on gadgets has been a fixture of many American public schools due to the practice of educational technology (ed-tech) principles.
On the other hand, specialty schools like the ones in the global tech center Silicon Valley are notably low-tech in comparison.
One Upside
But despite his strict household policy on gadgets, Gates does believe that technology has a lot of benefits in the classroom. The philanthropist has actually developed a keen interest in personalized education, which involves the use of electronic devices in the creation of tailored lesson plans.