It is quite possible that you’ve heard the term “iPad kid”, often used for children who seem to be permanently glued to their iPad or tablet to the point where it is usually the only thing that placates their bad behaviors. These devices are not only used to consume addictive content, but they are also increasingly being applied as parenting substitutes. Yet, it is not only young children that can be called “iPad kids”, but anyone with an internet and entertainment addiction. This is someone who is always fixated on a screen, whether it is a smart phone, TV, laptop, or, yes, an iPad. It is also a person who limits their social interactions due to these devices. So, basically, a majority of the people in the 21st century.
This has led me to the conclusion that my dad is an iPad kid. And, I bet yours is too.
Tell me if the following scenario is at all familiar:
You’re sitting on the couch, a single cushion away from the diagnosed “iPad kid.” You say something funny to your mom (or other parent, sibling, friend, etc.) and your dad laughs. He laughs at your joke. Or, supposedly he does, until you look over and find that it is not you who he is looking at, but rather the iPad he holds in his lap. It is open to Facebook or YouTube or some other social media site. Your dad is watching some video that you probably saw five years ago at this point, and to your complete bafflement, he is laughing his ass off. That video might be any manner of things. It could be a compilation of people fainting while on a roller coaster ride. It might be some dude slipping on some ice or falling into a pool. It could be of a dog or a cat or even a baby. It could be a baby riding a dog that slips on some ice then falls into a pool before fainting on a roller coaster. Either way, the iPad kid laughs, not at your fabulous joke, but at something on their screen. That instant feeling of pride you got from someone finding your quip funny dissipates and you are left staring at the iPad kid who is staring at the tablet in his hands. Yikes, that got real specific there in the end.
Your experience might not have happened exactly like mine. It could have been the iPad kid asking you a question that you had previously answered minutes before while he had been sitting right next to you, oblivious to the world around him. Or it might be your dad rewinding the TV multiple times at the same scene of Paul Blart: Mall Cop or Ace Ventura: Pet Detective (these scenes will usually have some variation of a butt joke). You might only know about the aforementioned experience due to the hollering laughter that you can hear from the other side of the house. The iPad kid might also constantly turn his screen towards you to show you a meme circa 2012. That same device is usually tilted at an angle that makes him perch his reading glasses at the end of his nose, thus bringing his chin down to create multiple folds underneath. (If you have answered yes to any of these experiences, you may be entitled to financial compensation.)
We might shake our heads at him, we might be exasperated, but in the end we laugh with him. We enjoy his company even when he has no idea what realm he’s in. We will repeat ourselves a thousand times if it means filling him in on our lives. We watch those movies that make him explode in laughter and we eventually do too. We make inside jokes about those laughs, and those videos, and him not paying attention. We make articles about him being an iPad kid because you really love him a lot, even with all his quirks.
In a world filled with technology meant to capture your attention, it’s easy to become an iPad kid. Shutting the world out becomes effortless with these devices at our fingertips. So, yeah, maybe all the upcoming generations becoming iPad kids isn’t the greatest thing for the human race. They might grow up with weird social skills and internet addictions, but look at yourself and say that isn’t true about you too. We’re all a little bit odd. We laugh at our devices instead of paying attention to the world around us. We all have that one scene in that one movie that sets off our giggles. We show our friends and families those videos and pictures that have us roaring in laughter. But maybe, just maybe, instead of criticizing that, we can look at our changing world and be thankful that we can still smile and laugh. I just sincerely hope that you don’t ever encounter that baby who’s riding a dog that slips on some ice then falls into a pool before fainting on a roller coaster.
Featured Image by Sotiris Gkolias
