'If you want to have fewer “iPad kids”, you better be okay with one thing'

"With the way you all act at the presence of kids, parents either give them screens or start putting their hands on them, and frankly I like the first option more." 

ICYMI: Lots of people - both parents and non-parents - have opinions on kids having iPads in public.

If you search “iPad kids”, you’ll be flooded with a bevy of results, with headlines calling for the devices to be “abolished”, or serving harsh judgement of screen time.

Now, I would understand if you simply couldn’t handle another hot take on the issue. But, bear with me for this fresh take.

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"You better be okay with kids being kids"

Meet Jordan Simone, she’s a 27-year-old, single mother who seems quite over the infinite judgement parents continue to receive. 

In a recent TikTok, she called out the double-standard that occurs when kids aren’t on devices. That is: they will probably be a little bit noisy and maybe interrupt those around them. 

She argues that if you want to have fewer “iPad kids”, you better be okay with kids being kids. 

“If you don’t want to see little kids, toddlers on their iPads at dinner, then you’re gonna have to accept the fact that, for a while, they’re going to be loud, obnoxious, even disruptive to what you, at a separate table, are up to,” Simone says in the video, which has since gained almost 50,000 views. 

According to her, it’s unrealistic to expect children to act perfectly and politely in public from the get go.

Instead, she says they need to learn this over time and keep practising by being out and about.  

The mum-of-one went on to lament the shame parents can be subjected to if their kids are being disruptive with side-eyes or disapproving looks. (The same side-eyes that they would most likely receive if their child was looking at a screen, mind you.) 

“If for every single time your baby cries or screams or laughs too loud somebody glares at you… you’re gonna do everything in your power to get them to be quiet,” she says.

Image: TikTok/jordxn.simone

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"Children are part of society too!"

While Jordan acknowledges that reliance on electronics is a more nuanced conversation, she says that those without small kids need to have a bit more patience. 

“...until you increase your tolerance for children just behaving like children, even if it’s inconvenient, you’re going to see iPad babies.”

Of course, we need to have all the caveats around the appropriate times and places for kids to be kids, as well as the extent of disruption.

But, I imagine that Simone’s not thinking of debuting her child at a 5-star restaurant. Instead, teaching patience at a cafe or during story time at the library. 

@jordxn.simone

the way yall act people either give their kids screens or start putting their hands on them, and frankly myself and others like the first option more. #kid #toddler #toddlers #ipad #restaurant

♬ original sound - jordxn.simone

In a surprising turn of events for the internet, many people jumped to support her in the comments section.

“Children are part of society too! They cannot learn without an immersive experience. I will never complain about a kid being a kid in public,” a viewer called Bri wrote. 

Another added, “Can we talk about also how [people] think disruptive means kids chattering in an inside voice. I’ve gotten so many nasty looks for my 1yo babbling in a speaking voice (not screeching or anything).”

Many were also quick to point out that plenty of adults can’t go without their phones, and to that we say, touché. 

Originally published as 'If you want to have fewer “iPad kids”, you better be okay with one thing'