Is Your Kid’s Gender Influencing The Tech You Let Them Use?

Yahoo Parenting

This article originally appeared on Fatherly

Out of the toy store and into the Apple Store, the “Pink vs. Blue” debate has gone digital. A new study called Parents and Platform Perceptions from consulting firm PlayScience polled 501 U.S. parents of kids ages 2-9 about how they manage technology with their kids, and one finding in particular may come as a surprise: Your kid’s gender might influence what gadgets you let them use, and how you use those gadgets to manage them.

  • Girls Don’t Need Digital Babysitters: Once parents have committed to those purchases, they’re more likely to use them during difficult parenting moments (getting them to bed, when they’re upset, taking public transportation or trying to teach them something) with their sons than their daughters.

  • Boys Get What They Want: When purchasing tech for their kids, the parents in the study were more likely to focus on “child friendliness” (is it safe and easy to use?) for their daughters and “child preference” (a nice way of saying “demanding”) for their sons.

  • Phones vs Tablets: Maybe because of the above, girls tend to receive kid’s tablets while boys are 3 times more likely to receive smartphones or video game devices.

Basically, if you have a son, he’s getting the outcome that he wants (the right gadget and more exposure to it); if you have a daughter, she’s getting the outcome you want (something you don’t have to worry about, which she’s not overly-reliant upon). The lesson, as always, is: only have daughters.

The rest of the study is worth a look, and contains some interesting insights on how families use tech and consume media. One thing it doesn’t get into is what parents should do about the potential disruption all this stuff creates between them and their kids. For more on that, check out our “Crib Notes” on Catherine Steiner-Adair’s The Big Disconnect, which is packed with useful insights on parenting in the digital age. As for how old your kid should be before you let them wait in line for the new iPad, you’re on your own.

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