Kindles and kids

One of my favorite gifts of the holiday season has been my Amazon Kindle.  In fact, I couldn't wait to open it upon its arrival, two weeks before the big day, in a clearly marked Amazon box, fit only for a Kindle, of course.  But that's another story entirely...

But, nevertheless, the box is open and the device, a digital reader, has been nothing if not intellectually captivating, with its endless opportunities for continuous discovery.  This excites me.  Nerdy, right?  I like to think that I came to an appreciation for the whole 'quest for knowledge' thing later in life; after high school and college.  This is not to say I did poorly in college.  However, after starting grad school a year ago January, an excitement for learning has been awakened within.

The Kindle only serves as aid to my newfound appreciation.  Amazon offers a vast library of digital works.  Many out-of-copyright classics are offered free to download or are quite inexpensive.  Libraries are more commonly offering digital versions of books for rental.  And, I've even downloaded a textbook for my current class on the American presidency to the device.  Overall, the Kindle has proved a great gift.

But wait...

Soon after the birth of our first son, I entered what I can only call a period of introspection.  This is probably natural for new moms and dads with the prospects of molding happy and socially healthy sons and daughters.  The fact that my children will first learn from me and their mother is a powerful thought.  Therefore, the earliest actions observed are quite important.  Of course, with intention, we stress important qualities like love, forgiveness, and sympathy in our daily interactions.  But what about the less intentional, observed actions that also display where we place value and how we proceed?

I've had an iPhone longer than I've had children.  My wife has an iPod touch, which at home operates similarly.  I have tried to limit how frequently I use the device in front of my children, as I feel it could send mixed messages with regards to proper communication skills and fear such devices can present obstacles to active listening.  And I am also conscientious about how my kids feel about me giving divided attention to, at most, a glorified facebook checker.

The Kindle is different though in its content.  Rather than surfing mindless tweets or emails, contents of a substantive nature are more characteristic.  I know this.  My wife knows this.  But do my children?  Before we had the Kindle, we subscribed to the Kansas City Star and I would read the paper in front of my children.  Now, I receive the e-version of the same Star, but the Kindle fetches it.  The same is the case with the books I am currently reading.

In most studies aimed at getting kids excited about reading, often the best tip is to read in front of your children.  Show them you love to read, too.  Does using an electronic device change this?  Maybe not.  But, as more and more kids are raised around iPads, Kindles, and Nooks, less kids will be able to differentiate Mom and Dad's Kindle content as newspaper or video game.  The observation becomes: Dad's on his device.  And instead of valuing the act of reading as Dad does, the value is in the device, rather than the practice of reading and decoding.  The parameters of an iPad or Kindle are far different from those of a sports magazine or mystery book.  Just doing anything on an iPad or Kindle is a far cry from just simply reading anything.