My good friend has given up on her cellphone. It's her 1-year-old son's favorite toy -- so it's often in his mouth or he's holding it up to his ear. Obviously, he has no idea what it is. He just likes the sounds it makes, especially when it plays music. Kids are beginning to engage with technology younger and younger. The market research firm NPD just released a report saying the age at which children start interacting with electronic media, gadgets, hand-held digital-media toys and such dropped, from 8.1 years in 2005 to 6.7 years in 2007. Is it healthy for younger children to begin what will probably be a life long relationship with gadgets at 7...or 1?

I'm doing a stint as a PBS Parenting Expert right now, and my first question was whether an hour of computer time is too much for a 4-year-old. I'm not a child development expert, but it feels like 4-year-olds should still be spending time with other children playing, getting dirty and touching stuff. So an hour or two is probably the maximum amount of time for a 4-year-old to be spending on the computer.

There was also new research released by Jupiter about tweens and cellphones. You guessed it -- more parents are buying them for their kids, as a protective measure. According to the report:

Parents surveyed said that nearly half of 12- and 13-year-olds would have a mobile phone by the end of 2007, while a third of those ages 10 to 11 would get their own mobile phones.

Nearly a fifth of parents added their children to existing plans because it was affordable. The cutoff age was 10 years old, with parents saying it was unnecessary to add kids younger than that to their plans.

Most parents who added children to their calling plans said that they wanted their kids to be able to reach them. Incentives like free phones are also helping convince parents to add children to their mobile calling plans.

As kids begin to become "tethered" to gadgets and technology at earlier ages, it's more important than ever for parents to play an active role in setting limits and encouraging moderation. It's just too easy to spend hours on Club Penguin or attached to an iPod or texting in the middle of the night on a cell phone. It's also too easy to call mom and dad for advice or help with every little thing when they're on speed dial. It's important to teach kids to be independent, too. Parents have to tell kids and tweens when to turn it off and set clear boundaries around using all of these tech toys...I'm not sure putting phones in your mouth is such a good thing ;-)

MIT professor Sherry Turkle had a great quote in this New York Times, reg. required, article on virtual worlds for girls (you can also read my article on this over at BusinessWeek). She said: "If you're lucky enough to have a kid next door," she said, "I'd have a play date instead of letting your kid sit at the computer."