No one is talking about the impact of kids seeing parents read on phones instead kids seeing parents read on books. When kids see a parent reading a book there's no doubt as to what they're doing. They are reading.
OTOH, even if a parent is reading the most wholesome text on the most wholesome app, the fact that they are doing it on a phone admits some possibility of confusion in the eyes of the child observing. There is a nonzero chance that it could be interpreted by the child as the parent watching a video. Or playing a game.
Children have a very powerful desire to imitate, and it should not be ignored in the debate on literacy.
I don't think the kid even has to be confused about what the parent is doing.
If a kid sees a parent on the phone all the time (reading), they want to imitate being on the phone. The fact that the parent is reading is a second level distinction that matters less to young kids, especially when they can more easily imitate "using the phone" by playing games or watching videos.
My 3yo gets about 10m a day of Khan Academy on my phone. That and video calls to mom are ALL he gets on my phone. Hopefully this is setting expectations for this particular technology/medium.
100%! We read to our kids a TON from the day they were born -- no tricks or gimmicks, we just read to them. A lot. And they've always seen us reading actual books. YMMV, but our kids learned to read early and well and they both still enjoy reading. A lot.
Yup. Kids think my phone === games/videos. They know it can do other stuff but why would anyone use all those boring apps when games or videos are available?
OTOH, even if a parent is reading the most wholesome text on the most wholesome app, the fact that they are doing it on a phone admits some possibility of confusion in the eyes of the child observing. There is a nonzero chance that it could be interpreted by the child as the parent watching a video. Or playing a game.
Children have a very powerful desire to imitate, and it should not be ignored in the debate on literacy.