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ith the right guidelines from parents, gadgets and apps can help kids develop knowledge and skills.

When her second-grade daughter Joy started conversing in English, Fenty Tjandra thought it was something she had picked up from school. But then the businesswoman-turned-homemaker realized the influence must have come from beyond the few hours Joy spent in the classroom each day.

'€œThere'€™s this app she plays on her tablet all the time, something about little girls helping their mothers in the kitchen. I started paying closer attention and found that my daughter is actually mimicking and picking up words from that game,'€ said Fenty, who lives in Surabaya.

'€œAnother favorite app is the translator. My kids just love it and it has built up their vocabulary so much.'€ Each of her two children, aged 8 and 6, owns a Samsung Galaxy Tab 3, which they use to study and play everyday, except during exam weeks. Fenty also closely monitors what they watch, afraid that they might stumble upon adult or graphic content.

The 37-year-old said both of her children began using technology early on for good reasons. '€œTechnology can be a positive thing for children, if we set certain guidelines. What I'€™ve noticed from my kids is that technology has helped with their creativity and analytical thinking,'€ she added.

However, many other families, like Vivi Waluyo of East Jakarta, have found gadgets to be detrimental to a young child'€™s creativity and imagination, robbing them of sensory and motor stimulation.

It used to be that her two children, aged 8 and 7, spent hours with their eyes fixed on the small screens.

Such detachment worried the 37-year-old former journalist. '€œIt was almost as if they didn'€™t care about what was happening around them. It'€™s one thing to adopt technology, but to be lost in it is not something I'€™d like to happen,'€ she said. Gadgets are now banned from Vivi'€™s home.

As parents in Indonesia and across the world weigh in on the quintessential question of whether having technology at their children'€™s fingertips is a good or a bad thing, psychologists have found that parents are the ones who set the example.

Surveys indicate how mobile devices have become like electronic babysitters, with more and more parents handing over either a smartphone or a tablet to keep their children entertained. It is no wonder that the number of hours children spend '€œmedia-multitasking'€ has increased substantially.

A study by the Kaiser Family Foundation (2010) pointed out that children between 8 and 18 in the United States are now spending an average of 7 hours and 38 minutes per day using entertainment media. However, given their ability to perform '€œmedia multitasking'€ the real tally is 10 hours and 45 minutes, all packed into seven hours.

Across the globe, the phenomenon isn'€™t much different. Data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics published in April 2012 showed that almost a third of 5-year-old to 14-year-old children have their own mobile phones, as reported on childpsychologist.com.au.

Citing the increase in the time spent with technology and the decrease in time spent playing outdoors, experts are warning of the impact of technology overuse on children'€™s physical and psychological development, as well as academic performance.

With a growing middle class that is eager to spend, Indonesia is no stranger to consumption trends set by the yuppies-cum-parents. Gadgets have become the one constant companion for the modern family, always keeping little eyes and little hands busy, even in the midst of social functions.

'€œI like it for its convenience. Gadgets are the new toys for children,'€ said Tangerang-based entrepreneur Marini Sianipar, 37, whose first-grade son and toddler daughter are savvy iPad users at home and yet excel at school. Both kids are required to play sports as well as take English courses. The key, Marini said, was balancing sedentary time and outdoor play.

For better or for worse, it looks like the trend is here to stay, as technology has become an integral part of parents'€™ lives.

Now more than ever, gadget-using parents have the responsibility to help their children navigate the world of technology.

Thus, psychologists are calling for better parenting in order to minimize the negative impact of gadgets on child development. According to author and child-development specialist Dr. Stevanne Auerbach, no app or gadget can ever replace crayons, puzzles, books and stuffed animals. In other words, the right way to embrace technology is to strike a balance with what is new and what has already proven beneficial for generations of children.