CAES Newswire

 College of Agricultural & Environmental Sciences UGA Cooperative Extension
Menu
Published on 07/05/18

Smart speakers can be amazing tools but parents need to be cautious

By Christina Conner

“Hey Alexa, why do trees have leaves?”

“Assistant, add 50 boxes of Oreos to my shopping cart.”

“Siri, play ‘Scarface’ on TV.”

Kids say the darnedest things, and with the advent of smart speakers, what they say can have some unforeseen consequences.

Smart speakers can make busy parents’ lives easier while providing an opportunity for curious kids to learn to carry out simple tasks, like adding items to the grocery list or turning off their light at night with their voice. But smart speakers also present parents with new challenges, said Associate Professor Diane Bales, University of Georgia Cooperative Extension human development specialist.

Questions remain, but smart speakers do have potential

Smart speakers present an opportunity for kids to find answers on any topic, like space or animals, but they also present an opportunity for chaos. Questions remain about the impact of smart speakers on children’s social and psychological well-being. The jury is still out on what those effects may be, if any, according to Bales.

“We don’t know yet,” Bales said. “They’re so new that there hasn’t been time to research them.”

“Overuse of technology, in general, is not a good thing for kids,” she said.

On the other hand, smart speakers can spark a child’s desire to learn about new topics and get kids into the habit of investigating their world.

“The speakers give children easy access to information in ways that even younger kids can understand,” she said. “Kids understand asking a question and getting an answer, so the speakers can be good tools for those kinds of things.”

Companies are catching on

That said, there are lots of things parents don’t want their kids learning from a smart speaker.

The best way to monitor a child’s smart speaker use is by being cautious, paying attention and monitoring their physical use. Bales suggests keeping the speaker in a public place in the home, outside of your child’s bedroom, and using the smart speaker’s parental controls.

“One good thing about smart speakers is that you have to do things out loud, which limits what kids can access without their parents' knowledge,” Bales said.

Companies have instituted a number of parental controls in their speakers to take the monitoring burden off of parents.

Amazon recently launched a kid-friendly Echo smart speaker. Other companies, like Google Assistant, have launched kid-friendly tools, such as Pretty Please, which requires children to use a polite tone of voice and say “Please” and “Thank you.”

The Amazon Echo Dot Kids Edition comes with a colorful, protective case and uses Amazon’s FreeTime subscription service to block content, read Audible books aloud, set time limits, pause Alexa, and many other features that allow parents to control what their child accesses through Alexa.

For more research-backed answers to questions about children and technology, visit www.fcs.uga.edu/extension/early-childhood.

Authors:
Christina Conner
Experts/Sources:
Diane W Bales
UGA Extension offers mindfulness and skills training to help the incarcerated reclaim their hope. CAES News
UGA Extension offers training to help the incarcerated reclaim their hope 09/30/24 Cal Powell
A train rumbles through the heart of downtown Tennille, Georgia. The southbound train cars are loaded with kaolin, the white clay that serves as the city’s main export. Avery Franklin sets his leaf blower on the ground, takes a seat on a park bench under a pecan tree and begins telling his story. He was 19 years old the first time he went to jail. He’s 63 now, released four months ago after a lifetime of petty crime. He’s sitting 3 miles from the Washington County, Georgia, jail cell where he spent most of the last three years of his life.
Radon, an odorless, colorless and tasteless gas, is the second-leading cause of lung cancer in the U.S., but it can be detected and mitigated with the help of local University of Georgia Cooperative Extension offices across the state. CAES News
UGA sponsoring radon poster contest for Georgia students 09/13/24 Rebecca Cantrell
Radon, an odorless, colorless and tasteless gas, is the second-leading cause of lung cancer in the U.S., but it can be detected and mitigated with the help of local University of Georgia Cooperative Extension Service offices across the state. Radon comes from the breakdown of uranium in granite and rocky soils, so Georgia’s wealth of granite bedrock increases the chance of household radon for its residents.
LiceCheck CAES News
A back-to-school guide to the nitty-gritty on head lice 08/12/24 Allison Johnson
As students return to school, head lice often become a common concern for administrators and parents. Understanding how to prevent and manage head lice infestations is crucial for maintaining healthy environments in schools and at home. Allison Johnson, the Pesticide Safety Education Program coordinator for the University of Georgia, provides essential information and advice to help mitigate the spread of this pesky pest.
For some students, heading back to school feels like entering a pressure cooker. Parents can ease anxieties by helping their students develop strategies for handling stressful situations. CAES News
Families should make a plan to manage back-to-school stress 07/29/24 Merritt Melancon
As summer draws to an end, both students and parents need to prepare for the return to school. While a new backpack and a collection of notebooks and pens might top their to-do list, students also need to prepare emotionally, said Diane Bales, a human development specialist for University of Georgia Cooperative Extension and a professor of human development and family science in the UGA College of Family and Consumer Sciences.
Coastal Acres CAES News
AgrAbility program offers a Georgia farm family a new path forward 07/03/24 Jordan Powers
When a half-ton bale of hay fell off a wagon in 2019, striking the back of Donald Adams’ head, the future of his family farm fell into immediate uncertainty. More than 200 head of cattle are worked on the land at Coastal Acres, a Dearing, Georgia, operation that involves intense manual labor. “Donald sustained a C5-C6 spinal cord injury and was paralyzed from the neck down,” said Laura Adams, Adams’ wife and co-owner of Coastal Acres.
A Master Gardener with UGA Extension teaches a class at the GROWL Fulton County Demonstration and Teaching Garden. (Submitted photo) CAES News
Volunteers uplift statewide UGA Extension outreach programs 04/22/24 Sheri Dorn, Keri Gandy Hobbs
University of Georgia Cooperative Extension depends on thousands of volunteers who give generously to extend program impact and reach in support Extension missions. During Volunteer Appreciation Week April 21-28, UGA Extension celebrates the many volunteers who donate their time to facilitate 4-H, Master Gardener and Family and Consumer Sciences programming. Volunteers across Extension contributed over 324,200 hours in 2023, the equivalent of more than 155 full-time employees.