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Gap in child protection: Stiftung Warentest sharply criticises Apple
by Martin Jungfer
«What are you doing, dad?» – «I’m reading!»
22.4.2026
Translation: Natalie McKay
Pictures: Michael Restin
Reading’s good – unless you’re doing it on a screen in front of your kids. I often feel guilty when I’m using my digital subscriptions, but talking more about what I’m reading would help.
It’s like I’m playing a game of hide and seek with my sprogs. Whenever my son gets distracted by scrolling on his device while looking for a new audiobook, all it takes is a glance from me and his «hearing aid» disappears in a flash under the nearest cushion. Caught red-handed. Get that evil screen out of my sight. Similarly, I roll my eyes when my daughter records yet another voice message on her smartphone at one-and-a-half times the normal speed. After all, I certainly don’t want my children to spend any more time than necessary looking at a screen. Go outside, do something, read a book – but please put your phone away.
On the other hand, I’ve developed some amazing skills myself: as soon as I sense movement in the room, my smartphone slips out of my hand and lands on the sofa. I can’t get caught out. I certainly don’t want my kids to see me constantly glued to a screen.
In the German study Eltern in der digitalen Welt (Parents in the Digital World) (linked page in German), not even half of the respondents say they consider themselves to be good role models. I get it. It’s tricky to be certain you’re handling this issue the right way. Even if everyone follows reasonable rules and puts their screens away when spending time together, a problem remains. A teacher put it this way at a parents’ evening: I can only see the back of the screen.
Scrolling with a guilty conscience
From an onlooker’s perspective, it makes no difference whether I’m playing Candy Crush or reading Shakespeare, doomscrolling or poring over a newspaper. A screen’s a screen. That’s why my guilty conscience’s always there, even when I’m just reading about world events on the screen. To the person opposite me, it all looks equally silly. It was different in the analogue era.
The newspaper spread out on the breakfast table also seemed to say, «Don’t talk to me right now.» But for legitimate reasons. There was nothing negative about the phrase «Dad’s reading the paper.» There was nothing more to say, nothing to explain. Once he’d read the headlines on the front page, dad used to be able to sit back and pore over the sports section and cartoons in peace. This never led to a discussion about whether the kids deserved more gaming time in return.
Nothing speaks for itself anymore
It’s an entirely different story in 2026. The internet’s the place to go if you want to stay up to date. Getting your news online makes sense and is the right thing to do. But while a face behind a newspaper makes a statement, a face behind a screen can mean anything. So it’s only natural that my children ask, with a smug tone, «What are you doing, Dad?», when I’m staring at my smartphone, lost in thought. And my equally indignant response: «I’m reading the newspaper!»
Sometimes I’m surprised to feel like I’ve been caught red-handed in moments like these – even when I’m reading the New York Times editorial. And to feel like I’m setting such a wonderful example when I flip through a real magazine in front of my little ones. As if that would encourage them to subscribe to print publications in ten years’ time. Sometimes I even secretly scroll with my phone hidden behind a magazine or a book I know I won’t have time to read until evening.
While a book cover or magazine title speaks for itself, only the device is visible in the digital world. Kids learn to interpret that at an early age.
A keyboard? That means work.
A large screen with a big keyboard leaves no doubt. Because that’s what work looks like. Adults sit in front of it, squinting and putting on their grumpy weekday faces in the dim glow of the screen. Looking so joyless that anything goes at the desk and with the keys. At first glance, it looks like filing a tax return’s on the agenda, if nothing else. I reckon that, with this setup, I could watch the Lord of the Rings trilogy or gamble away the family fortune at an online casino without being disturbed.
Even my iPad still has a professional air about it as long as a keyboard’s attached. It makes me look like I’m still in serious mode, even if I’m just sitting at the dining table scrolling through attention-grabbing headlines. When you’re sitting in front of a screen in the presence of kids, you tend to be mindful of the impression you’re giving them. As soon as the keyboard’s gone, I’m suspected of mindless scrolling, if not more. Maybe that’s why everyone wants keypad phones again – they just give off a completely different vibe. Typing looks professional. Swiping doesn’t.
All of this is partly an act – more appearance than reality. I think we talk too much about screen time in general. And not enough about what’s being done during this time.
Why content matters
What we do, allow and read online doesn’t speak for itself. We need to bring this to people’s attention, share it and comment on it – offline too. Of course I want my children to read books. Or grab one of the magazines piled up on the coffee table every now and then. But it’s more likely that in a few years we’ll be sitting across from each other, each holding a screen. Or at least with the knowledge we’ve gained from reading one.
According to the Kids Online Study 2025 (linked page in German), not even half of Swiss parents regularly discuss which sources are trustworthy. I don’t want to make the same mistake. To make sure we don’t end up living in different worlds in the future, I need to stop feeling guilty and speak more about what I read online. Why I’m reading it. And why it matters where information comes from. This is much more important than whether it’s shared on paper or on a screen.
Michael Restin
Senior Editor
Michael.Restin@digitecgalaxus.chSimple writer and dad of two who likes to be on the move, wading through everyday family life. Juggling several balls, I'll occasionally drop one. It could be a ball, or a remark. Or both.
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