That's a valid view point. We don't watch TV (as in me and my wife) so it seems odd for us to encourage our children to do something we don't. I'm sure your exp

That's a valid view point. We don't watch TV (as in me and my wife) so it seems odd for us to encourage our children to do something we don't. I'm sure your experiences were formative (I watched a reasonable amount of kids' TV when I was young), and my 8 year old reads way more books than I did and I assume gets something out of this that encourages her to love stories, history, wildlife etc. My 5 year old is Lego obsessed and loves being read to (and it's getting much better at reading). I don't think TV is the only place to get this enjoyment from. I think you might also not be appreciating how common computers are in (UK) schools. Both children have lots of computer time in schools (both on iPads and standard computers). I don't think either of them lack familiarity (at least for their age) for how to use them. You might be confusing not having a cheap Android tablet that allows children to play a child-friendly version of Candy Crush with the concept of tech skills; I don't think they're the same.