As a youngster, I had a TV in my room. However, I wasn’t given free rein to watch whatever I wanted, as my mother had more than effective monitoring skills. In fact, I don’t recall even watching a lot of TV. I had my few favorite shows, but my mom told me that in addition to school and homework, I read a lot, played with the neighborhood kids and went to the YMCA for judo and gymnastics classes. Since I was an only child, my mom kept me very busy. A sedentary upbringing? Absolutely not.
Enter the digital era. I recently read that today’s children are becoming multimedia gurus. According to a survey by ChildWise, “children as young as five are turning their bedrooms into multi-media ‘hubs’ with TVs, computers, games consoles, MP3 players and mobile phones all within easy reach.” Yes, five years old! GEEZ! And apparently the parents are having a challenging time keeping up with these techno kiddies.
Ok, so on one level, you’re probably like, what’s the big deal? Isn’t this good, you ask? Won’t this knowledge just equip them with the skills needed for the future? Many parents believe that this technological ‘know-how’ helps with homework (although the survey found that education wasn’t a motivating factor for being online for these kids).
I have little doubt that their comprehension and ease of use of technology will prepare and propel them into an increasingly digital world. And in fact, their digital nativity will undoubtedly leave many digital immigrants, including their parents and teachers, scrambling to catch up on their knowledge of technology.
However, there are some people who are very concerned about this embrace of technology at such a young age. According to the survey mentioned above, these kids aren’t reading as many books – reading for about ½ hour. They’re not playing outside, but are instead joining up online to play games. There’s also research that suggests these youngsters will be deficient in reading and writing and that they’ll find competing in an adult world rather difficult.
The debates about the advantages/disadvantages of growing up digital are fascinating and informative. Yet I’ll confess that looking back on my childhood, I had one that was balanced with school and play. That was ‘my normal’. I dare guess that projecting into the future, these net children will be positive about their upbringing as this digital era will be ‘their normal’.
