One mother extols the educational value of the phone with the story of how her 3 year old can spell words like "starlight and fireworks". While parents consider this a demonstration of intellect, educational psychologists are concerned. I like the quote from Jane Healy, an educational psychologist in Vail Colorado: “Any parent who thinks a spelling program is educational for that age is missing the whole idea of how the preschool brain grows. What children need at that age is whole body movement, the manipulation of lots of objects and not some opaque technology. You’re not learning to read by lining up the letters in the word ‘cat.’ You’re learning to read by understanding language, by listening. Here’s the parent busily doing something and the kid is playing with the electronic device. Where is the language? There is none.”
What's a parent to do? Moderation! We are now living in an age where the computer and electronics are a normal part of life. Hey, there are no building blocks at the restaurant to entertain the kids. So, if you want an adult conversation, electronic toys are great. The thing to remember is that electronics are stimulating a different part of the brain than other activities. The goal is to raise a well-rounded child that can use whole/part concepts to build with blocks as well as use visual/spatial sequencing skills to play a computer building game.
The New York Times article looks at guidelines by the American Academy of Pediatrics. The recommendation has been that children should not watch any TV until they are past their second birthday. Dr. Gwenn Schurgin O’Keeffe, a pediatrician who is a member of the academy’s council of communications and media states that the current guidelines view cellphone/computer use as the same as TV.
As a parent I understand the allure of the iPhone. My concern is that a balance exists between electronic entertainment and other activities. If my son had his choice he would be playing on the computer all the time. Children need time to hang around, be bored and find something to do. When electronic are taken away, children must find something else to do. They can read, if desperate, they may even go outside and bounce a ball or build something out of whatever they can find. One thing I know is that given a choice my son, and most children, will choose electronics over his own imagination. Electronics provide many stimulating activities, and these activities can be educational, but children need equal, if not more, time to be off-line creating their own entertainment.
