How To Balance Life And Technology For Kids? 425
brs165 writes "Being a newly minted geek father as of 4 months ago, I've thought about problems I've never had reason to consider before. One issue which I'd like to hear from the ./ crowd is introducing technology to their children. What got me thinking about this was a blog post about 'Nature-Deficit Disorder', and I think it brings up some good points. I grew up playing in the local woods and creek with minimal tech until our first computer when I was 13. I hear stories from coworkers how some of their kids/grandkids hating going outside because it is boring and they'd rather stay indoors. Should I avoid introducing them to technology until absolutely neccessary, or is it a matter of achieving a balance?"
Toys that run on kid-power (Score:4, Interesting)
There's a reason why they'd rather play with the box than the toy. Respect and support that creativity.
First off... (Score:5, Interesting)
Once you wrap your mind around that, you can start to prepare yourself to teach them to deal with those things on a rational level.
You're thinking ahead, at least, and that's the first step to success. Good luck, you'll need it.
Pete (father of 8)
Re:Your influence is the number one thing (Score:5, Interesting)
Try to keep them balanced (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:Speaking as one of these kids... (Score:2, Interesting)
I literally grew up on those shows. I basically watched only PBS. Now I just watch Discovery Channel.
I spend most of my time in my room on the computer when not at school. However I do get outside. I bike to school. I volunteer at the local theatre, so I am not inside all the time. I have been under limits, but they just don't work. I mean, I had all ready been on the computer for hours before so imposing limits would be stupid. Like the parent said, teach your kids that they only have so much time. Imbed it into their minds so they don't become used to spending longs hours on the computer.
Re:Your influence is the number one thing (Score:4, Interesting)
i think most kids WANT to play outdoors. the thing is to find something THEY like. for example if you keep trying to play baseball and the kid would really rather ride a bike, they are going to resist. kids generally have an abundance of energy and if they don't get that out, they will end up overweight and/or medicated for having no attention span in the classroom.
if the kids show too much interest in technology you can always work that into outdoor fun. something like http://www.geocaching.com/ [geocaching.com] is total nrrd fun, and requires leaving the house and poking around.
i guess as much as i was not outdoors, i was not sitting in front of video games or a computer. i was taking things apart and making things. that seems to be lost on a lot of young kids today. the nerdlier ones are more likely to be computer kids. they will look up something online instead of taking things apart to see how they work. hopefully things like Make Magazine will spark a resurgence in DIY gadgetry? that seems to be vital to mechanical creativity. it's like reading about how to ride a bike instead of getting one one and doing it.
Reality beats simulation (Score:5, Interesting)
Which kid learns more about nature? The one who goes down to the stream, falls in and gets wet and finds a few frogs hiding under some branches, or, the kid that plays magic schoolbus field trip game?
Apart from exposure to nature, there are many other things that create a real framework for kids. Yesterday we (myself, wife + kids) planted 60 trees in a grid. We used pythagoras to set things up square. We did multiplication/division etc to calculate how many rows and trees per row etc. We talked about nutrients etc as we added compost that the kids had helped to make some months ago. We talked about harvesting, pruning etc. On top of this, the kids got some exercise!
Re:Simple... (Score:1, Interesting)
Re:Old quote.. (Score:3, Interesting)
Testimonial... (Score:1, Interesting)
Here I am many years later just learning how to build model rocket and wishing that my dad had taken some time to think about our best interests and not our immediate desires.
How old before you give your kid drugs? (Score:1, Interesting)
The Matrix tries to scramble the kid as much as possible to prevent that plan from coming to fruition. There are many, many ways that this is done. Technology is one of the vectors through which this attack comes. Televisions and computers are huge time wasters; they offer virtual reward for real time and effort, and they seed messages designed to limit and alter one's perception of reality. --I've seen little kids watching VHS copies of "Sex and the City", read fashion magazines, etc., and grow into their early teens with some seriously messed up ideas which will make adult life far more difficult than it needs to be.
I'd keep kids away from wireless equipment, especially during those years when the brain is still forming. If you love your child, keep him or her away from microwave communications tech or their brains will have a much higher fudge-factor as they develop. (And for those who disagree on that point, yes, I know there isn't enough power in a microwave signal to damage cells through heating effects. It's not that simple, and the way the Telecoms deal with the real ways that the damage is done is to not talk about them at all while lamb-basting the heating and cancer claims.)
-Of course, some people are born here to learn directly from misery and thus deliberately direct themselves towards it. And that's fine, but it doesn't mean you shouldn't attempt to make the playpen clear of alligators while you are still in somewhat charge of what experiences come into your children's lives.
I'd keep computers semi-available, (Dad's laptop), but boring in the lives of kids and would certainly not have a television in the house at all. Television is hypnotic brain-rot filled with 95% lies. Period. A laptop which can play DVD's and selected programs is a better solution, where all the media is deliberately chosen by the participant, and the LCD screen does not have that same metabolism & brain-slowing effect that the cathode ray tube does.
Whatever happens, though, know that the sad/happy part is that you can't stop your kids from exploring the world, and you shouldn't try. If you refuse to have a television in the house, chances are your kid will crave TV and find ways to bridge the embargo. All rules will be broken, and that's just the way it is. But if you make it difficult, and talk openly about the realities, and if you don't mess up your kid by allowing anger and Dark Side stuff into your family, then your kid should have a much better chance of making it. Watching TV over at a friend's house automatically limits the length of time s/he can spend. Yeah, they may be watching pornos, but that's going to happen anyway. The real damage comes from long, repeated exposure. A thousand hours of prime time in your livingroom is going to cause far more damage than watching fifty hours at the neighbors' house.
Provide Love, Encouragement and Protection from the hostile aspects of world, without trying to avert your kids' eyes from what is out there. Don't attempt to, "Keep Them Innocent". Innocence is another word for "Ignorant and Naive". But for goodness sake, don't have a television in your living room, and if they want a computer, make them buy it themselves and explain to them that computers have addictive qualities and that every ounce of effort spent in this world is an investment in oneself. A broad portfolio is important for a well balanced individual.
-FL
Re:No Tech Until 6 (Score:3, Interesting)
I have an eidetic memory, and have never been accused of being dumb. In school, the only thing I was ever accused of, actually, was being incredibly arrogant, because it took embarrassingly long for me to realise that other kids didn't like me pointing out how I was smarter than them.
I'd really like to find out what study that is, because I have had technology around me all my life. Literally, all my life. I started reading when I was 2 years old. By the time I was 3, I spoke English, French, and German, and could read English and French. I was given a kit and built a transistor radio from it when I was 6. I cannot remember ever *not* having a TV, and can even remember when my parents upgraded from a Black&White TV to a colour TV. The thing is, that was when I was 2. My first computer was bought when I was 4, and I was writing programs in Basic by the time I was 6. When I got to school, I actually taught the other students how to use the computer, because the teachers were computer illiterate in those days. (still are, but that's another story)
I remember waking up at 4 o'clock in the morning to watch my cartoons on Saturday and Sunday, and then when the Football started, I can remember retiring to the computer to play some Space Quest 1. Or Police Quest 1, and turning on the sirens to go through traffic lights because you couldn't tell whether they were green/red on an orange-scale monitor w/ Hercules Monochrome graphics. And yes, for a long time, Mr. Wizard was my favourite TV show. That got replaced by Bill Nye for a few years, and now it's Discovery Channel. There's only two shows that aren't on Discovery that I watch with any regularity, actually: Stargate SG1 and Corner Gas.
Suffice to say that I spent an awful lot of my youth staring at flickering screens, and according to your psychology friend, becoming retarded because of it.
To be fair, I did a lot outside, as well. My house backed on to a provincially-significant wetland that's still there. I used to go out in the brack and play wargames with the neighbours. I played Soccer, Rugby, and was very active in aquatics.
I guess what I'm getting at is that I don't think it's the act of staring at a screen that causes problems in kids. I think it's the lack of truly meaningful stimulation. One thing I never had was a console. I also never had any games my parents didn't buy.... when I was growing up, that was a Pinball game, Math Blaster, the Carmen Sandiego series, and Sierra RPGs. Pretty educational software, really. Or at least stuff that makes you think... compare it to Halflife, for example, and they're not in the same category at all.
I'd allow games. At least, I'd allow games like Civilization (which is really just a very complicated Chess) and RPGs. But I'd also never buy my kid a gaming console, and I'd make sure my kid got into sports and other kinds of physical activity. Monkey see, monkey do. The best way, then, would be to go for lots of bike rides with the kid, take the kid x-country skiing, buy and actually use a treadmill (I'm on mine 60 minutes a day), and maybe get into martial arts. But above all, don't let the TV do the raising of your kids. Get rid of cable TV, or use the V-Chip to block non-educational channels without password. And spend time with the rugrats. Every Friday, one of my parents took a day off work, and they'd alternate so both took 2 Fridays a month. They'd stay home, and spend time with me and my brother, making sure we didn't kill each other, and didn't spend the day inside doing fsck-all.
Oh, and if you're in an area where it's possible, kill the air conditioning. It'll take some getting used to, but I'd wager that one reason kids spend too much time indoors is because it's too damned hot outside.
Re:Hold off on the tech. (Score:4, Interesting)
But couldn't you have said the same thing 50 years ago about different technologies? "Take away the bicycles, radios, BB guns, baseball bats, and mass-produced comic books, and what are kids left doing? Nothing."
Kids have always used objects to entertain themselves - they're usually called toys. Sitting around reading comics or novels wasn't any better than sitting around playing Halo, but even video games today can exercise your body as well as your mind (see Dance Dance Revolution).
But I think the premise here is flawed to begin with. We don't have to worry about what kids might have if we took away all their modern technology, because they do have modern technology. Feel free to point out problems with their use of it, but at least stay focused on the world we live in. Even if we're going to posit a situation where a kid who's used to playing Xbox all day is forced to do without--to go live on a desert island or something--entertainment should be the least of our concerns. We might as well ask how he's going to keep warm without all those new-fangled jeans and T-shirts.
IMHO... (Score:1, Interesting)
Re:Don't buy into the fear! (Score:2, Interesting)
Well, actually, it is more dangerous. A lot of crimes are worse now, simply because the criminals know that it makes sense to kill all the witnesses. We've had a run of convenience-store robberies lately; the guy walks in, kills the clerk, and robs the joint, for less than $100 each time. Criminals didn't used to do that when I was a kid. They used a gun, but didn't kill unless someone resisted. Now they don't wait.
But you can't keep the kid in a bomb shelter forever, so you've got to teach the kids to be responsible, and let them play outside.
> My wife won't allow our daughter to play outside unless she can physically see her the whole time
> because she is sooo worried about "pedophiles". Totally insane.
Eh, maybe. Maybe not. I don;t know anything about your daughter, wife, of the neighborhood. Eventually, though, she's going to have to take off the leash. If you have neighbors, does your wife know them? Does your daughter play with the neighbor kids? If the answer to those questions is 'no' then I'd suspect your wife needs to loosen up.
> Also, I've noticed that my kid has her own personality and interests. You will need to become
> interested in things that interest your child as well as sharing your interests with him or her.
Yep. Even the stuff you hate, if only to have some input if it gets out of line (music choices, clothing choices, etc.)