by ALANA HOUSE
We had parent-teacher meetings last week, where it was suggested my kids spend more time on the computer.
This was a tricky one because I’d prefer them to spend less. Their current exposure is limited to the occasional session of Mathletics or Literacy Planet. And, while they wait for each other to start/finish their swimming lessons, they might get 10-minutes on an iPad game.
And that’s it. No iPhone. No iPod. No DS. No laptop. No game consoles.
I think computers steal childhoods. So I intend to keep my kids away from them for as long as possible.
I want them to read. Actual books with pages, not Kindles.
I want them to play board games, not Playstation ones. (Their delight at being introduced to Scrabble this week was so divine.)
I want them to play real sports, not Wii.
I want them to paint with brushes, not “share” on Instagram (especially after reading this story on ivillage).
I want them to have a rich imaginary lives, unassisted by the virtual world.
Critics insist I’m disadvantaging them, that they will be “left behind”. But I don’t believe them.
I think I’m putting them ahead, in so many ways. I reckon those technical skills can be picked up pretty fast, when they’re really needed. In the meantime, my children’s creativity is being given a chance to thrive.
Just look at me, the 45-year-old luddite, working in the digital world.
And I hope that keeping technology at a distance will protect them – for just that little bit longer – from the ugly side of the internet, the bullying, the bitchiness, the tween sexualisation.
What do you think? Am I denying my children the advantages of a digital education?
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Top Comments
I'm with you, Alana. My children are 9, 7 and 6 and we only allow them minimal screen time. The older two children are my husband's children from his first marriage and they spend 50% of the time with their mum. When they're at her house, they spend most of their time glued to one screen or another.
At our house, they play boardgames, dress up, make puppet shows, read real books, ride scooters, play at the park, etc - and they love it!
Sometimes they ask us to buy them a DS each and want unlimited access to the TV, but mostly they're happy to play, interact with each other and develop their imaginations and physical skills.
I believe their lives are richer for the lack of screen time, especially seeing the increased social and communication skills and well-developed imagination of our youngest child who is with us all the time.
It is unfortunate that you have used this platform to have a dig at the mother of your step children, it is so sad that you are treating parenting as a competition. More concerned with winning than the welfare of the children.
I think you are doing the wrong thing.
The people I work with who didn't grow up doing school work on Excel, Word and PowerPoint, or doing research on the net are at a major disadvantage to the rest of us in the workplace to whom the software we use is second nature.
I also found using the various computer models, Blackberries and now iPhones and iPads that we use at work very easy to use when compared to my colleagues because of the exposure to technology (computers, video games etc) that I have had my whole life.
I don't even remember 'learning' to use Excel (as an example) and other such programs... I've just always known how to. It is a MAJOR advantage for me at work.
I also played outside, rode bikes, climbed trees, played sport, read books etc. It needn't be one or the other. I was lucky enough to be exposed to both the virtual and the real world as a child as were my brothers and sister. All of us have found our upbringing to be a huge advantage in the workplace.
Limit it to certain times or even types of technology, sure. But, given that the future generations in most developed countries will almost all be like me, you will most certainly be disadvantaging your children by limiting their exposure to this extent at the ages when they could be learning these useful skills so easily.
If you want them to have unlimited choices when it comes to their future careers and studies then you will let them learn the technology now. That may sound extreme but I believe it to be the absolute truth, the world will be a different place 20 years from now, they will need to be able to keep up to succeed.