The toddler is seen working magic as she presses the screen and squeals in delight as the screen changes. Later, the same toddler can be seen furiously swiping her finger across a magazine and looking fully dismayed that the magazine is not “working” the right way. This is a description of a popular video on YouTube and begs the question, “When is an appropriate time to expose children to computers, smart phones, and tablet computers?”
The recommendation of the American Association of Pediatrics is to have children under the age of two years old have no exposure to TV or computers. At this age, children are undergoing tremendous growth in their brains. Each experience goes toward wiring that brain and at this point, computers pale in comparison to the complexity of the real world. A 3-D video game looks realistic until it is compared to a real ball being thrown and caught. In addition, toddlers are not able to make sense of symbols and what they represent so their reactions to the tablets are based on the changing colors and movement. In other words, a light up board may provide the toddler with just as much satisfaction as an iPad.
There is a worry by many parents that not exposing their children to technology at an early age means that they will be left behind by their peers. However, there was a recent story that can put parent’s concerns to rest. The project was part of the One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) initiative where the goal is to give children in third world countries computers to assist them in learning.
OLPC sent a box of tablet computers to a remote Ethiopian village where they wanted to see whether illiterate first grade students with no previous exposure to written words could learn to read by themselves by just using the tablets. The box was sent with no instructions. Within four minutes a child had opened the box and figured out how to turn on the computer. Within five days, each child was using an average of 47 preloaded apps per day. Within five months, the children had figured out how to hack the Android operating system to unfreeze the settings so they could personalize their tablets.
The point is that children are inquisitive, curious, and able to pick up new technology quickly and without any prior exposure or instruction. Children can certainly wait to be exposed to computers and still not fall behind their peers. Let children experience face-to-face interactions with real people and explore the outdoors before letting technology over. There will be plenty of time for that.
The toddler is seen working magic as she presses the screen and squeals in delight as the screen changes. Later, the same toddler can be seen furiously swiping her finger across a magazine and looking fully dismayed that the magazine is not “working” the right way. This is a description of a popular video on YouTube and begs the question, “When is an appropriate time to expose children to computers, smart phones, and tablet computers?”
The recommendation of the American Association of Pediatrics is to have children under the age of two years old have no exposure to TV or computers. At this age, children are undergoing tremendous growth in their brains. Each experience goes toward wiring that brain and at this point, computers pale in comparison to the complexity of the real world. A 3-D video game looks realistic until it is compared to a real ball being thrown and caught. In addition, toddlers are not able to make sense of symbols and what they represent so their reactions to the tablets are based on the changing colors and movement. In other words, a light up board may provide the toddler with just as much satisfaction as an iPad.
There is a worry by many parents that not exposing their children to technology at an early age means that they will be left behind by their peers. However, there was a recent story that can put parent’s concerns to rest. The project was part of the One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) initiative where the goal is to give children in third world countries computers to assist them in learning.
OLPC sent a box of tablet computers to a remote Ethiopian village where they wanted to see whether illiterate first grade students with no previous exposure to written words could learn to read by themselves by just using the tablets. The box was sent with no instructions. Within four minutes a child had opened the box and figured out how to turn on the computer. Within five days, each child was using an average of 47 preloaded apps per day. Within five months, the children had figured out how to hack the Android operating system to unfreeze the settings so they could personalize their tablets.
The point is that children are inquisitive, curious, and able to pick up new technology quickly and without any prior exposure or instruction. Children can certainly wait to be exposed to computers and still not fall behind their peers. Let children experience face-to-face interactions with real people and explore the outdoors before letting technology over. There will be plenty of time for that.
This article was published in the Richmond Register Health Beat Magazine in November 2012.
