Children Suffer Because of Computer Use

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Children suffer because of computer use




In the past decade the number of young children diagnosed with learning
disabilities and disorders has increased dramatically. Some argue that these
disorders have always existed; there really are not more cases, just more
recognized cases. Others say that mental health professionals are too quick
to label children with disorders and that there are now labels and disorders
for every kind of child, regardless of his or her nature.

Truth resides in both arguments. Those who believe kids are labeled too much
and too often have a good point. Every child is measured against a standard
of normalcy when in reality "normal" does not exist. Children who are ornery
or rambunctious are declared ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder).
Children who are quiet introverts are said to have Anti-Social Personality
Disorder. With many other types of broadly defined disorders and
disabilities, we could easily find something to fit every personality type.

On the other hand, we must consider that there are definitely more children
today who fall outside the "normal" category than there were in decades
past, even though the standard of what is normal really hasn't changed. So
what has changed in recent years that kids are unable to stay still and
focused long enough to absorb the information needed to learn? Adding
computers to the developmental process is what has changed.

Parents are anxious to give their children a head-start in school so they
start their kids on "educational" computer software programs as early as
eight months. Time that should be spent in interactive play with other
children and adults is spent propped up by a computer.

Children learn through their environment, and they absorb their environment
through their senses, especially touching and feeling. When children are
supposed to be developing these senses but are limited to sitting in front
of a screen instead, they are left to figure out understanding the
three-dimensional world when they become school age. Thus they seem
rambunctious and rowdy and are referred for help. The results usually turn
out that the child suffers from ADHD but really he just needs the time and
opportunity to develop and explore because he was "tied up" at the computer
for the first four years of his life.

Children have lost their sense of wonder and creativity because they are
subjected to so much animated media with high-tech graphics that do not
require use of the imagination. We have 4-year-olds who know how to find
Disney.com but don't know how to pretend to be an airplane.

All the exposure children get to multi-media hampers the learning process.
The Alliance for Childhood, which is a group of doctors, teachers,
psychologists and other professionals, has researched the problems that
occur in the growth and development of children due to such early exposure
to multi-media technology. These problems include but are not limited to:
impaired language and literacy, poor concentration, hindered emotional and
social development, musculoskeletal injuries and obesity. (More information
at allianceforchildhood.net).

It may be cute to have a little mini-me sitting at the desk moving the mouse
around. But there is no point in teaching kids how to use computer programs
that will be obsolete by the time they are old enough to get any real use
out of them. We are pooling all of our education funding into high-tech
classrooms for youngsters, when we should be making sure they get the chance
to develop properly.

Instead of falling for the marketing ploys that convince us children need to
learn how to use computers before they even walk, we should allow our
toddlers to grow into children instead of mini-adults. Instead of skipping
all of the vital steps of development and then wondering why our kids have
problems learning, we should go back to the basics and let them learn
through the real world of three-dimensional space that surrounds them but
they have not experienced because of the big two-dimensional screen that is
sitting in front of them.

We need to stop wasting money on high-tech classrooms for young children,
but even more importantly we need to stop wasting our children on technology


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