Ma Kettle
01-31-2008, 08:57 AM
How many times have you said 'I sure wish I could bottle his energy!'
When we were young we played outside, with dolls, trucks and balls. And our idea of technology toys were Suzy Wetsalot and a fire truck that went 'wOOOoooo wOOOoooo' when you pushed it along. Telephones were big and heavy, with a dial that made an irritating whirring noise in your ear, and you did NOT know who was on the other end unless you actually answered the phone. You were lucky if you got 3 or 4 channels on the tv at home and the only time kids' shows were on were Saturday mornings and an hour after school. Cameras and phones belonged to your parents and if you were REALLY lucky they MIGHT let you use their camera for the school field-trip to the zoo. (after 30 minutes of instructions and admonitions to guard it with your life) Overhead projectors were huge monstrosities that required two children to push the projector trolley through the halls of the school to the classroom that signed it out from the visuals room where the 2 or 3 coveted tv's also were kept for such life-changing events as watching the news live for the first blast off to the moon and JFK's assassination. And typing class on the massive and very loud typewriters was elective. clack clack clack clack clack DING CLATTER RATTLE GRRRRRRRIND clack clack clack clack clack
Gone are those days now it's on to brighter and noisier. It's not easy to find toys that DON'T talk back or play with the kids. Suzy wetsalot now sings her abc's in 3 different languages, can change her hairstyle with the push of a button, drives her own car and carries a cell phone the size of a deck of cards. Computers, cell phones, ipods, cameras, video games made just for kids fit in the pocket. Every kid has a computer whether it's at home or in school. And they KNOW how to use them. Indeed they had BETTER because the majority of their schoolwork will be done on them. It's wonderful to have such great technology!
There's a price for everything. The costs I see are pretty high. We've all heard about the overweight crises in America among children. Why wouldn't they gain weight spending the majority of their time riding 4 wheelers and jeeps instead of peddling bicycles and spending hours and hours EVERY day in front of the computer, video games, and television? They start out early with remote control toys. They don't even need to get up to play with them. Just push the buttons and the toy plays itself and comes back when it's done.
But there is another effect that is both good and bad. Children today are multi-taskers. It's in the blood and trained into them from the very start. Gone are the days where it's taken for granted that baby and mother will be at home in the nursery with all the baby's attention on mother's smiling face as she sings a lullaby while feeding the baby. Now we have the radio crooning, the television playing baby einstein, mom on the computer, older kids playing video games... and baby taking it all in. It's no wonder there is such a rise in ADHD and bi-polar diagnosis for children. We're teaching them to be that way.
It has it's good side. Look at the difference between our study habits in grade school and theirs. We sat at a desk or table on a hard chair with all or most distractions eliminated so we could concentrate on the task at hand. Kids now can sit at a computer doing homework with IM messages popping up all around it, tv on in the background, ipod buds stuffed in their ears, and talking on a cell phone AND STILL GET IT RIGHT! It's amazing!
It also has it's downfalls. As parents who did NOT grow up in the technology era we're not as good at multi-tasking. It can be hard to keep up with them. Parents are exhausted by kids who seem to never slow down and have to constantly be directed back on task because WE can't keep up on the multi-tasking. And so we turn to the 'experts' for help with our children. Perhaps something IS wrong. But then again, perhaps it's RIGHT for the times. Just MAYBE the problem does not lay with the children but with the parents who can't keep up. Just maybe WE should be the ones going through 'multi-tasking bootcamp' where we can take a crash course in filtering the many sounds and activities going on around us. Learn to use the computer, hold a conversation, watch tv, listen to music, and watch the many fascinating things our kids can do that we can't even fathom. Step back and enjoy the feeling that comes with the thought that your very busy child who never seems to slow down and rarely focuses on one thing may very well be the icon of the new age.
Any comments?
When we were young we played outside, with dolls, trucks and balls. And our idea of technology toys were Suzy Wetsalot and a fire truck that went 'wOOOoooo wOOOoooo' when you pushed it along. Telephones were big and heavy, with a dial that made an irritating whirring noise in your ear, and you did NOT know who was on the other end unless you actually answered the phone. You were lucky if you got 3 or 4 channels on the tv at home and the only time kids' shows were on were Saturday mornings and an hour after school. Cameras and phones belonged to your parents and if you were REALLY lucky they MIGHT let you use their camera for the school field-trip to the zoo. (after 30 minutes of instructions and admonitions to guard it with your life) Overhead projectors were huge monstrosities that required two children to push the projector trolley through the halls of the school to the classroom that signed it out from the visuals room where the 2 or 3 coveted tv's also were kept for such life-changing events as watching the news live for the first blast off to the moon and JFK's assassination. And typing class on the massive and very loud typewriters was elective. clack clack clack clack clack DING CLATTER RATTLE GRRRRRRRIND clack clack clack clack clack
Gone are those days now it's on to brighter and noisier. It's not easy to find toys that DON'T talk back or play with the kids. Suzy wetsalot now sings her abc's in 3 different languages, can change her hairstyle with the push of a button, drives her own car and carries a cell phone the size of a deck of cards. Computers, cell phones, ipods, cameras, video games made just for kids fit in the pocket. Every kid has a computer whether it's at home or in school. And they KNOW how to use them. Indeed they had BETTER because the majority of their schoolwork will be done on them. It's wonderful to have such great technology!
There's a price for everything. The costs I see are pretty high. We've all heard about the overweight crises in America among children. Why wouldn't they gain weight spending the majority of their time riding 4 wheelers and jeeps instead of peddling bicycles and spending hours and hours EVERY day in front of the computer, video games, and television? They start out early with remote control toys. They don't even need to get up to play with them. Just push the buttons and the toy plays itself and comes back when it's done.
But there is another effect that is both good and bad. Children today are multi-taskers. It's in the blood and trained into them from the very start. Gone are the days where it's taken for granted that baby and mother will be at home in the nursery with all the baby's attention on mother's smiling face as she sings a lullaby while feeding the baby. Now we have the radio crooning, the television playing baby einstein, mom on the computer, older kids playing video games... and baby taking it all in. It's no wonder there is such a rise in ADHD and bi-polar diagnosis for children. We're teaching them to be that way.
It has it's good side. Look at the difference between our study habits in grade school and theirs. We sat at a desk or table on a hard chair with all or most distractions eliminated so we could concentrate on the task at hand. Kids now can sit at a computer doing homework with IM messages popping up all around it, tv on in the background, ipod buds stuffed in their ears, and talking on a cell phone AND STILL GET IT RIGHT! It's amazing!
It also has it's downfalls. As parents who did NOT grow up in the technology era we're not as good at multi-tasking. It can be hard to keep up with them. Parents are exhausted by kids who seem to never slow down and have to constantly be directed back on task because WE can't keep up on the multi-tasking. And so we turn to the 'experts' for help with our children. Perhaps something IS wrong. But then again, perhaps it's RIGHT for the times. Just MAYBE the problem does not lay with the children but with the parents who can't keep up. Just maybe WE should be the ones going through 'multi-tasking bootcamp' where we can take a crash course in filtering the many sounds and activities going on around us. Learn to use the computer, hold a conversation, watch tv, listen to music, and watch the many fascinating things our kids can do that we can't even fathom. Step back and enjoy the feeling that comes with the thought that your very busy child who never seems to slow down and rarely focuses on one thing may very well be the icon of the new age.
Any comments?