Techno-toddlers: A is for Apple | Technology | The Guardian.
Earlier this year, AVG Technologies, a firm that makes antivirus computer software, conducted a survey of mothers of children aged between two and five with internet access at home. They found that more of the children knew how to play a computer game than swim or ride a bike, and that more pre-schoolers knew how to use a smartphone than tie their shoelaces.
Interesting…..
Once we develop the hoverchair, those kids will be all set… (http://pixar.wikia.com/Axiom)
Srsly, I don’t see anything wrong with little tykes knowing how to use the technology that surrounds them, so long as there is balance. In other words they should also know: how to play in the dirt, climb trees, build forts, and be a duck. They should know what a worm feels like in your hand, how to make a snow-angel, what happens when you kick a dandelion in seed, how to make a snapdragon talk, and much, much more.
To these kids, the tablet is NOT “technology”, it is merely part of their world. The challenge for us is to make sure that those things we cherish and deem important are ALSO part of their world.
Lots of preschoolers do not yet have the gross motor control to ride a bike or swim. So what you are seeing here may be as much differences in development rate between fine and gross motor skills as it is parenting choices.
Some are also archaic tests (like tying shoelaces—my son did not learn that until his teens, and still prefers velcro strap sandals or slip-on loafers to shoes that tie). Do we also ask how many of our kids know how to harness a mule?
Expecting all kids to know how to make a snow angel is rather hard on those who live in California or the South, where snow does not happen in residential areas. Your cultural biases are showing.
I agree that there needs to be a balance, and I limited screen time for my son until he was about 12 or 13 to an hour a day, because screen time can be very addictive.
I know that people in warmer climes will likely never learn how to make a snowangel – I prefer to think of what I did as more of a localization rather than a cultural bias ;-> Notice, I didn’t say anything about mucking out a chicken coop or looking after ducklings (my kids know how to do that too). I didn’t really intend to identify specific required skills, but rather I was trying to paint a broader picture of a well-rounded set of experiences.
It’s also true for grown-ups: