How would you react if you met a five-year-old boy who spoke in a drone-like monotone and replied with words like “well done” and “try again”?
Family and child counsellor Alice Lee-Tok was perplexed. His parents had brought him, worried about his speech development. She learnt that his speech was modeled after the educational CD-Rom games he’d been playing a lot of. This may have been an extreme case, but it’s one of the problems that is cropping up now that children are exposed to computers, the Internet and video games at a younger age.
Promising hours of entertainment and even interactive learning, parents can’t resist snapping up the latest gadgets – and the kids love it.
Generation Digital
According to a Zero to Six Kaiser Family Foundation Study, six per cent of newborn to three-year-olds in the US use a computer. The number jumped to 27 per cent four- to six-year-olds and up to half of kids below the age of six had played with video games.
While there are no local figures on the percentage of tots already into video games, there’s no doubt that it’s a rising trend. Many parents here introduce their children to the computer in the name of education. Presented in a lively and fun way, and featuring favourite characters, games and CD-Roms can be an interactive learning partner and tool that Junior can enjoy independently, freeing up time for busy parents.
While experts agree that there are benefits to electronic learning and games, they caution against
introducing new electronic mediums too soon, as the cons often outweigh the pros.
Associate Professor Noel Chia, early childhood and special needs education, National Institute of Education, questions the concept of “interactive learning” – a phrase heavily marketed by video game or educational CD-Rom makers targeting the very young. “What does ‘interactive learning’ really mean? Interactive with what? A device?” he asks.
Instead, he advises parents of preschoolers to pause and ask if there are better ways to acquire similar skills. While electronic gadgets can make learning more exciting, most young children are naturally inquisitive and don’t need gadgets to want to learn. They are picking up things all the time, exploring their environment, watching and imitating others, he adds. “The brain is like a sponge and they absorb new things every day, with or without these gadgets.”
Playing within limits
Despite the bad press, however, experts agree that there is no need to take the extreme measure of tossing out the game consoles and banning video games altogether.
“It is alright to let children play video games or surf the Internet – as long as parents are watchful,” says Prof Chia.
Alice says parents will need to do their own homework on the games their children are playing and work towards being more tech-savvy. Talk to your child about everything in their lives and they’re likely to tell you what’s going on online as well. That, she says, beats over-policing, which may lead to parents being detested by their children.
“Recognise that times have changed and that our kids do belong to the Digital Age,” she says, adding that showing interest and even taking the time to play these games with your kids is the way to go. This interaction also turns a potentially anti-social device into one that the family can enjoy together.
Get a copy of the June 2009 issue of Young Parents to read about the latest local and international trends in home design. Young Parents published by SPH Magazines is available at all newsstands now.
Check out more stories at Young Parents online, www.youngparents.com.sg.
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