Simon Marcus Gower, Contributor, Jakarta
Recently I witnessed a small incident that left a father very frustrated and more than just a little perplexed by his young daughter. Like many parents today, the father was gravely concerned, and even a little obsessed, that his daughter started to learn quickly how to use technology. We live in high-tech world and teaching children to understand and use technology will quite obviously put them at an advantage.
This father had spent a considerable amount of money on a high-tech educational toy for toddlers that went by the rather grandiose name of the ""Total Baby/Infant Development System"". After unpacking and setting up this ""System"" he was all ready for his daughter to get to grips with the simple keyboard. It was time to let the learning of basic numbers, shapes and colors that was promised on the packaging to begin.
Sadly, he toddler wasn't so interested in the keyboard and the high-tech learning it promised. Instead she soon turned to the box and packaging, which was both more colorful and more tactile, and thus more interesting to her, than the keyboard.
The father's frustration led him to attempts to encourage and nearly force the toddler to sit with him and focus on the keyboard and screen, but to no avail. The father recognized the pushes and shoves that he was getting back as the start of a temper tantrum and accepted it was time to desist. The toddler went back to her fun with the packaging.
Apparently sophisticated electronic educational toys for toddlers have been something of a growth industry in recent years. Clearly capitalizing on parents' eagerness to have their children take their first steps into the world of technology, the toys are intended to also assist in the development of young children's literacy and numeracy skills. But doubts remain as to whether they are truly any better than more traditional methods.
These toys, often utilizing quite simple computer technology, are enjoying increased sales around the world. In 2005 it was reported that sales in the UK had increased by nearly 50 percent compared to a mere one percent increase in sales of more traditional pre-school toys such as colorful building blocks. It is evident that parents are ready and willing to part with significant sums of money for these high-tech toys.
A typical electronic educational toy retails in the UK for about forty pounds sterling (or about Rp. 700,000). But is such money well spent? The intention is that little children will use these toys for roleplay activities. For example, a child using a very simple and colorful mock-up of a laptop computer can pretend to be checking his email or ordering something through online shopping.
But there are those that feel uncomfortable with this scenario. There are those that believe that little children need to be protected from technology to some extent. They worry that exposure to such electronic toys so early on in life is liable to reduce children's activity levels and limit their ability to engage in more free, open and imaginative play. It is also thought that such toys could have the effect of lowering the concentration and attention span of children and this can negatively impact educational attainment later on in school.
Such concerns are not yet fully proven but they are understandable and should be taken seriously. But what must also be taken seriously is the unavoidable fact that we live in a world where we are surrounded by technology and are to a considerable degree also dependent upon it.
In this sense it could be seen as foolhardy to obstinately reject technology for little children. The key, perhaps, is to measure and keep a good balance of exposure to and use of technology. Give children a careful and considered introduction to the technology but don't overwhelm them to the extent that they become obsessed and neglect other important aspects of their development such as physical fitness and well-being.
The dangers and temptations for children to become lethargic and passive screen viewers are considerable. Indeed it has been highlighted that parents and schools should work hard to ensure that children are still given opportunities to enter into and experience active and participative ""real play"" as opposed to the much more passive and isolated experience of ""sedentary, screen-based entertainment"".
There are keywords there: ""play"" as opposed to ""entertainment"". Implicit to the word play is some sense of involvement, a sense of taking a part in an activity. Entertainment in the meantime suggests the child is going to be more a passive watcher than a real participant.
There are genuine and understandable concerns about the way in which young children are introduced to technology. But the question remains: are the high-tech educational electronic toys that are available now really the way to go?
There are those that feel it is better to give children 'real' things as opposed to things that are contrived for children and so are in some sense artificial. For example, it has been proposed that it is better for a parent to spend time with their child on the parent's computer rather than the child sitting on the parent's lap and pretending to use it.
Years ago, old and broken rotary phones were often given to children to play with and pretend they were calling friends. Today, old mobile phones would probably be passed on for such play but such real objects do give the child opportunities to play and learn. Ultimately it is what use the objects are put to that will determine how useful they will be for a child's development and learning.
The father that spent so much money on a high-tech electronic educational toy, only to find his daughter was more interested in the packaging, will have to concede for now that is where his daughter's interests lie. He will have to come up with new ways to gradually interest her in the toy. He will also have to make sure that her use of it is balanced and constructive, rather than excessive and potentially counterproductive.
