Gaming makes young kids dumber

Mike Bantick
Monday, 14 January 2008 08:01

Opinion and Analysis

Researchers also bemoaned the isolation of children in front of such devices or virtual worlds.

A trend has emerged in the use of these products:Researchers from the Joan Ganz Cooney Centre, which investigates the relationship between children, the media and technology, said the average age that US youngsters started to use electronic gadgets had fallen from just over eight to just over 6 1/2 since 2005

No doubt this trend will continue, not, because of any altruism on behalf of gadget or software producers, but because the ‘tween’ market is a lucrative target for the companies concerned.

My own experience with my own self-aware six year old daughter is that the same counter argument can be made, as it is in all cases of what can harm our kids out there.  It comes back to parental guidance.

There is no point getting an educational toy, game or piece of software unless you as a parent take the time to be involved.  In most cases these devices will not be a substitute for parental care or baby sit. 

I first realised this when sitting down with my daughter and some educational “reader rabbit” software, not only was guidance needed – though the ability to navigate a PC using the mouse is a natural for kids – but some of the learning concepts seemed inept, overly repetitive and also woefully localised (ie. strong North American accents and concepts).

If anything, educational toys are ‘family’ educational, not specifically child educational; they should be used and experienced jointly, and with guidance to fully explain concepts and options with the children.

It is the same argument that has been used since Television invaded our living rooms, and remains relevant in todays connected world.

Parental Guidance, as clichéd as it is,  is still the simple answer, not the call for censorship, bans, or even – as the CES summit did – a industry code of ethics to do away with exploitation of children.