If our phones are so smart now, then it would stand to reason (perhaps) that these devices would be good for our children to use. But that assumption is exactly what we should consider carefully, of course.
For many parents, at least intuitively, having their kids jacked into touchscreen phones is perceived as making a dent in their capacity to be creative — specifically, in ways that don’t depend upon complex electronics, a power grid and access to the Internet.
There are reports already, not surprisingly, that excessive screen-gazing, or ear bud-listening, can damage the delicate senses of youngsters or anyone else.
Enlightening Surprises
It should be obvious that the best education and upbringing in general would be the most diverse, offering constant challenges. A child’s mental skills, imaginative capacity and physical aptitudes should all get enlivened by education.
We don’t want our kids falling into the psychological rut of people people whose social lives are limited to Facebook. Smart devices are such hand-candy that they can envelop young minds in too much mental comfort with overuse.
At this point in the technology, our experience of accessing the Web on a flat screen is still quite mental — and it will be until forms of so-called virtual reality and augmented reality become as common as today’s smart phones.
Those technologies promise an unprecedented degree of mental-physical integration since they won’t require a withdrawal into one’s keyboard-based isolation.
I’m not going out on a futuristic limb here. Google’s new Glass (a smart head-wear product) may come out as soon as late 2014, trailed by competing imitators. Have you thought about how to respond when your kids inevitably ask for smart shades?
Gaming’s Graces
Despite the image of modern console or mobile games (like ‘first person shooters’), the underlying truth is that games hook kids’ interest, and the entire platform of gaming should not be thrown out unthinkingly.
The trick is providing a smart phone, or tablet, while helping your kids know the difference between smart use and time wastage. As parents, we must set that example!
Truth be told, adults are bigger game-players than kids. The explosive growth of casino entertainment delivered online, as covered by a site like classycasinos.co.uk , proves the wide range of ages drawn to gaming for obvious reasons. They are fun. And, we learn best when we’re having fun, young or old.
