Elisa's Journal

A series of articles in the September 8th edition of Newsweek shed some interesting light on the effects of the Digital Age on kids today. While some of the effects were positive (multitasking, visual perceptual skills) others were negative: (shallow thinking, reduced creativity, harmful influences like violent video games, etc.) In my opinion, I think all things in moderation. Kids today are way too addicted to tech activitities that do little to develop the mind--IM messaging, chat rooms, etc. They engage in tech activities that make them grow up too fast, too soon and that mold them into a generation of homogenized, corporatived consumer-minded lemmings. I say we should limit their exposure to games/other acrtivities that stimulate the mind in positive ways that will prepare them for the future. I say we should limit even these to only a few hours a week. I say we should boot kids out into the backyard or neighborhood with little more than a cardboard box, a piece of plywood and some scraps of cloth and let them use their own imagination to entertain themselves.Let them use free play to solve problems and conflicts, to resolve frustration and boredom, and to develop the social skills they need to interact with non-machine beings. It's all about balance and judgment. What do you think?