Wither technology?

Lucas with his mum's iPad mini

Recently, an article appeared in one of the Facebook pages I liked that I found disturbing. The author of this article (which I will not link to - call me biased, but I do not want such ideas to be perpetuated) was totally against the idea of handhelds for children under the age of 12. I was really surprised by this - I do teach in a school that has children under 12 and we do use the iPads in the classrooms.

Nevertheless, I clicked the article and read it (I always force myself to read articles that go against my own beliefs because I think it creates a critical mind). I realised that some of the arguments she listed were actually false dichotomies - they did not allow for alternate reasonings. She argues that handhelds delay development probably because the children do not move and exercise while watching or playing games on the handheld. It is a good point, but in another part of the article, she notes down that children below 12 can safely watch 2 hours of non-violent television. I was really flabbergasted! You mean children move around and exercise during the 2 hours in front of the television, but do not while watching something on the handheld?

I can go on spending the rest of this blog post dissecting and criticising the article, but I will not. However, let me tell you what I think. I believe that almost everything should be in moderation. Technology, as in handhelds, is a tool. How you use the tool is the most important. Explosives can be used to kill people, but it is also used to bring down structures safely and quickly. Are explosives bad? Monitor your children with their use of technology and limit them in what they can do on the handheld and on their time. Your children will not get obese, they will not get sleep deprivation and neither will they develop aggression.

On the other hand, Lucas does learn from his handheld (his mum's iPad mini and my iPad before the screen shattered and I decided to just sell it away). I know he does pick up some knowledge and information from BrainPOP. And recently he surprised us with his knowledge of plants during our visit to Gardens by the Bay. When asked how did he know the name of the flower, he told us that he learnt it in Plants vs. Zombies!

My son could name this flower by sight

In conclusion, technology is a tool. How you use it will affect whether the end result is positive or negative. If we do not control our children's technology habit, then technology brings more harm then good.