Week 6 Should our children have access to technology?

There is no need for my children to have consistent access to the Internet, email, games, etc. I did look up spider species for my son so he could draw seven different varieties for a class assignment. And, due to the fact that we are living in Taiwan, our family is choosing to learn Mandarin Chinese. When my children are lagging in enthusiasm about the language, I find a game online that helps us have fun learning. However, that is the extent of their exposure to the Media. We don't have a TV. Any movies we watch are DVDs that can be watched on our laptops. It works nicely for us. The kids have no need for cell phones and I am going to hold off on MP4 players, iPods, and everything else as long as I can because I am dreading the day that my child would rather have a set of ear buds in their ear than talk with me.

Cyber Bullying is no surprise to me. I hadn't heard of it, but it seems so possible. So many young students have cell phones and laptops and thus are targets. That could be my children and I might not even know about it unless someone alerted me of strange behavior in my children.


In Digital Nativism, I disagree with Prensky's view that children need to have the digital world at their finger tips at an early age so they won't be left behind. I have first hand experience with having been bullied. If I had had a cell phone back then and someone could have texted me mean things, it would have crushed me. A relative very close to me has been the victim of bullying right under the teacher's nose and if he couldn't get away from it by coming home to a loving home, he would refuse to go to school. I believe it is important for students to learn to use technology so they can effectively complete homework and be prepared to use technology in the workplace. However, I am not ready for my children to stop being normal children. I want them to go out and play after school and chores and go over to the home of their friends. Once the Internet takes priority in their life, I have lost them. I'm withholding technology unless we need to research something for a homework assignment. I try to model for my children that the technology in my life is for positive communication and solid work more than movie watching and game playing. I agree with McKenzie that we still need books, libraries, and librarians.

The article on Childhood Obesity is sad. When I was young, I spent a majority of my free time outside playing. I also spent as much time as my parents allowed me to, playing computer games. However, the outdoors won more often than not. I am trying to do that with my children as well, but it gets harder the older they get.

I like the idea of ending gaming. I have a fairly intense personality, so whatever I choose to put my energy into gets 100% of me. I got into a computer game the first of my marriage. The twists and turns of life removed it from my daily life. Twelve years later, I tried playing that same game again and just couldn't get into it. It had lost it's luster. There were just so many other fun things to do that were much more enriching. However, there are people in my family that are addicted to them; they say that they use them to escape from life and relax. The problem for me is that they inadvertently escape from the relationships around them and lose out as well as create bitterness. I have grown to hate these computer games. I see what they've done to some and I don't want my children to EVER get interested if I can help it.

Can gaming change education? Playing games during class can change one's attitude towards a class and teacher. Playing online educational games that help with vocabulary, etc. can be beneficial. Games that replicate the addictive ones concern me. They still represent the negative parts of gaming while putting a happy face on the surface and they take away from learning the old-fashioned way. I'd rather my students learned from social games with each other in the physical world.