How many of kids today are totally innocent of technology, kids who haven’t used any electronic devices nor exposed to internet? Majority of the children’s population today are exposed to different technologies, the least is cell phone. And my daughter is one of these kids who are exposed to technology at a very young age.
I could not determine if my daughter’s exposure to technology is more of a benefit or a disadvantage. She was exposed to computers and internet early primarily because of my job. She sees me the whole day in front of my computer working. There was one instance that she even dreamed to have her own laptop, but the color she wanted was Orange. For her, having a laptop and facing to it for long hours would allow her to earn money.
During Fridays, she is allowed to play online games and she enjoys it! But for now I limit her to Starfall and Nick Jr sites and only for an hour or two. She shares with me with my laptop since our desktop is in the shop for repair. Before, I was contemplating to buy her an electronic game console and load it with educational games but I changed my mind. She doesn’t need it for now. I think it is too early for her to be introduced to the likes of ps3 game. She will only appreciate for a short period of time. I’d rather encourage her play the traditional games like biking, patintero, piko and similar games than sitting for long hours in front of a game console. I would also rather give her toys that cultivate her creativeness than to consent her watch TV for long hours.
It is truly difficult to keep our children away from the advancing technology because we as parents are also enticed with them. But we could help our kids to balance their activities and help them be more well-rounded by exposing them to varieties of activities. It is also in our hands how to feed them properly not only with food but with toys and other material things. We should not give our children more than they can chew.