Even Time knows it
Why Homeschool posted a great article. It seems Time has a recent piece called The Multitasking Generation. Henry Cate sumarizes the main thrust of the article with this:
A main part of the article is that with our advances in technology, and how cheap the new toys are, many children have computers, cell phones, and so on. And they’ll use them all at the same time, and often while they are at school or at home. The current generation of children is multitasking at a degree higher than ever before. Researches are concerned that too much time spent trying to multitask is harmful. “Habitual multitasking may condition their brain to an overexcited state, making it difficult to focus even when they want to. ‘People lose the skill and the will to maintain concentration …’” (I added the bold) Some children are spending all their time trying to do several things at once. The article makes the point that it is important “… for parents and educators to teach kids, preferably by example, that it’s valuable, even essential, to occasionally slow down, unplug and take time to think about something for a while.”
And then he quoted the most powerful statement made in this piece:
“For all the handwringing about Generation M, technology is not really the problem. ‘The problem,’ says Hallowell, ‘is what you are not doing if the electronic moment grows too large’–too large for the teenager and too large for those parents who are equally tethered to their gadgets. In that case, says Hallowell, ‘you are not having family dinner, you are not having conversations, you are not debating whether to go out with a boy who wants to have sex on the first date, you are not going on a family ski trip or taking time just to veg. It’s not so much that the video game is going to rot your brain, it’s what you are not doing that’s going to rot your life.” (he added the bold.)
For years, I’ve heard a statement almost just like this. From my own parents, who against the grain of nearly everyone they knew, wouldn’t just let us sit in front of the tube. Friend after friend would ask “what’s so wrong with (pick a show)”, and my parents would respond, “what’s so right about it?”. It was not about whether or not the program itself was harmful, but about what other things could we possibly be doing with our time. And at that time, TV was just about it for the media distraction. I was about 10 before Dad bought our first Pong game. That fascninating ping ping back and forth across the black screen, flanked by fat white dashes to create a video game of Ping Pong. There were no cell phones. There were no handheld electronic games (until we were about 12). No iPods. No laptops. No virtual pets. Palm Pilots. Walkmen (or mans? and is this even out there anymore?) Good Lord, I’m feeling old.
But now. Now it is a free-for-all. And I’ve been able to witness first hand how addictive this stuff can be. In our home, our own 10 year old would melt into a video game or anime’ cartoon, if he could just will it so. And we’ve witnessed, when that stuff goes on, his brain goes out. Nighty-night. No more base thinking skills. Forget attitude, manners, or the ability to answer a question or follow a 2 item sequence of instruction. And at 10, he’s asking when does he get his cell phone? Is he kidding me? Like maybe when he can pay for one and is not constantly with me? How would I call him now? From the kitchen to the bedroom? He’s 10. And he’s homeschooled. How far can he possibly go? But that’s not the point, now is it. It’s all about having the stuff.
I am convinced that the prolific barage of media of all sorts is robbing our children of potential we’ll never know could be realized. That it literally alters the brain development. Check out The Plug In Drug, if you haven’t. Or studies between learning disabilities and too much media, here, here or here.
If you’re a parent, and you have media in your house (who doesn’t), be able to say no. Not now. You’ve had too much. That’s enough. Get outside and use your imagination. Your child’s future brain power may just depend on it.
