How Much Tech Is Too Much Tech?

If you walk into a preschool class, you will still most likely see children being children; jumping around, twirling, finger-painting (hopefully not the wall!), interacting with one another in various ways, learning how to fairly trade a teddy bear for a block tower. This is what they are supposed to be doing here, their main important job of growing up from a sweet silly toddler to a more independent, rational and cognitively able six year old.

Imagine now those same kids in their own homes, later the same day, and you see different scenarios forming. The family, in all its varieties, is coming home and getting ready to wind down. And what are the kids doing now? Some are carrying on with the same kind of curiosity, questioning their parents, helping them “stir” whatever needs stirring in the kitchen, chasing the dog and squeezing it a little too hard, all in affection. Others are more quietly creative, doing a puzzle on the floor or lining up an assortment of toys on the living room carpet.

But the reality is, most of them are doing none of the above. Instead they come home and are instantly engaging with some type of electronics.

The average kid sponges in 2.5 hours of music each day, almost five hours of TV and movies, three hours of Internet and video games, and just 38 minutes of old-fashioned reading, according to a new study by the Kaiser Family Foundation.

This isn’t to say these kids are neglected. It is merely a fact that most come home and find themselves tapping on a screen instead of physically doing anything. They learn by example. Give me an adult who has no smartphone and limited computer access, and I’ll give you a child that finds those things similarly disinteresting. Are you still trying to think of that one adult without a smart phone? I’m not surprised. We are all junkies for the stuff, would give up our coffee break to check our Facebook and a perfect moment to capture it on Instagram. The children are merely following lead.

Also, let us speak for a second of addiction. Can we seriously expect that a five year old should have more self-control than an adult does? The way these games are designed is for the little ones to get lost in them. These lovely, often educational and colorful designs, that simply never end. They involve levels that you have to keep up with, fake pets you must feed (or they die!), corn to harvest and fruit to slice (hello, fruit ninja, you wonderfully violent time waster!).

Ipads and ipods and iphones and tablets. I use them and my students use them and, to be fair with you, all my favorite five year olds know how to use them. However, all my favorite parents and educators also know when to put them away. When to risk a tantrum and take the kid outside, put a helmet on them and take them scootering, or bake a perfectly lopsided cake with them (with way too much vanilla frosting). Or just pull the plug and let them be on their own, with their thoughts, just once in a while.

Or read them an actual book. Just occasionally. Just so to mix it up.