Report Says Computers Can Harm Young Children [Archives:2000/38/Health]

LOS ANGELESA report released Tuesday said that early exposure to computers stunts childrens development and such technology should only be introduced after elementary school. The report by the Alliance for Childhood, a private non-profit
group that focuses on child development, explained that computers and the Internet prevent preschool children from interacting with each other and adults. Children need a healthy education, and computers cannot provide them with a healthy education because children need a living education with live people, said Joan Almon, a former preschool teacher and U.S. coordinator to the alliance. Almon said some U.S. schools have cut back on teachers, library books, music and arts programs, and field trips to parks, while spending millions on computer hardware and software. However, studies show that introduction to computers at an early age does not heighten childrens creativity and can cause eye strain, repetitive stress injuries and obesity. At the same time, childrens social skills are hindered as schools reduce recess time, and increase computer lab time. It is particularly damaging at a young age because the brain is most active in terms of the socialization process, according to the report. When children are playing with a computer they are not playing with each other, said one educator, who believe that what computer can create is a virtual world, not a real one.
But not everyone agreed with the report. Alan Delamater, a child psychologist at the University of Miami, acknowledged risks such as posture problems and obesity, but said this was outweighed by benefits such as educational games. He said children need to learn to use computers at an early age because they are part of modern life, but stressed that parents need to monitor things like computer games. (Xinhua)

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