I recently read a piece on the dangers of children and the internet. The article was very strong in keeping children away from computers and not allowing children to become reliant on ease of computer research. I actually see things very differently. I think computers are a wonderful piece of equipment for children. I’d like to share my thoughts on how computers can help children.
1. As a child, I was not good at geography. Today, the internet can provide maps for the entire world. You can view any country, any continent or any one city. Each of us learns differently. For me, seeing the flat map in the history book did not help me learn. With the internet and being able to see maps with bordering countries was a wonderful way to finally understand it all. It allows me to put things into perspective when I can see how other countries compare in size to the U.S. You just can’t get this perspective from one page in a text book.
2. While math and I were great friends when I was in school, this is not the case for all children. Today, children do not need to spend hours in agony learning formulas that often they’ll never use again. Every computer I’ve seen has a basic calculator and you can search online for more advanced problem solving.
3. Over the years, both of my kids knew other kids who passed up opportunities to go to overnight camp fearful of not knowing anyone there. Today, camps are forming online groups so the kids can all meet online and chat online before they ever arrive at camp. Once camp is over the kids can email and instant message one another. When I was a teen, we had to hand write letters and postal mail them.
4. When kids need to do research, there are no limits. When I was a kid, I was limited by what encyclopedias were available at the local library and how current those books were. Today, our children can access up to the minute research from hundreds of sources.
While I can certainly see the downsides to computer usage, such as not learning basic math functions and relationships that both start and end online, I do believe that the pros far outweigh the cons.
~ ~ Audrey Okaneko is mom to two girls. She can be reached at audreyoka@cox.net or visited at http://www.todays-parent.com
