Aww man, what's with the trend in bemoaning the presence of technology in kids' lives as some form of 'corruption of childhood'?
Kids don't play with legos, Lincoln logs, matchbox, etc. anymore. They have iPads. So, so sad.
No, kids do still play with legos. LEGO is doing pretty well, they're on track to hit $4 billion in revenue this year. I know my young relatives love them and still play with them. Star Wars, Harry Potter, and now even the Hobbit sets are really popular.
Yeah computers, smartphones, and iPads are becoming more and more ubiquitous. Kids are going to grow up with them. The key, I think, is involved parents that ensure their kid has a healthy and active environment. And there are plenty of good parents.
It's not a corruption of childhood, that doesn't mean anything -- it's just unhealthy. This is just an educated guess, but LEGO makes most of its money off of kits and things like Star Wars X-wings. This isn't a bad thing necessarily (witness the OP), but the problem is that you make one of these once and then set it on your shelf (they're also stupidly expensive, which explains the revenue mark). What happened to the entirely unthemed sets of traditional legos that you could build into anything you wanted? It is my observation from witnessing my own young relatives that these either don't exist or aren't popular anymore. This is a blatant contradiction of your first sentence. Yes, kids need healthy and active lives -- what prevents them from having them? I don't know, what common "toy" do many children have these days that is neither healthy nor active? An iPad/computer! So yes, I will continue to bemoan the presence of what you loosely call technology in young children's lives.Aww man, what's with the trend in bemoaning the presence of technology in kids' lives as some form of 'corruption of childhood'?
No, kids do still play with legos. LEGO is doing pretty well, they're on track to hit $4 billion in revenue this year.
Yeah computers, smartphones, and iPads are becoming more and more ubiquitous. Kids are going to grow up with them. The key, I think, is involved parents that ensure their kid has a healthy and active environment.
but the problem is that you make one of these once and then set it on your shelf
Since we're going on anecdotal evidence, this isn't my experience at all. You do still have unthemed sets, and anyway it isn't long before kids mix and match their pieces, breaking old models and making new ones. That's certainly what I did, and what I see my relatives doing.I don't know, what common "toy" do many children have these days that is neither healthy nor active? An iPad/computer!
Well, you kind of missed my point, man. Sure, an iPad may be neither healthy nor active, but what's important is the parenting environment. When I was growing up many of my friends' parents used tv as a babysitter. My parents encouraged me to go outside, read, and cycle. My point was, the presence of technology itself isn't the pretty exaggerated societal harm you make it out to be. It's how parents raise their kids that actually makes a difference.
We seem to have different experiences with legos. Oh well.My point was, the presence of technology itself isn't the pretty exaggerated societal harm you make it out to be. It's how parents raise their kids that actually makes a difference.
Okay. I would argue that computers (and tv) make it easier for a bad parent to rationalize. Used to be, a bad parent just tossed their kid outside for the day. Go play baseball. Now, they say, "well, I'm keeping him/her safe by keeping him/her near me and inside" etc. Then they stick their kid on a screen for four hours so they can get work done. This is detrimental. And sure, it's ultimately the parents' fault, but technology is an enabler. And I think some otherwise good parents are tempted to stick their kids on a screen too, when previously they might have said read a book.