Has the Older Generation Got it Wrong Again?!
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Once more, there’s moaning about how “addicted” kids are to smart phones, laptops and tablets. Apparently, more than half of young people are totally dependent on these devices. Of course, all addictions are negative, but are we obsessed with the internet, or is this merely our generation being misunderstood by the older one?
The job market’s demand for employees with a high competency in technology has increased significantly in the last few years. Exploring a tablet or computer as a young child and learning how to download apps and games and how to sign up for ‘Club Penguin’ – or whatever it is that kids do these days – is all building computer literacy. This kind of thing should be encouraged. Provided that kids aren’t spending every waking second of the day playing ‘Angry Birds’, the habit seems a beneficial one.
In today’s primary schools and many secondary schools, coding has become part of the curriculum and students will have a much larger advantage if they are used to using computers.
Imagine if children wanted to spend all day doing maths homework. How good would they be at maths? Therefore, wouldn’t spending all day practising IT skills have the same outcome? It seems that just because kids have found something educational AND enjoyable, it’s been ruled “unhealthy”.
“But won’t this new generation have dreadful social skills from all this individual play?” Well, not in our opinion. If a parent blames an iPad for their child’s difficulty in conversing, they are clearly just masking their own mistakes. It is every parent’s responsibility to ensure that their children grow up to be well-rounded individuals, not Apple’s.
There’s lots of scrutiny regarding how much screen time young people have, but at least we’re not adults who have to rely on kids who are half their age to show them how to send an email or print a document. At least we don’t have to worry about not having up-to-scratch IT skills to keep up with other candidates for a job. At least we know that every second we’re online is a second that we are dedicating towards a brighter future.