Staff writer Eunice Nisbett
It is vacation time again and many parents wonder “what do we do with our kids?” Gone are the days when we would go out and play hopscotch, jump rope, rounders, clapping and ring games, and perhaps cricket and football, too. Through our games and play, for example, hopscotch, we learned to count, gained exercise and were taught powerful lessons of socialization.
Today our kids are glued to their computers, blackberries, iPods, or whatever gadget we can afford. Some countries have programmes where each secondary school student receives a computer.
I am not averse to providing computers for our kids and introducing them to technology. In fact it is the advances in technology that allow me to practice as a Virtual Assistant.
However, we need to consider: are our kids becoming ‘sedentary’ at an early age? What are the possible long term results of our kids spending too much time with these gadgets? Carpel Tunnel Syndrome; poor eyesight; diabetes – through lack of exercise; and a generation which prefers their own company, rather than being ready to socialize or hold a conversation?
Hopscotch: A dying classic...?
What we need to achieve, is a healthy blending of technology with actual physical play. If our kids surf the Internet to find ways to make paper planes – something that we did as kids – and they are able to produce a wide variety of planes; having fun flying them with their friends to decide whose plane flew higher, glided farther and faster. We have done well.
Some may wish to take the playing of card games to the next level, searching out games on the internet, which can be played in groups or card tricks which can be used to entertain friends.
Then again what about learning some new soccer moves on the Internet and then trying these out? Whatever we do, let us encourage our kids to socialize and be active; guiding them in their use of technology, to achieve a healthy emotional balance.
And sometimes…let’s play Hopscotch.
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