Toys.
What are they?
''An object for a child to play with, typically a model or
miniature replica of something.'' (Often something adults
''play'' with or use. ''Monkey see, monkey do.'')
''Toys play an important role in a child's holistic development'',
is a statement that many who work with children seem to
be able to agree on.
Where there seem to be serious disagreements as far as I can
ascertain, is which toys to label ''good'' and which to label ''bad''.
In order for a toy to be able to promote holistic development
in a child, some in ''the know'' suggest the following:
It needs to promote independence rather than dependence.
It should help the child to develop multiple skills.
It should be a toy that the child feels safe and comfortable
to play with and doesn't make him/her feel anxious or fearful.
It should be a toy that the child can play with on his/her
own without any adult supervision.
It should be a toy that enhances communication
and language skills and offers the child a sense of
exploration and fun.
Aha, you may think, there's one gadget that ticks
most of the items on the above list: the mobile/smart phone
and or the Kid's Tablet.
Question is, have they been around long enough
in order for there to be reliable research done that
determines if spending screen time on those gadgets
actually do provide any educational or developmental
benefits.
Already there are some that suggest that spending ''too
much'' screen time can be linked to behaviour problems
and delayed social development in older children.
If a tablet or mobile phone is used as a replacement for
face to face parent and child interaction, this can
potentially affect the quality of engagement between
child and parent.
Dr. Dimitri Christakis, pediatrician: ''The most important
thing for children is time with parents and caregivers.''
Dr. Rahil Briggs, pediatric psychologist, says that
tablet/screen use needs to be limited for the
youngest of children because it may interfere with
language skills/development and for older
children it may slow down social development.
Children may see tablets and smart phones as ''toys'',
but .... the thing is, they are small .... pocket
sized computers.
And most gadgets and computers are connected to
The Whole Wide World.....and this....
has the potential to cause all manner of peril.
A few weeks ago I watched a news flash showing two thirteen
year old boys being arrested for having tried to rob a shop
using toy/replica guns. Apprehending the boys and their weapons
the police realized that the guns were not ''real'' however, the fear and
threat the victims in the shop experienced was very much real.
This prompted me to investigate what kind of toy guns are available
to children.
Wow. What I found was kind of shocking.
Not only are there toy guns but also ''toy'' pump action rifles,
Gatling guns, AK-47 machine guns, revolvers, sniper rifles,
etc.
After having read through more than a dozen different articles on
the pro's and con's the effect playing with guns may have on
children, I don't know what to think really.
Having said that, one thing I think that most children will learn
from playing with guns, is that guns, are powerful.
And when using tablets and smartphones, as the children grow older,
many discover that power can also be had by using words.
There are many ways in which power can be expressed.
Perhaps if we taught our children that there is nothing
more powerful than kindness, then there would be less guns
or any other deadly weapons needed.
''In the long run, the power of kindness can redeem
beyond the power of force to destroy.
There is a vast reservoir of kindness that we can
no longer afford to disregard.''
(John MacAulay)
about the top image: Beware of the unscrupulous man
who trick us into believing that ''toy weapons'' are
harmless toys just so that he can make more money.
A collage of 3 different acrylic paintings on canvas
and one sketch on paper.
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