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Sparkle (1)
In kindergarten, we begin our day with a morning meeting. We greet each other by shaking hands and saying the name of the person we are greeting. Then, we participate in Telling Sharing. This is when it gets exciting.
Historically, the children share about birthday parties, family activities, the family pet or an embarrassing but humorous story about a sister, brother, uncle or neighbor; but not lately.
For the last several years the children will try to share about a game. Not Monopoly, Scrabble, Trouble or Uno; the game is almost always a video game.
The devices that these games are played on will change from kid to kid, ranging anywhere from a Nintendo, Wii, Playstation 3 or Xbox. This year, I am surprised that more and more students are playing games on a DS. (Or, as one of kids likes to say, his PDA.) They are NOT cheap, and have a screen that is so tiny that no one over 30 can see it without a magnifying glass.
This video game obsession worries me. I worry for the obvious reasons; that the children aren’t interacting with neighbor children; that the children aren’t getting enough physical exercise; and that the children aren’t playing traditional board games that provide them a huge range of opportunities to learn.
And now another reason to worry?
Their eyes are being damaged! These young, tender eyes that are not yet developed are being damaged. Moms, haven’t we all been telling the children this for years? And now, what we have all known through common sense is now being confirmed.
In May, Nintendo CEO Satoru Iwata told the Associated Press that health concerns related to "children's eyesight" were a key factor in the decision to make a 2D mode available on the 3DS.
The article goes on to say that young children and pregnant women can suffer discomfort and possibly damage to their eyesight by watching 3D without proper eyewear. Young children’s eyesight is not fully developed, and therefore it is extremely important to monitor what they are watching.
Sony, Nintendo and other gaming companies – let me make a suggestion.
When developing your billion dollar enterprises, you might want to check with teachers and parents.
Apparently, we DO know what we’re talking about.
Photo Credit: GoonSquadSarah.
