- Share This Post
- Pin It
- 5
-
Sparkle (0)
As I noted in last week's post, I’m pretty geeky, especially when it comes to gadgets. So is my husband. It should come as no surprise then, that our son was clamoring to use the computer as soon as he could operate a keyboard. He had his very own computer at the age of three, courtesy of my hardware geek brother, and we cycled through all the age-appropriate computer games. I’ll do an inventory here at some point of our favorites; some are still available and well worth the money.
He wasn’t much older when we got him his first handheld game player, a Nintendo GameBoy. My mother-in-law suggested it as a way to keep him entertained when we were out to dinner. It took him a while to get the hang of operating it; I suspect we gave it to him about six months before he was really ready, but once he got going, there was no turning back.
We’ve since cycled through a Nintendo DS and are now on a Nintendo DSi, but he still uses the old units too. The downside? Our biggest problem is getting him to stop playing when it’s time to do something else. Like homework. Or eat. Of course, we have much the same situation when he is engrossed in anything -- a book, TV, playing with LEGOs, so it's not strictly a digital issue.
We never restricted the other screen -- the TV, and have had a DVD player for long car and plane trips since he was quite young. Admittedly sometimes we used, and still use, the TV as a babysitter, but we also watched, and still watch, with him. Even Power Rangers although I refused to watch Teletubbies or Barney.
We also try to expose him to good programming of all kinds. I know some will fault me, but yes, I let him watch Buffy and Angel, even at an early age, and we discovered Firefly on DVD together. I truly believe good programming helps children become savvy media consumers. My mom watched Masterpiece Theatre (Upstairs Downstairs in particular) with me when I wasn't much older, and I think it set the bar, high and early.
However, not having TV, especially when your children are very young, is also a legitimate choice. The question, as micrimas, author of Half of a Duo Raising a Duo posed in her comment to Rita's introductory post, is how and when do parents introduce television as their kids get older? Does it make it harder to fit in at preschool if they aren't familiar with all the favorite characters?
"I wonder if their peers will consider them socially inept because they are clueless about TV and videos and the characters. The DH and I were discussing this last week. Do we buy a portable DVD player and use it every once in a while in the playspace? Or do we forgoe it and just focus wholly on their body and minds. [...]
I don't know what we are going to do. Being as we are both geeks in our way, having worked in the computer industry for decades... how will we integrate media and all that goes with it (good and bad, the materialistic being the worst, with TV commercials)."
FWIW, I don't think it's possible to make a wrong decision about when and how to introduce television programming to your kids, as long as you are actively parenting, not just passively observing. Just realize that no matter what you do at home, once your kids start school, the landscape changes to include what happens in friends' homes as well.
About two years ago, Doug's digital world expanded to the Internet. He started small, with sites like Nicktoons and Webkinz. In fact, I bought the first Webkinz, a Chihuahua he named Scruffy, to observe how he would interact in and with the community. Among other things, I learned that he will spend money as soon as he has it, and the vegetables will die because he forgets to tend the (virtual) garden.
Sometime last year, he abandoned Webkinz in favor of ClubPenguin and FusionFall. He also loves watching YouTube, especially CrazyFrog, Peanut Butter Jelly Time, and anything to do with LEGOs. This year, his preferred option for the nightly math at home practice is to visit math websites.
Doug also discovered – on his own -- that he can watch TV on the Internet. When we switched cable providers earlier this year, a favored kids’ channel was not
