Tablet or wooden blocks? - Gazeta Wyborcza

MARTA PI?TKOWSKA: Yesterday we described the four-year, which mastered the functions of a smartphone better than her mother. She sends pictures from your phone to Facebook. How do young children know what to do when they get to hand the tablet or smartphone?

DR URSZULA Sajewicz-RADTKE *: This is a very simple process. In recent years there has been a big change in the types of stimulation that we experience from an early age. For example, today’s 30-year-olds have a static toys: books, blocks, dolls, toy cars. Their children grow up surrounded by objects that just touch to the melody began to play, talk, shine, to spin. As a result, children from an early age they know the cause-effect relationship: as something touches, it is usually something to happen.

Each generation surprised in the same way their parents, although I must admit that recent technological leap is giant. For this, manufacturers shall ensure that the operation of the plant was intuitive, and the children of the full benefit.

What this has an impact on them?

– With the use of new technologies certainly quickly see details and process the information. You can tell that most of them work better senses. But there is no reason to fall into blind euphoria and creep up the child and newer gadgets, because they can become addicted to them. What about the fact that our three year old will have a better memory, since a few years, pulling it from these devices using only therapy

Are kids addicted to such devices more easily than adults?

– Yes. Children have immature nervous system, thus inhibiting their processes are not fully developed. Therefore have trouble limiting activities that make them happy, what can make faster addicted.

What information processing? So much to say that today’s youth communicates mostly shortcuts …

– This is another consequence of the ubiquity of technology in the lives of children. Today, the youngest better take a short prompt, and worse cope with longer messages and extraction from them. Apparently there is nothing wrong with that, but in life you have to read such a credit agreement and to even understand it.

The truth is that the technology is not what demonize and give children to play with only wooden blocks to feel safe. However pilnujmy to the consciousness of our children it was just one element of the provision of entertainment and education, and not the main source.

But the kids love to play and difficult to from the pull. Are computer games can harm them?

– It depends on what the story is based. In the U.S. studies have shown that such games increases prosocial desire to help others. It has been proved by the experiment. One group of children playing in the so-called. Shooting and the other in a game that was to rescue a herd of lemmings death or to assist road accident victims. Then the experimenter accidentally scatter like pencils. Children who previously helped in the game, spontaneously gather items. Those who have been in contact with aggression on a computer screen – no. This is a very important signal that tells you how and what affects us.

Games perpetuate certain patterns and only from their parents and from their informed choice when shopping depends on what the child will assimilate.

Perhaps the safest buy educational games

– Unless you are boring, yes. Let us remember that even simple game can teach, if appropriate story and communicate the desired patterns.

A friend told me that her six-year-son frequently after 30 minutes of play in “Angry Birds” is upset and frustrated. And yet, this game teaches precision and could pass for educational.

– In this case we are not dealing with the problem of technology. If mah-jongg board he did not come, it would be upset. Parents devote much attention to the development of cognitive and emotional development forget. The situation described above is the result of the fact that the child can not cope with setbacks. Well, my mom or dad playing together with his son, and when the voltage increases, intervened. They showed that here can not work out right away, but the previous board went great. Parents should also remind you when your child has been successful. If you still do not go out, you have to translate the excitement of the game to real life, and recalled that at school, and never left the letter B, he wrote it 40 times, and so it may be with that the board – that you will need to practice a little more .

By showing that the emotions that a child feels, playing, experience also in other situations, we teach them to deal with them.

How to play with the baby?

– Observe and ask questions: why has taken such a decision, where knew what would happen. Or how he thinks, what happens next?