More Gadgets for the Younger?

Response to this post.

 

What age should children get their first cellphone, laptop, or virtual persona? Today, many kids of very young age recieve their own cellphones, mp3 players, portable game players, and other such electronic devices that children of the past first obtained in the past. In turn, this allows children to be connected more to the media and the outside world through the uses of phones and the Internet. Such issue is often a concern for parents but why is it that they continue spoiling their child with such gadgets? Is it for the child’s security of “fitting in” with everyone? I have my own cellphone, my own laptop, and my own mp3 player but I first recieved each of these when I was over the age of 10. And I don’t believe I need any more gadgets than what I have now, even when I go to college.

A Swiss psychologist named Jean Piaget studied the four stages of cognitive development by observing his own children. His conclusive theory states that children should only be allowed to have their own cell phones, mp3 players, and laptops after reaching the age of 12. Before turning 12, children should play with toys or bicycles instead to match with their level of development.

Sure, some parents buy their children their first cellphone early for safety reasons, but other than that, parents must think twice about their children’s development before flooding their kids’ minds with obsessions over technology. Moreover, they must also consider how radioactive waves from cellphones can affect childrens’ health.

~ by aliciapark on August 28, 2008.