Do Toys With Technology Harm Kids' Imaginations?
from the not-this-again dept
Well, it seems that yet another person is suddenly wondering if toys that have more gizmos and gadgets (and personality) than bland and boring toys from decades past will sap children of their imagination by taking all the creativity out of playing. Someone seems to make this suggestion every year or so, and it really seems to discount kids' imaginations. I'm certainly not a child psychologist (and for those of you who are, feel free to chime in and tell me I'm wrong), but it seems to me that this is ridiculous. The whole point is that kids have incredibly strong imaginations and take whatever they're given and make it more exciting. Giving them more only gives their imaginations more basic "building blocks" with which to power their imagination. Even the writer of this article is willing to admit that maybe he's only bringing the issue up because he's "jealous" of all the cool toys today's kids have.
Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.
Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.
While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.
–The Techdirt Team
Reader Comments
Subscribe: RSS
View by: Time | Thread
I'm all for technology, but I don't whole heartedl
Giving them more [technology] only gives their imaginations more basic "building blocks" with which to power their imagination.
I guess the problem arises when the blocks themselves are more fun to look at than build with. I'm not saying technology and kids are a bad mix, but anything done to excess (which having shopped for presents for a 1 yr old I think I can say we may be doing) can have negative consequences.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
No Subject Given
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
No Subject Given
[ link to this | view in chronology ]