Quote Originally Posted by shootingstar View Post
And well, it shouldn't be odd in the 21st century, but twice in last few weeks, I saw a parent wheeling their child around (big enough to walk, around 4-6 yrs. old) outside. Child had a minature like laptop tucked in front while inside the stroller and manoeuvring the buttons. Probably it was a game? Ok, I'm not a parent but it is strange to see this with the child's fascination but totally disinterested in his/her outside immediate surroundings. Maybe it's the new way of keeping a kid from howling in public..
I find this very alarming. I teach a child development paper, and also a paper which focuses on the holistic development of infants and toddlers.

Children have plenty of time to access computer technology as they grow older and while there are many things a PC can offer, it can happen later on. There used to be alot of discussion about how "evil/bad" PCs were for children, and much of that has proven to be alarmist nonsense...

HOWEVER...
At this age, children need to be doing lots of looking around to ensure their eyes get practice in long distance focusing... because a laptop is always "busy" visually, children will stay focused on it longer
..... (as opposed to the toy car Tuckville wonders about which the child might fiddle with but look about also).

Also, children learn about the world by interacting with it... by looking, watching, listening... children don't reach 5 and start learning "stuff" then, they are learning from the momnent they are born (and I would argue before they are born as their senses begin to mature - unborn infants can see and hear and their sense of touch is well developed by birth.