Managing Children's Technology Usage

In today's class we watched a video about 3 kids who explained the amount of time they spend on the TV, phone, computer, video games etc. They all spent a crazy amount of time on their own, with their technology evenings and weekends. Looking back on my own childhood, I wonder if my parents ever felt like I spent too much time doing these things. I definitely went through a major MSN phase, which is a program that allows you to chat with anyone you have added to MSN. I would come home from school and go on MSN before supper, after supper and sometimes stay up late chatting with friends. Although it would have been more beneficial for me to actually hang out with these friends in person, it also was something that everyone at school was doing. I know I wouldn't have had some of the conversations I had on MSN if I had been talking to that person face-to-face. It was a short phase, and I inevitably stopped going on MSN and moved on.

What should parents do about kids who spend this much time with technology? What can teachers do in the classroom to encourage kids to leave their houses, and spend time with their friends and family? As great as technology can be for teaching kids, I think it is also important to use traditional methods for teaching. It is still important to write with a pen and paper in school, instead of typing everything up on the computer. It is important to read real books to kids, instead of reading everything off of EReader. Exposing children to all these basic resources will show them alternatives to modern technology, and I do think that kids still appreciate these older technologies.

I think it's easy to look at all those kids in the video with fear, hoping our own kids don't turn out like that, and wonder how those kids will be years down the road. It is for sure excessive how much time they spend with technology but I do think that for some kids, it is a phase. They may be having a tough time with friends, or with school or are feeling too awkward about their teenager years, and technology is a good way to escape. Before jumping to conclusions about them, maybe we just have to give them time, and they will learn about the big world outside of their own bedrooms, and they will decide for themselves to explore it.