TVs, Videogames, Computers and Children

Technology and parenting

Dr. Mercola’s premise

Dr. Mercola has strongly argued that one of the worst mistakes a parent can make is to allow their child to watch more than 2 hours of TV a day. Quoting a scientific study, he noted that “no matter how physically active a child is, time spent in front of the computer or television screen is associated with emotional and behavioral problems.”

He writes; “there’s nary a household in the US that doesn’t have at least one TV, and/or a computer, and for all their potential benefits, TV-watching and computer use also has a long list of drawbacks, especially where children are concerned. Most troubling is the finding that you may not be able to compensate for time spent in front of the TV or the computer screen. Because regardless of your child’s overall level of physical activity, spending more than two hours a day on these digital displays may be all it takes to impact their mental and emotional health…”

Dr. Mercola further noted that children with TV screens in their rooms are even more exposed to serious health and emotional problems, and that parents pay a steep price for letting their child have a TV in their bedroom. He quotes a growing body of research which shows strong links between a TV in the bedroom and numerous health and educational problems. Basically, this research points to some of the problems children with TVs in their bedrooms encounter.

These are:

1. Score lower on school tests
2. Are more likely to have sleep problems
3. Are more likely to be overweight
4. May have an increased risk of smoking
5. Tend to consume more unhealthy foods

Dr. Mitra’s Premise

I first read about Dr. Mitra on TED talks. Dr. Mitra is an education scientist who tackles one of the greatest problems of education – the idea that the best teachers and schools don’t exist where they’re needed most. In a series of real-life experiments from New Delhi to South Africa to Italy, he gave kids self-supervised access to the web and saw results that could revolutionize how we think about teaching.

In 1999, Sugata Mitra and his colleagues dug a hole in a wall bordering an urban slum in New Delhi, installed an Internet-connected PC, and left it there (with a hidden camera filming the area). What they saw was kids from the slum playing around with the computer and in the process learning how to use it and how to go online, and then teaching each other.

In the following years they replicated the experiment in other parts of India, urban and rural, with similar results, challenging some of the key assumptions of formal education. The “Hole in the Wall” project demonstrates that, even in the absence of any direct input from a teacher, an environment that stimulates curiosity can cause learning through self-instruction and peer-shared knowledge. Mitra, who’s now a professor of educational technology at Newcastle University (UK), calls it “minimally invasive education.”

Sugata Mitra’s “Hole in the Wall” experiments have shown that, in the absence of supervision or formal teaching, children can teach themselves and each other, if they’re motivated by curiosity and peer interest. If children have interest, then education happens.

In other words, an environment that stimulates curiosity can cause learning through self-instruction and peer-shared knowledge. Mitra, who’s now a professor of educational technology at Newcastle University (UK), calls it “minimally invasive education.”

Dr. Nicoline Ambe’s website is www.nicolineambe.com

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