Okay, so I'd like to start off by apologizing for not writing often. I have been mourning the tragic loss of a certain Micheal Jackson.
Anyway, I was reading the newspaper the other day and there was this topic about how children are utterly addicted to the new age gizmos and how their parents felt about that. So, this got me thinking.
I didn't get an iPad when I was 4. I wasn't neanderthal, either. So, what is my take on the issue?
There were two teams of parents, as I saw it. The ones that were proud that the toddlers were tech savvy (Team A) and the others who felt that too much technology at such a young age would screw them up (Team B). They all are right.
Team A is ecstatic that their kids can so wonderfully access Facebook on their own laptops and iPads. Whether or not they can write, speak or read English is an entirely different matter. All these kids probably do on the Internet is google stuff like 'Cute puppies' and 'Ben 10' or play games like 'Dress up the Barbie' and 'Farmville'. You are never going to see a kid make proper use of what the gizmo is designed to do. That is exactly what I am getting at. Why does your kid need an iPad to look at a cute puppy? Buy her a frikkin' cute puppy instead!
When I was a four year old, all I got was a wooden bat and a tennis ball. Did that upset me? No! I was ecstatic! I would run to the local playground and play cricket, out in the sun, all bloody day! I would even get a chance to rub it in the other kids like "Look at that, I have my own cricket bat! Yeah, that's right, sucker!"
I look at the kids now and it just makes me sad. I mean, come on, where's the spirit? Why are all the playgrounds so empty? Basically, what I'm saying to Team A is, yes, it is good the kids to know their technology. Google makes everyone inquisitive, sure. But, you gotta let them out otherwise they're going to end up fat like the IT people they shall be 20 years later.
On the other hand, I'd disagree with Team B, too. You don't want your kids to be stupid, do you? Buy your son a PlayStation. It's all right. Let him play Halo, Call of Duty, Fifa, whatever. You might want to check on him a little if he's playing Grand Theft Auto, though. Also, take him to parks, play with him. Take him to cricket matches, football matches, all that stuff. If you deny your kid a computer even when he's 13 and make him study all the time, sure, he'll know a lot of interesting shit about long division and protons, but, he shall look at a computer elsewhere and say to you "Daddy, what is that magic box?" Catch my drift? Ha!
Also, I'm against the idea of elders trying to make the younger generation like them. It is customary for a generation of people to assume that they were far superior in every damn way than the generation that follows. Bullshit.
Distinguished 70 year olds, I ask you, why would you assume you were better? You did not watch porn on the computer because there was no computer! You looked at the wheels of the only Premier Padmini passing your village and you just sat there going, "Whoa. Mind blowing."
What do the 40 year olds say?
Q: How were you as a child?
A:Well, when I was a child, I wasn't naughty like the children of today.
Q: Did you do well in your exams?
A: Yeah, I scored 60% at the least.
Q: How is that good?
A: Let me tell you, the exams these days are getting easier.
Q: Maybe the children are getting cleverer?
A: What have you been smoking?
We're miserable as fuck and yet, we want to make kids like us?
Children of today are brilliant, no doubt. Channelise that. Let them make mistakes, it's okay. Let them have fun. Make them read novels, watch movies, celebrate what's good about life. Let them party. Just make sure they don't get molested. That is what it is, really. 'Freedom with a certain limitations.' You can't say to your son, "Okay look, this is a porn website. There's lots of nasty stuff in it. So do not enter this website. Got it?" and expect to do exactly what he says, "Okay Mommy, I won't." He shall end up playing with the gentleman sausage all day long and all you are left with is pretty screwed up plumbing. That's just the way it goes.
I realise I may have crossed some kind of line, here. "This boy is talking out off your ass", you might say. Forgive me.
I was so excited about what I was writing here that I decided to conduct a public poll. So, I went up to citizens of Bangalore with the question "Technology for Toddlers : Boon or Bane?"
And the top answer was, "PISS OFF, SON. I'M BUSY."
Anyway, I was reading the newspaper the other day and there was this topic about how children are utterly addicted to the new age gizmos and how their parents felt about that. So, this got me thinking.
I didn't get an iPad when I was 4. I wasn't neanderthal, either. So, what is my take on the issue?
There were two teams of parents, as I saw it. The ones that were proud that the toddlers were tech savvy (Team A) and the others who felt that too much technology at such a young age would screw them up (Team B). They all are right.
Team A is ecstatic that their kids can so wonderfully access Facebook on their own laptops and iPads. Whether or not they can write, speak or read English is an entirely different matter. All these kids probably do on the Internet is google stuff like 'Cute puppies' and 'Ben 10' or play games like 'Dress up the Barbie' and 'Farmville'. You are never going to see a kid make proper use of what the gizmo is designed to do. That is exactly what I am getting at. Why does your kid need an iPad to look at a cute puppy? Buy her a frikkin' cute puppy instead!
When I was a four year old, all I got was a wooden bat and a tennis ball. Did that upset me? No! I was ecstatic! I would run to the local playground and play cricket, out in the sun, all bloody day! I would even get a chance to rub it in the other kids like "Look at that, I have my own cricket bat! Yeah, that's right, sucker!"
I look at the kids now and it just makes me sad. I mean, come on, where's the spirit? Why are all the playgrounds so empty? Basically, what I'm saying to Team A is, yes, it is good the kids to know their technology. Google makes everyone inquisitive, sure. But, you gotta let them out otherwise they're going to end up fat like the IT people they shall be 20 years later.
On the other hand, I'd disagree with Team B, too. You don't want your kids to be stupid, do you? Buy your son a PlayStation. It's all right. Let him play Halo, Call of Duty, Fifa, whatever. You might want to check on him a little if he's playing Grand Theft Auto, though. Also, take him to parks, play with him. Take him to cricket matches, football matches, all that stuff. If you deny your kid a computer even when he's 13 and make him study all the time, sure, he'll know a lot of interesting shit about long division and protons, but, he shall look at a computer elsewhere and say to you "Daddy, what is that magic box?" Catch my drift? Ha!
Also, I'm against the idea of elders trying to make the younger generation like them. It is customary for a generation of people to assume that they were far superior in every damn way than the generation that follows. Bullshit.
Distinguished 70 year olds, I ask you, why would you assume you were better? You did not watch porn on the computer because there was no computer! You looked at the wheels of the only Premier Padmini passing your village and you just sat there going, "Whoa. Mind blowing."
What do the 40 year olds say?
Q: How were you as a child?
A:Well, when I was a child, I wasn't naughty like the children of today.
Q: Did you do well in your exams?
A: Yeah, I scored 60% at the least.
Q: How is that good?
A: Let me tell you, the exams these days are getting easier.
Q: Maybe the children are getting cleverer?
A: What have you been smoking?
We're miserable as fuck and yet, we want to make kids like us?
Children of today are brilliant, no doubt. Channelise that. Let them make mistakes, it's okay. Let them have fun. Make them read novels, watch movies, celebrate what's good about life. Let them party. Just make sure they don't get molested. That is what it is, really. 'Freedom with a certain limitations.' You can't say to your son, "Okay look, this is a porn website. There's lots of nasty stuff in it. So do not enter this website. Got it?" and expect to do exactly what he says, "Okay Mommy, I won't." He shall end up playing with the gentleman sausage all day long and all you are left with is pretty screwed up plumbing. That's just the way it goes.
I realise I may have crossed some kind of line, here. "This boy is talking out off your ass", you might say. Forgive me.
I was so excited about what I was writing here that I decided to conduct a public poll. So, I went up to citizens of Bangalore with the question "Technology for Toddlers : Boon or Bane?"
And the top answer was, "PISS OFF, SON. I'M BUSY."
