A Balancing Act, Not a Battle: Children's Book and Children's iPads

This morning I read an article in the Globe and Mail on the evolving relationship children have with digital readers, such as iPads. A similar article was published in the New York Times about how screen time for children was at an all time high. Both pieces address the issue of interactive screens replacing the traditionally published monograph.

Of course these articles are at the nexus of an ongoing discussion among educators, librarians, publishers, venture capitalists, and parents alike. A discussion that seems to be accompanied with some alarmism among some of these groups. To all those alarmists: lets take a deep cleansing breath.

First, we must take any headline that "such-and-such is at an all time high" with a grain of salt. My issue with statistics in general is that there are so many variables to consider. Screen time is at an all time high. Of course it is. We have never been so technologically advanced as a species as we are now. There have never been so many of us as there is now. In addition to this, technology has never been as affordable or as accessible as it is now. It is highly probably that most households, almost regardless of education level or socio-economic status, will have a computer.

I also believe this is a good thing.

I do believe it's positive for parents to responsibly expose their children to technology. (This doesn't mean using a screen as a baby sitter for three hours.) It is, however, imperative that we teach our children the skills of technology at a young age. Digital literacy is an important to their education as literacy has been, and still is, to previous generations.

This being said, balance is also imperative. Parents are also responsible for not raising a generation of inactive children in a semi-vegitative state. In Sherri Turkles' Alone Together, she takes an educated and responsible look at the social and psychological dangers of immersing oneself too much in technology. On a inter-personal level, we are at risk do miss out on levels of intimacy in our relationships. On a psychological level, we have become more distracted and unable to concentrate thanks to our shiny new digital toys.

I am optimistic and hope that I will continue the balance I've found at home. Alex will become fast friends with anyone who totes around a touch screen. However, we visit our public library at least three times a week and she brings me books, one after another, to read over and over again. She is also prone to keeping me up until an ungodly hour reading Melanie Watt's Chester ad naseum.

The Globe's headline said: "for some kids a book is just an iPod that doesn't work". I think, however, with proper balance, we can keep it at just some.