On page 98 of her book Technology and Literacy in the Twenty-First Century, Cynthia L. Selfe quotes computer scientist Seymour Papert's answer to a question that plagued parents during the rise of the PC's pervasion in the American home.
"Q: What can a parent do to get over his or her fear of computers?
This is a pretty nagging issue that I've had with the generations preceding Gen Y. Too often have I heard members of older generations take issue with the "lack of respect" in the younger generations. The "apathy" or "laziness" inherent in people around my age. But, like, no.
Seymour Papert is arguing for an active parent-child relationship; he recommends active participation in the the education of your child, beyond providing commands or directives for him/her to carry out. Here's the interesting thing about this: What if, actually, scientifically, a majority of my generation was lazy, apathetic, and disrespectful. How could we be blamed? People aren't all born a particular with these personality traits: while I know very little about genetics, I would wager that in most cases, these characteristics are learned. How, though, would we learn them, I wonder?
Oh, yeah. We would have to have been taught. (Please forgive my 'tude; this subject makes me bitter.)
I was in high school when I started to notice or think about the way that people raised their kids. But I never really put the pieces together until recently. How often have you seen or heard of parents using technology to babysit their children? Kids misbehaving, screaming, not listening? Turn on the TV, hand them an iPad, etc. But then, maybe you decide yours kids have been attached to their electronics for too damn long. "Go out and play," you might demand, "It's a beautiful day, turn off the TV and go outside." You can't just say "read this" and expect kids to read it. If you don't want to do it, they don't want to do it. Actually, one of the most intuitive and intelligent humans I have ever met lived in a house in which her father read to her every night until she was in high school. She graduated Salutatorian from her high school and received a full-ride scholarship to the college she now attends. I'm not saying the two things are entirely correlated, but if the boot fits...
This type of distanced approach to teaching, in my experience, is ineffective and unhelpful. From what I remember of my own childhood, it was much more enticing to go out and play when I knew my mom or dad would be joining me. My parents would take me on bike rides or to play catch, or would bring my sister and me to the park near our house. I saw my teachers (my parents) participating in the activity, which encouraged me to want to participate as well. Later, when my parents became more busy with their work lives, I carried those crucial lessons from my early years into my pre-teen behavior. I wanted to go out and get exercise and play with my friends. (Honestly, I don't know how important or inherently good it is to go and play outside, but bigwigs in health and education seem to put a lot of emphasis on it.)
Understanding the importance of human interaction in education, especially in a world dominated by technology, is necessary. We learn by interactive communication and by example. We pick up our teachers' habits, and adopt their understanding of the world as a lens through which we see our own world. Active participation and interaction with kids fosters their educational growth, their motivation to learn, and their relationship with their educator in the classroom or at home. Just saying.
"Q: What can a parent do to get over his or her fear of computers?
Seymour Papert: You can sit down with your child and prompt him to show you something– perhaps how to play a game. By learning a game, you're getting close to the kid and gaining and gaining insight into ways of learning. The kid can see this happening and feels respected, so it fosters the relationship between you and the kid."
This is a pretty nagging issue that I've had with the generations preceding Gen Y. Too often have I heard members of older generations take issue with the "lack of respect" in the younger generations. The "apathy" or "laziness" inherent in people around my age. But, like, no.
Seymour Papert is arguing for an active parent-child relationship; he recommends active participation in the the education of your child, beyond providing commands or directives for him/her to carry out. Here's the interesting thing about this: What if, actually, scientifically, a majority of my generation was lazy, apathetic, and disrespectful. How could we be blamed? People aren't all born a particular with these personality traits: while I know very little about genetics, I would wager that in most cases, these characteristics are learned. How, though, would we learn them, I wonder?
Oh, yeah. We would have to have been taught. (Please forgive my 'tude; this subject makes me bitter.)
I was in high school when I started to notice or think about the way that people raised their kids. But I never really put the pieces together until recently. How often have you seen or heard of parents using technology to babysit their children? Kids misbehaving, screaming, not listening? Turn on the TV, hand them an iPad, etc. But then, maybe you decide yours kids have been attached to their electronics for too damn long. "Go out and play," you might demand, "It's a beautiful day, turn off the TV and go outside." You can't just say "read this" and expect kids to read it. If you don't want to do it, they don't want to do it. Actually, one of the most intuitive and intelligent humans I have ever met lived in a house in which her father read to her every night until she was in high school. She graduated Salutatorian from her high school and received a full-ride scholarship to the college she now attends. I'm not saying the two things are entirely correlated, but if the boot fits...
This type of distanced approach to teaching, in my experience, is ineffective and unhelpful. From what I remember of my own childhood, it was much more enticing to go out and play when I knew my mom or dad would be joining me. My parents would take me on bike rides or to play catch, or would bring my sister and me to the park near our house. I saw my teachers (my parents) participating in the activity, which encouraged me to want to participate as well. Later, when my parents became more busy with their work lives, I carried those crucial lessons from my early years into my pre-teen behavior. I wanted to go out and get exercise and play with my friends. (Honestly, I don't know how important or inherently good it is to go and play outside, but bigwigs in health and education seem to put a lot of emphasis on it.)
Understanding the importance of human interaction in education, especially in a world dominated by technology, is necessary. We learn by interactive communication and by example. We pick up our teachers' habits, and adopt their understanding of the world as a lens through which we see our own world. Active participation and interaction with kids fosters their educational growth, their motivation to learn, and their relationship with their educator in the classroom or at home. Just saying.
I agree with your point on adults being interactive with their kids in order to get familiar with technology. It helps them become more involved in their kids life and a technological based society.
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