Along with the
\nIT revolution and the diversification of digital devices, benefits and
\nadvantages have been accompanied by disadvantages too. According to parents and
\neducators, they are mostly affecting children, who, from a very tender age,
\nstart using the remote control, the smart phone or tablet, to the detriment of
\ntraditional playing and, later in school, to reading. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Diana Mocanu is the
\ndirector of the Gama publishing house in Iasi, eastern Romania, specializing in
\neducational projects. She told us about the main effects of digitalization on
\nthe development of children’s brains:<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
There
\nare European statistics showing clearly that children under the age of 5 spend,
\non average, three hours in front of a screen, which is a lot. What small
\nchildren need is the opportunity to develop their vocabulary and fine
\nmotricity. Also, they need to develop synapses through interaction with real,
\nnot virtual objects. That is why there should be rules, keeping children under
\n3 away from screens. The digital world will catch up with them anyway, as they
\ngrow up, and teenagers actually need to keep up with the latest in terms of
\ndigital skills, because this is the future.
\nHowever, in order for children to
\nstart loving books too, it’s important for them to start actually reading when
\nthey should, and this is where we, the parents, should step in. It’s important
\nto be there for our children, to motivate them to read, to given them books
\nthat help them develop a taste for reading.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
With the express
\naim of helping children develop a love for books, Gama has launched a campaign
\ntitled The Day When We Have Time, devoted to both children and parents, as
\nDiana Mocanu told us:<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
TRACK VF: The
\ncampaign started with debates. One of them was held at the Gaudeamus Book Fair
\nin Bucharest, and the other one in Iasi, our home city. We hosted well known
\nfigures from the world of books and parenting, but also from the virtual field,
\nin order to illustrate both perspectives. We wanted to find viable solutions
\nfor parents, to help them.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
To this end,
\nbook collections specially designed to have parents and children read together
\nare extremely useful. This can help children read more easily, without too much
\neffort. Here is Diana Mocanu again:<\/p>\n
If we
\nthink of this in terms of gadget vs. book, we must not forget that a digital
\ndevice is extremely attractive, fun, and easy to use. Reading, on the other
\nhand, is a very complex activity, which entails an effort that takes years. If
\nwe look at the two, the gadget vs. the book, the gadget wins, if the child has
\nproblems reading.<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
No such
\ncampaign, however, can be of any use unless they target both children and
\nparents, says poet Robert Serban, one of the participants in the debates held under
\nthe ‘The Day When We Have Time’ campaign. He tried to address some of the
\nworries voiced by parents during the debates with regard to the use of digital
\nequipment.<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
They
\nforget to look in the mirror. They forget to turn off TV sets, they forget to
\nput down phones and tablets when they get home. So, they actually ask their
\nchildren to do things that they cannot do themselves. In fact, it is well known
\nthat children imitate what their parents do, because they are their role
\nmodels. For years I’ve talked to parents asking me what to do, what strategies
\nto adopt in order to make them read. My reaction has always been: What do you
\ndo when you get home? Well, I sit in my chair and turn on the TV. Then what
\ndo you expect from your son? Does he see you or your wife read? That would be
\nthe explanation. These campaigns are important, but, for them to be more than
\njust a theory or a slogan, they should target not only children, but their
\nparents too.<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Robert Serban is
\na father himself, so he understands the fascination of the internet and of
\ncomputer games. On the other hand, he knows that digital technology can be a
\nvery good instrument for acquiring knowledge, if used properly. Here is Robert
\nSerban once more:<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
We do
\nnot use them as tools, we let them use us. They occupy all our time. They are
\nfabulous and fascinating. I often wonder what I would have done if, as a child,
\nI had something like that in the 1970s-1980s. I’m sure that I would have been
\nmesmerized, just like my kids are today. I have an 8-year old boy and a 12-year
\nold girl. I am fighting with these tools they have access to these days. I am
\ntrying to protect them, and especially to tell them that this is what they are,
\njust tools. We use the phone to talk to each other, not to stare at the screen
\nall day long. We watch TV from time to time, to watch a movie or the news, not
\nto become addicted to it. What really shapes us is reading, be it on the
\nscreen, on a sheet of paper, in a book. This is important. There is scientific
\nevidence showing that reading develops the nervous system, it develops the
\nbrain and helps us focus and imagine things.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
The campaign run
\nby the Gama publishing house ended with a day when parents and children put
\ntheir smart phones and tablets aside, turned off the TV, in order to be closer
\nto their loved ones, in the company of a book, of a game or just to stroll in
\nthe park. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Along with the IT revolution and the diversification of digital devices, benefits and advantages have been accompanied by disadvantages too. According to parents and educators, they are mostly affecting children, who, from a very tender age, start using the remote control, the smart phone or tablet, to the detriment of traditional playing and, later in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":136,"featured_media":142950,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[42997],"tags":[43729,43727,35952,43728,41764],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-142949","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-society-today","tag-the-day-when-we-have-time","tag-diana-mocanu","tag-digitalization","tag-gama-publishing-house","tag-reading"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n