He can slay video-game villains and navigate simulated worlds. Johnny doesn't need more Net-linked computers in his elementary classroom, argues Alliance for Childhood. Johnny needs more time to explore the real world, interact with real people, plant a garden, paint a mural, feed a guinea pig, build a sugar-cube mission, play a musical instrument, play. Alliance for Childhood, a group of child development experts and educators, calls for a moratorium on computers in elementary schools and a Surgeon General's study on the potential hazards of spending childhood in front of a screen.
Nobody argues that computers can replace parents, teachers or playmates.
Nobody thinks Johnny should be all tech and no play. Kids' creativity can be overwhelmed. We do need Alliance for Childhood to remind us that the educational benefits of technology are unproven. Drilling on a computer boosts skills scores modestly, the report says. Children with some disabilities are helped by computers.