Blog #4: Duh? Huh? What?

Failure to Connect: “Emotional, Social, and Personal Aspects of Children’s Computer Use”

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My wife tells my son constantly, “People are more important than things”—an idea Healy delves into when considering the potential impact of absentee and negligent parents combined with cyber-sitters, where the computer and Internet substitute for human interaction to the point where a child becomes stunted emotionally, socially, and cognitively, which, in the long run, will limit his or her opportunities for success in a workplace increasingly requiring collaboration, flexibility, and innovation. The questions and implications of Healy’s connections are deeply troublesome—and alarming. At one point, although she does not make the direct correlation, Healy does make a correspondence between excessive computer use in youth and Autism-like symptoms. Making wide-reaching statements does not sit well with Autism advocates–just ask Michael Savage but Healy does not want to neglect pointing out the similarities between Autistic individuals and those children stunted by excessive interaction with limiting programs and lack of human contact; Autistic children are similarly withdrawn and unable to function normally on a social level as Healy is finding in children with excessive computer time. Although this social phenomenon will definitely pose a problem for educators, once again, like so many issues schools struggle with, the problem seems to begin in the home and the deterioration of the family and the lack of parental oversight and interaction that plagues so many households. Kids aren’t motivated and don’t do homework? Lack of parental involvement, TV, video games, and the like are too often the blame– except instead educators are blamed for not capturing a child’s imagination! And if our society is churning out more and more socially and emotionally stunted children that then disrupt our educational system further, the question is not going to be how to hold these parents accountable– it’s going to be why schools are not reaching, challenging, and helping these kids!