Ms Toni Downes from the University of Sydney, New South Wales surveyed 400 schoolchildren aged 5 to 12 who had some access to computers outside school hours, as well as with their parents and teachers and found that
children who have a computer at home also dominated computer time in the classroom. "Traffic and cars have made children prisoners in their homes. What children do with their leisure time is different from 50 years ago, but that is not the fault of the computers and the Internet."
the reality of children's leisure time is quite mundane. In the age 8 to 12 age group, play remains high up on list and computers are way down
children tend to substitute time spent at the computer for time they would have spent watching television rather than outdoor activities
the fears of parents and teachers that computers bought for educational purposes were being used only for computer games were ill-founded
children work at their play. They set about getting better at game-play and they have strategies for getting better.
Copyright (c) 1998, Ms. Jenny Aland, All rights reserved Permission to reprint on Child Research Net
HOME
