I read this article on the Fox News website and was intrigued by the opinion of the author. The article starts out with this line: “My baby is turning 1. It’s time to get her a laptop.” The article brings up the question of how early our kids should be given access to a computer, and how much exposure they should get. He disagrees with the American Academy of Pediatrics which claims there should be “‘no screen time’ for children under 2 and at most 1 or 2 hours daily for kids.”

The article goes on to conclude that there is a “fluency” achieved when someone has grown up with something such as language (he makes the application to computers). He also makes this comment on the importance of introducing technology to children from the beginning: “For kids learning to navigate 21st-century society, computers and media are just as important as balls, books, and baby dolls.”

Although the author makes the obligatory points about moderation, monitoring and filtering, I think his over all stance is a little extreme. Is technology important to the healthy development of children? I believe so. In today’s world, it is necessary for kids to learn how to navigate newer mediums of information. In fact, we could actually be handicapping them as they get older if we don’t allow them to. However, I would also make the point that we may be handicapping our children by exposing them too young to too much stimulation.

As I have discussed in prior articles, such as the one about reading preferences, I believe I even show signs of a short attention span because of over stimulation. This is only one of the dangers of over exposure to media and technology.

In light of a subject that is obviously controversial, I would like to ask a few questions:

1. How young is too young for your child to have his/her own computer?
2. What age is appropriate for your child to have his/her own computer?
3. What are the positives and negatives of your child having their own computer early on?

And include a quick poll: