Despite dire warnings about young people’s internet use, I don’t begrudge them their screens – or think they are doomed
A new report by Ofcom into young people’s internet use indicates they are spending more time online, gaming and watching YouTube. Predictably, most of the reporting of the study has thrown its hands up in the air like a cheerleading squad at gunpoint. Rotten kids, addicted to Fortnite and Kylie Jenner’s eyebrows. Why can’t they be intellectuals like we were as kids, watching up to five hours a night of whatever happened to be on ITV?
When does this shift into being selectively judgmental occur? Being a young teen is so, so boring. I don’t begrudge them their screens, or think they’re doomed. There is a valid fear that younger children could miss developmental milestones due to screen addiction, losing physical and intellectual capacity. Some research even suggests they are struggling to tie their shoelaces because of it. The thing is, I struggled to tie my shoelaces well into adolescence and I’m not sure I can blame screens, unless we’re talking about Ceefax and The Legend of Zelda. Learning anything beyond a sloppy granny knot just seemed like a boring use of my attention. It was my first girlfriend who told me I was doing it wrong. (I think she was talking about shoelaces.) Lots of kid’s shoes have Velcro fasteners, which is a more likely explanation. One could also point to studies that show gaming can be beneficial for hand-eye coordination, strategic skill and intelligence. Incidentally, at some later point, probably alone and going mad, I became obsessed with tying shoelaces. I became proficient at bar lacing, bi-colour lacing, chevron and lattice-work. And it was the internet that taught me. (If you’ve not been to Ian’s Shoelace Site, I promise it will change your world.)
Continue reading...from The Guardian http://bit.ly/2FWf3bt
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