The HAND VS. The SCREEN

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I must first say that I am a bit one sided. One sided in the sense of television or screens in general; particularly when we are discussing children. I have asked my husband to remove the television from our home. We are a family that consists of a father, a mother, a baby girl, a pup, and no TV.

When I discovered a book recently titled; The Hand: HOW IT SHAPES THE BRAIN, LANGUAGE AND CULTURE from neurologist Frank Wilson, I was intrigued and thought this may be worth sharing. With all of the conveniences that our modern culture enjoys, there must be just as many cons with all of the pros that we see. We are only one push away from any ease that life may bring us, as far as technology goes. And although that might be helpful for our grandparents who have worked and cultivated both their bodies and minds in their younger years, is it best for our children now who are just beginnings to cultivate their body and mind?

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I would argue that it is not the best that we can do for them. Where is the balance in a one-sided screen world? Have we forgotten the vessel that allows us to experience the screen? The wonderfully made body/mind, which scientist and doctors still do not fully understand. What are we sacrificing in order to have convenient entertainment? Is it possible to go as far as to say that we sacrificing a piece of our humanity?

In a brief interview between David Gergen and the author Frank Wilson, Wilson talks about our modern education system. He explains,

“ Once children get into school , the sort of learning machine that was given to us by biology is sort of preempted by a culture that says well we would like our sons and daughters to go to Harvard and we would like them to be computer scientists and we would like them to be aeronautical engineers. So we will now take over and we will fill the child with the information that the child needs. Unfortunately that does violence psychologically to the child and it also unfortunately divorces the child from the physical world at a time when that child has to know what the world really is about. The world you can't really quite get through the computer you really get it better outside throwing snowballs and playing with animals and toys and making things up and actually working with those kind of things. Working with your hands would teach you more. “

In an age where children are given computers and iPad as early as 1st grade in some schools, I think it is time to ask the bigger questions, is this best for them?
Verses an education that is more hands on and uses the mind in a way that is promoted by the whole body and not just parts of it.