Conkers anyone?
Anastasia De Waal, 22 May 2009
Increasing amounts of ‘screen time’ are leaving children ill prepared for real life, a leading headmaster has argued. The Chairman of the Independent Schools Association (ISA), John Gibson, aired grave concerns about the implications of children’s rejection of outdoor play for Internet games and ‘virtual lives’ through social networking sites.
He told the ISA’s annual conference that traditional games such as conkers, or replacing an oily bike chain taught his generation valuable life skills and showed them how ‘to face success and failure in equal measure’. He likened homes saturated with technology to ‘prisons’.
Yet is it only the lure of games consoles and Facebook that is keeping children inside? Studies suggest that the fear of ‘stranger danger’ deters adults from letting their children play in public spaces without adult supervision. Additionally, not only are homes like ‘prisons’, but schools too increasingly keep children indoors. Take the escalating emphasis on ICT. While there are clear benefits for integrating ICT throughout the curriculum, the huge government push for computer-based learning can only lead to a further decline in real-world interactions for pupils. Target-chasing exam pressure has also led to reduced opportunities for outdoor play, with some schools sidelining PE in SATs years, to devote more time to test practice. With school league tables focussing on exam results, there is little incentive for time-pushed teachers to choose netball over extra maths.
The recent news that three Steiner Waldorf pre-schools have applied for exemption from the much-criticised Early Years Foundation Stage curriculum, highlights the pervasiveness of this one-dimensional approach to learning. Steiner schools only introduce computers around age 13 and there is a great emphasis on nature and outdoor play. Whitehall policy, by contrast, expects nursery pupils to familiarise themselves with computer technology. Perhaps not only those schools subscribing to the Steiner philosophy should rebel against the tick-box orthodoxy and re-engage with life outside the classroom.
By Helen Cowen
Its a mad mad world. we have those that complain that our children spend to much time in front of the virtual world of the computer screen. but then should our kids venture out into a playing field ; (if there are any left,) to play conkers, or climb a tree, then the elf n’ safety army appear, all self rightouse with hard hats, safety goggles, and those ghastly hi-vis vests, result end of fun and enjoyment. So the kids return to the risk free environment of the computer world.