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Children Struggle To Hold Pencils Due To Too Much Tech, Doctors Say (theguardian.com)
An anonymous reader quotes a report from The Guardian: Children are increasingly finding it hard to hold pens and pencils because of an excessive use of technology, senior pediatric doctors have warned. An overuse of touchscreen phones and tablets is preventing children's finger muscles from developing sufficiently to enable them to hold a pencil correctly, they say. "Children are not coming into school with the hand strength and dexterity they had 10 years ago," said Sally Payne, the head pediatric occupational therapist at the Heart of England foundation NHS Trust. "Children coming into school are being given a pencil but are increasingly not be able to hold it because they don't have the fundamental movement skills. "To be able to grip a pencil and move it, you need strong control of the fine muscles in your fingers,. Children need lots of opportunity to develop those skills." Payne said the nature of play had changed. "It's easier to give a child an iPad than encouraging them to do muscle-building play such as building blocks, cutting and sticking, or pulling toys and ropes. Because of this, they're not developing the underlying foundation skills they need to grip and hold a pencil."
This is the biggest load of BS. Hand / Eye Coordination and muscular definition have been shown in COUNTLESS studies to IMPROVE DRAMATICALLY after a good amount of video game playing. Pretty much the opposite of this "Study" I grew up with a gameboy in my hand, and have better reflexes and coordination at 40, than most of the people half my age. And can STILL game better than 75% of them, type 120wpm, and... Wait for it.... USE A FREAKIN PENCIL! :-D