Slashdot Mirror
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."
Who says these kids are playing games? They are most likely watching youtube videos or similar. Even if they are playing games, on an iPad or smartphone the game is going to involve tapping or dragging, not using buttons and a directional pad like a Gameboy.
The only thing necessary for evil to triumph is for it to be pitted against a slightly greater evil
As the newfangled quill became more popular, we began to see more and more children lack the hand strength to use a hammer and chisel. Sadly, we have yet to recover from such a blow to society. Once again technology has degraded our quality of life.
Then they'll develop the dexterity they need.
It might be just because I'm a very kinaesthetic person, but this is something I find in general computer tech has failed to grasp: How important it is to hold something, to touch something, to feel something touching you.
Among other things, this is the primary reason most keyboards on the market suck, and why VR still hasn't taken off. We techies tend to believe too much that 80% of the human perception is visual, and that is just plain out wrong. The largest sensory organ in your body is your skin.
Computers make great toys for kids, they allow so much creativity and agency, and there are so many skills you can develop with them. But kids should also play with sticks, with Legos, with tools, with wood and metal and stone.
And, frankly speaking, if you don't give your child real, physical books to read, IMHO you should be locked up for child abuse.
Assorted stuff I do sometimes: Lemuria.org
This story seems like complete, made-up bullshit. It has:
- Doctors and scientists making a claim that seems ridiculous on it's face
- Focuses on children and learning for reader and interest
- A bogeyman
- No actual scientific study mentioned
- An audience ready to believe
Thing is -- different usages build different areas of muscles. And the brain learns different types of movements.
When growing up, one summer I used to bike 40km to work at age 16. 80km round trip. I'd work a physical job for a full shift, and return. And growing up in the country, overall I was in fairly good shape. Lots and lots of outdoor/physical chores.
And clearly, one is in excellent shape when doing the above 5 days a week.
Anyhow, I took up water skying. For the first week, I could barely *stand* after a mere 15 minutes. My legs would shake. Part of my leg muscles were not even used in bicycling, walking, and whatever else I did.
People talk about 'swimmer's bodies' and all that, but there is truth to it. Different activities use different muscles, and using a pen/pencil is the same sort of thing. And then, on top of that, the brain needs to learn the specific / fine motions akin to that specific action.
I'm positive that gross hand/eye coordination is improved with playing games. And typing. But, if you've never typed? All the video game playing in the world, won't provide you with the strength and coordination to make all those repetitive typing movements. Your body still needs training.