AVG: Children learning computer skills before life skills
Last year, AVG’s “Digital Diaries” research kicked off with the discovery that parents begin building their child’s online presence even before they leave the womb, with almost a quarter of parents uploading images of their sonograms.
The latest in that series of research shows a continuation of a child’s submersion into a digital world as a toddler. AVG found that 69% of children aged as young as 2-5 are already using a computer.
The survey of 2,200 mothers with Internet access across the USA, Canada, UK, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Japan, Australia, and New Zealand found life skills are taking a back to seat to computer skills.
More young children know how to play a computer game (58%) than ride a bike unaided (52%). While a quarter of young children can open a web browser window, just 20% can swim unaided.
Incredibly, while over two-thirds (69%) of 2-5 year olds can operate a computer mouse, just 17% can tie their own shoelaces.
Perhaps more disturbing is that while over a quarter (28%) can make calls on a mobile phone, only 1 in 5 knows what number to call in an emergency.
But, in today’s societies where computers and mobile phones play an increasing role in day to day life and business, many parents argue that familiarity with computers and mobile devices is vital for the overall development of a child. Are computer skills now indistinguishable from life skills? Perhaps.
As AVG’s blog post on the topic concludes, the onus is on parents to not only teach their children how to use technology, but how to use it safely and responsibly.
“While many parents may feel better knowing their kids are safe at home rather than gallivanting around the streets unsupervised, in the age of computers and mobile phones, your kids may be in more danger than you think,” says AVG boss J R Smith.
“News in recent years is enough to make any parent pause for concern with ‘cyberbullies,’ ‘online predators’ and other foreboding phrases regularly among the world’s daily headlines.”
