At all other times, he is very engaged with her. He takes her to the zoo, to museums, out to dinner and, most of all, he takes her outdoors. She loves to walk in the woods and the pasture. She loves going for rides with him in an off-road vehicle.
She likes the garden and playing in the leaves each fall. She is really an outdoor girl.
Last fall, she had reach age four and he enrolled her in pre-school at the local school. He was excited that she would meet children other than those she knew from Sunday School. He knew she would learn to get along with others and have people she had to obey other than her father and grandparents.
My friend was so happy that his daughter loved school and, after the first day, she told her father that she could go all alone after being somewhat scared the first day.
But after Christmas, things changed.The school introduced these four-year-olds to computers. Each child got a laptop and was trained to use it. The computers were full of small stories and games aplenty.
The children were allowed to take it home, but the computer has changed my friend’s life as his daughter is “hooked” on her laptop. According to him, all she wants to do is sit somewhere and play games.
My friend has been encouraging her to go outside and play as before, either alone or with him or her grandparents. She fights the idea.
This has caused my friend much pain and he hasn’t solved the problem yet. He’s determined to get her back to having a fuller life with many interests.
Not having young children these days, I know that raising them is different than it used to be. But I cannot believe that children have changed much They have different toys, different interests and more worldly views, but they still like to have fun, still enjoy having friends, still like to compete in everything and still need compassion and love.
I don’t think four-year-old children need a computer to compete with such things as playing and learning outdoors, just as I believe that all kids don’t need to go to college. They can do well in life in the trades. I don’t think kids should have things forced on them that early in life.
Now that warmer weather has come, flowers are blooming, calves are being born, pastures are green and fish are biting, I hope all four year olds get to have a life in the sunshine and fresh air.
Just between you and me, I hope my friend can solve his problem with his child. There’s more to life than a computer.
(Kay Hively is a historian, author and former editor, reporter and columnist for the Neosho Daily News and Neosho Post.)
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