Danielsaurus

A Final Word on Buying an iPad This Weekend…

(… and why buying one is no death-knell to the future of our children.)

Andre Torrez:

Be wary of closed systems: yes. Accept that future generations will only have gray paint and DRM’d pencils to choose from? Come on. You and I grew up (probably) punching Hayes AT codes into modems when others were out running around on the playground. And generations before us were soldering capacitors and breathing lead infused smoke. And generations before that were relaying bawdy jokes by tapping magnets that would send an electrical charge across town.

Our kids’ creativity is not at risk just because the iPad has come around. If anything, its simplicity and functionality may do more to inspire creativity, by clearing the technical out of the way and laying down a blank canvas to create and play on. And as far as the ability to tinker behind-the-scenes goes, there’s nothing to keep you from firing up Xcode on your Mac (let’s face it, at this point the iPad is not equipped or intended to be your sole computing device) and launching away at writing and executing code or programming apps for your tethered iPad.

That is, after all, what the pros do. And who’s to say that kids can’t do the same thing?

The Kids Are Alright With iPads

In a piece commenting on the supposedly “closed” nature of Apple’s iPad, John Gruber has (somewhat inadvertently) written a stirring defense in testament to the capacity and ingenuity of children.

The criticism around Apple’s new device centers around it’s “closed, consumption-oriented nature” and what this means for the future of computing – not only for adults, but for children, where they might supposedly no longer allowed to hack, program, and tinker their time away with only an iPad at their disposal. Cory Doctorow, of Boing Boing, sees the iPad as perhaps too “perfect” – too complete, too closed off to exploration. And here’s what Mark Pilgrim wrote about it, in a piece entitled “Tinkerer’s Sunset”:

Once upon a time, Apple made the machines that made me who I am. I became who I am by tinkering. Now it seems they’re doing everything in their power to stop my kids from finding that sense of wonder. Apple has declared war on the tinkerers of the world.

It’s a fair criticism – but as Gruber argues, it’s not quite the full picture. Not only is the iPad just one device among several that we use, but here’s the important bit: Kids will always find a way to make things work for them. We just have to show a little trust. As if to illustrate the point, Gruber shares the story of 13-year-old Sam, who recently wrote him to introduce an iPad app that the boy wrote himself. Gruber:

He’s 13 years old and he has created and is selling an iPad app in the same store where companies like EA, Google, and even Apple itself distribute iPad apps. His app is ready to go on the first day the product is available. Not a fake app. Not a junior app. A real honest-to-god iPad app. Imagine a 13-year-old in 1978 who could produce and sell his own Atari 2600 cartridges.

Somehow I don’t think young Mr. Kaplan sees the iPad as hurting his sense of wonder or entrepreneurism.

13-year-old iPad programmers? Absolutely. And Sam’s not the only one out there – not at all.

Yes, as it turns out the kids are, indeed, alright.

Addicted to Video Games?

The Washington Post reports on a newly-published research study on video game addiction from Iowa State:

In what is described as the first nationally representative study in the United States on the subject, researcher Douglas Gentile of Iowa State University found that 8.5 percent of American youths ages 8 to 18 who play video games show multiple signs of behavioral addiction.

The study purports that these youth’s “game addiction” negatively impacts other areas of their lives – such as their performance in school, willingness to do chores, and so on. Other items to note: Boys are four times more likely than girls to be pathologically addicted to video games; kids with addiction lie about the time spent playing, and sometimes steal games or money to play more; and finally – and perhaps here’s the key – the research couldn’t say whether kids play video games because they perform poorly in school (and thus seek out an area where they can establish a feeling of mastery), or whether they perform poorly in school because of playing video games.

It seems like a fairly valid, well-researched study, but here’s my question: if 8.5% of American youth are addicted to video games, what is the percentage of adults in America who are also? I’d wager the number is just as high, if not higher for adults. So why divorce kids from the broader social problem? And, given the ample research which testifies to the benefits that equally accompany video game play for children, are major news outlets such as The Washington Post just fueling more skepticism and fear toward video games by focusing on research studies like this, instead of acknowledging that video games can have a great value for people of all ages when viewed individually and with a more nuanced lens?

There was at least clear voice in the Post’s article speaking on the study, though, who sought to connect the issue with the broader social realities around American children:

“I think kids use this just the way kids watch television, the way kids now use their cellphones,” said Michael Brody, chairman of the media committee of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. “They do it to relieve their anxiety and depression. It’s all a matter of balance.”