Tech show tackles what's appropriate (or not) for kids
LAS VEGAS -- When it comes to prowling the Internet or choosing age-appropriate toys, overwrought parents have a lot to consider. Can (and should) you monitor or limit the time your children play games or hang out in cyberspace? How do you keep them safe once there? Are educational toys truly educational? Author Lisa Guernsey says there's a high-pitch debate about whether childhood is being squandered or set free by today's tech toys.
There are no easy answers. A new study by the Joan Ganz Cooney Center, a non-profit research arm of the Sesame Workshop, says more academic research is needed to investigate the implications of the current environment on children's informal learning. It also recommends product developers break the traditional model of having one kid in front of one screen. A reason Nintendo's Wii has been so well received is because it encourages group play. One thing everyone seems to agree on: Parents of young children should watch and play along whenever possible.
Here's a sampling of products and parental resources I came across:
•Entertainment software for kids with cancer. I wondered whether young cancer patients might feel a stigma playing a video game aimed at them. But HopeLab says patients who play its Re-Mission software game actually adhere better to their treatment regimens. And friends and siblings without cancer may play along. The object of Re-Mission is to control a nanobot named Roxxi who travels through the bodies of 19 fictional patients to combat their cancer cells. The non-profit HopeLab developed the video game (for Windows PCs) a couple of years ago, with the help of cancer experts and cell biologists. It can be downloaded free at www.re-mission.net.
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