iPads and NERF guns: a hate-love thing…
I’m a lefty when it comes to politics and parenting. I want my kids to have mud between their toes and to be comfortable outside. I want them to understand their passions and skills and use them – daily – for their own betterment and that of the Planet. And with this in mind I make most of my decisions about what best to buy to inspire, empower and entertain my children.
About a year ago my wife and I decided to buy a “family iPad”. We were inspired by the marketing, which was delivered in perfect unison by Apple and a cohort of our respected friends. We were told what we wanted to believe, which is that iPads will “revolutionize the way our children learn” (in a good way), that they have a “highly engaging interface” with incredible potential to introduce concepts, knowledge, skills, etc. It was all too much to resist and we went with the flow, convinced that we were purchasing a tool that would soon see our children working for NASA.
I remain incredulous as to how fast our children, aged 6 and 9, have mastered the main interface. My 6-year old son is able to navigate this fairly sophisticated piece of technology long before he can even read. It is truly intuitive and something they seem to understand quite effortlessly. We’re a Mac family; long gone is the Windows / PC world. And so it seemed like a logical extension of what we had already come to love and trust for work and entertainment. The reality has proven somewhat different.
Zombies and plump, flightless sparrows
Having mastered the main interface and the art of app navigation our kids have quickly slid off the rails into a world of superficiality; a world populated by zombies and plump, flightless sparrows that – although potentially revealing some of the wonderful concepts of physics – mostly just provides our kids with concentrated periods of meaninglessness.
Am I a terrible parent? Possibly. What is obvious is that my kids need supported, structured conditions in which to explore this technology. They cannot be left to their own devices to navigate the myriad of choices before them. That’s a disappointing realization, but I guess you could say we were naive.
Ultimately the potential of the iPad remains just that: a theoretical potential that in reality is far from manifest.
Back to basics…
Running along parallel tracks to our early endorsement of the iPad has been a persistent refusal to allow our kids to play with guns. Although constantly in their list of top five most desired 5 toys of all time, we have always considered toy guns taboo. If they make them themselves, artfully crafted from sticks and trash, they are permitted to use them for however long they last (usually just a few days). But never have we entertained the purchase of toy guns. It just didn’t seem to fit with our values. Instead we followed the crowd into iPad land and “embraced the future of education”.
iPlay
Its probably pretty obvious where this is going. In short we reigned in the previously unfettered iPad and put it in its place as a very expensive gadget that was being used like a TV. For us, the iPad occupied the vacuous middle ground between a phone and a lap top (both of which are very useful); full of potential, but perpetually disappointing and requiring constant interventions.
On the other hand we decided to relax our principles around the use of toy guns. This Christmas Santa brought a our son some NERF guns, which have quickly established themselves as the most coveted and exciting toy in the house.
Rather than demonize the little yellow plastic pistols that fire styrofoam bullets, we decided to relax and play with them. My kids and i have been stalking each other around the house and garden ever since. We walk in stealth mode, listening to the sound of our own breath and the subtle rustle of leaves. We think creatively about the space we occupy as we hide in cupboards and under bushes in the garden. We work together, discussing rules and boundaries and – most important of all – embrace the collectively created fun.
Life-jackers
Embracing this previously taboo activity has clarified the limited value of the iPad, especially as an entertainment device. Our recent NERF gun battles are the complete opposite of the iPad experience: they are live, spontaneously unfolding multi-sensory role play. So don’t believe the hype!
Here’s a few additional conclusions about iPads:
- corporations hijack values when marketing
- products representing hijacked values will hijack your life: the iPad is a life-jacker
- our values need to be reviewed occasionally because we’re all constantly changing.
- sometimes our values are actually someone else’s.
- technology is a means to an end, life is the process in between
