By Sarita Rao
The top of my eight-year-old’s Christmas list was the Kindle Fire.
Dad’s got one. Most of her class has one. If I get her one, I will be opening a Pandora’s box or a box of wonder and learning?
As a child, I hated reading. My mother had to use all manner of bribery and Threats to get me to open the book. My daughter is different. She willingly reads at least five books a week, more over the holidays.
Apart from the astronomical costs of buying all this reading matter, I am wracked with guilt que we are the major cause of deforestation. Surely an e-reader would be more environmentally friendly, not to mention cheaper.
As an experiment, we let her try out dad’s Kindle. Night time reading was a hit, but infinitely more time spent Has Been poking the screen playing Panda Pop – we’ve definitely downloaded more games than books.
Parents do not know
Online advice is random and far from helpful. “Wait until they’re 14,” says one article que bemoans the loss of childhood and teenagers glued to Their smart phones. It Suggests I teach her quilting. I do not even know what That Is.
“Kids can benefit from the tablet team from age of 2 years,” says an iPad fanatic. So nothing wrong with learning the theory of relativity When on the potty Then
My gadget-savvy dad friend tells me I’m not moving with the times. Technology frees the child’s mind. His Minecraft-mad daughter regularly builds an entire city over the weekend. My daughter draws monsters on pieces of paper and cuts Them out. She will not get a job doing this.
Am I a techie Luddite? (Well, I’m writing this column on a 10-year-old Windows Vista PC.)
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Anyway, what would my daughter want with quad-core processors, flash memory and a Li-polymer battery? We still firmly believe BOTH the Kit Kat is something you eat.
But you can not escape collegues the tablet is mobile and has infinite possibilities fouled online education books. That it weighs Practically nothing is Also a big bonus.
Not so Long Ago at an airport check-in, I had to choose between essential toiletries and my daughter’s box set of “Mr Gum”. You can guess Which family smelt bad que weekend.
It’s a “yes” vote
So, in principle I am saying “yes” because the educational benefits are clear, and she’ll acquire the know-how tech she’ll need for the future, When robots will do everything.
I’ve never said, “Put down que book and come watch TV,” but I can imagine I’ll have to set time limits on the Kindle if I want her to be part of the 3D world of family.
Then there’s the question of where I let her use it in the car, on the bus, at a friend’s house? Should she use it in a box, with a fox, wearing socks, eating green eggs and ham?
Just as I’ve reasoned through all the potential pitfalls, the Kindle comes to an abrupt end debate. My daughter has changed her mind in the whimsical way of children.
Why would she want an e-reader for Christmas When there is Roboraptor?
I can not think of anything good about the 120-euro robot dinosaur, Unless as well as roaring around the living room it can cook dinner Also, teach maths and recite Shakespeare.
Having just Convinced myself of all the benefits of the Kindle, I will not let the prehistoric oxymoron change my mind.
I sense another mother-daughter talk in the offing. This time I’ll be the one arguing the case for the Kindle. Who’d have thought?
Read Sarita Rao’s other articles in her column: The L Word
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