Children in the age group of four and below have very good toys to play with, which enhances their development. As the children grow older, they are exposed to new gadgets and video games.
The tablets have a mind-numbing effect on children, as does television. There are various frames that keep changing per second, which keeps the child involved in the gadget and so they lose creativity.
Modern games include lots of violence, and some games even show blood after killing the opponent, and this creates a feeling of violence in the child and encourages revenge in his or her subconscious mind.
In today’s modern world, plenty of toys are available in the market in the name of education, brain development and entertainment but as promised, it is not helping the children. Instead, it is leading our younger generation to a destructive path.
Electronics are introduced to children as young as six months of age, which instead of helping our children to develop, is in fact, stunting their brain development. Constant use of these gadgets will lead them to lose concentration, less academic, make them more hyper, preventing them to socialise with others and move them away from the realistic world.
If we are concerned with our children’s development, we should look into traditional way of activities like reading books, exploring Nature by using their five senses as well as various physical activities. Nowadays, children play less in parks and are instead confined within four walls of the house due to which they don’t observe distant objects and colours; hence you will find children with vision deficiency. If children are exposed to parks to see natural colours and objects that are far and near, they will not experience any vision deficiency in their early childhood.
By Ms. Jeya David
Managing director based in Dubai
A new world
Technology widens imagination
It is important that we understand the children of this century. Tablets, video games, smart phones are the tools which have replaced very basic toys from childhood. Basic plastic and wooden toys with very basic ideas used to be starters. As they grow, their perception changes. They move into the gadget-oriented world, and it is common to see toddlers in the supermarket watching cartoons or playing games while their parents are shopping. In this age, when children have forgotten about playing outdoors, the toy industry is under challenge. Compared to the earlier days, it is no longer about a simple doll or car. Now aspirations have changed, and companies have to compete with games, apps and television. Similarly, cartoons have changed and are no longer limited to Phantom or Superman. Instead latest happenings are translated into current toys from Bollywood or Hollywood, be it scientific or real life situations, nonetheless, these are so advanced that you will find a full industry, construction site and what not. The level of toys has changed, as money is no longer a limitation, technology has been merged with toys - CCTV, robots and flying objects are advancing with support. Even various educational games like Scrabble and word making are making a move. Non-stop television and thousands of channels widens the imagination beyond limits, to the point where even National Geographic or Animal Planet has to be translated into day-to-day activity.
Self-evaluation yes, children are becoming more and more aware, accountable, intelligent, however, gender issues are reducing as progress has strengthened the focus now. Super powers are assumed to be idols for many and it may be true, but they have to imagine the imaginable. You have to grow beyond a limit.
From Mr. Sanjay Gupta
Key account manager based in Dubai
Changing perceptions
Toys promote gender stereotypes
The world we live in today, stands in stark contrast to the one we knew as children. We didn’t have variations of toys or sophisticated devices to play with, instead, we enjoyed hours of carefree play with other children, mostly away from home and unsupervised. Today, it’s hard to imagine a life without television and electronic games. It is interesting how the definitions of play and entertainment have changed dramatically over the years. We all know that healthy play is essential to a child’s physical and psychological well-being. But for lack of time and spaces for play, active play is becoming increasingly side-lined. Today, childhood is spent mostly indoors and playtime revolves around video games, internet, educational software and sophisticated toys. No doubt, children do learn a great deal and pick up several skills through hi-tech toys, but I think most of the modern day toys fail to foster freedom, creativity, imagination, empathy towards others and social communication through play. Children have a better understanding about themselves and the world around them by engaging in natural, creative and unstructured play. Emotional and social developments are as essential as intellectual and this is where technology driven play fails to match the real one. Our children are also growing up in an environment that breeds prejudice, false perceptions and gender stereotypes. Knowingly or unknowingly, we engage our children with games and toys that are unrealistic and larger than life. The seemingly innocent and harmless form of entertainment could potentially have a negative influence on their fragile minds. Young children do learn a great deal by watching and imitating others. Their favourite princesses and superheroes do not exist in reality but their young minds aren’t mature enough to differentiate between reality and fantasy. Instead of being influenced by parents and real people around them, they look up to fictional characters as role models. Little girls grow up identifying themselves as pretty princesses, longing to be rich, good looking and acceptable, while little boys become obsessed with concepts like good guys and bad guys, fighting, capturing, rescuing and killing. Such toys certainly encourage stereotypical gender behaviours and also influence the way our children perceive, believe and value things in life. In this digital age, we cannot outrightly reject technology driven play, but it is upon us as parents to take a measured approach when deciding about the role these new generation toys will play in our children’s lives.
From Dr Arpitha Reddy
Founder and director of an online support site, based in Dubai
Independent thinking
Children don’t mimic
Gone are the days when our parents had a tyre and stick and playtime meant being outdoors, fresh air and sunshine! How times have changed! As a child, you always want so much, and I wanted a Barbie while my sister wanted a piano. However, my mother and father didn’t always give us everything we wanted, instead they believed that we should learn the value of things. In saying that, I must admit that I did finally get my Barbie doll but it wasn’t till a special occasion came around. These days, it seems normal for a child to want something and immediately be given it, not all parents are too concerned about the price they are paying for it or whether it is age appropriate for the child. You hear of people talking about how Barbie dolls portray the wrong image and little girls expect that they should look like them. I had a Barbie doll, so did a lot of my friends but none of us ever felt the need to mimic her looks! They say fighter figurines teach little boys to be violent but a child doesn’t understand violence, and he or she plays with toys just like anything else. Rather, it is probably the onset of violent cartoons and TV shows that has made children think it is fine to throw tantrums and be mean! It’s hard to decide what to get a child, every time a birthday comes around, I walk through the shops looking at things wondering what to get. The difficulty I face is the fact that there is just so much to choose from, such as cars, dolls, building blocks and it goes on and on. I take the easy way out and make my way to the bookstore as you can never go wrong there (actually you could, given the e-book generation today)! The one thing that has changed and I consider a plus point being, toys are not as gender specific. I have seen my little girl play with all of the above and it has taught her equality, and she doesn’t feel that she only has to play with dolls. I asked her what she wanted for Christmas and she said, could I have a small lightening McQueen car and a My Little Pony blind bag. Santa won’t have much trouble filling that stocking!
From Ms Amy Jackson-Sharma
Recruitment consultant based in Dubai
In the past
Creativity was employed better
I definitely agree that toys nowadays are giving our children unrealistic standards and values. However, it is a competitive world and while I do understand that companies have to work hard to maximise their profits, but at the same time, this is being done at the expense of our children’s development. I often face difficulties when buying gifts for my daughter because of the amount of inappropriate toys, and as a father, I try my best to give my child the truest reality that there is and with that being said, not all girls look like Barbie. I do agree that there is a wider selection of toys to chose from compared to when I was a child, but honestly, I do prefer the old days more because back then, we were actually creative and if we weren’t given any toys, we would make up our own toys or games.
Unfortunately, that is not the case today and instead, children are confined at home with their high-tech gadgets or fancy toys. I am certain that my daughter will grow up to make her own aspirations and not that of Barbie, but of course I am worried over the fact that she associates with her toys. However, with Barbie aside, and the huge selection of toys as I mentioned before, I get the feeling that we are no longer gender conscious and it is no longer necessary for girls to get dolls and for boys to get cars, rather the opposite and children, are now given the choice to mix and match as they like.
From Mr Eisa Al Bannai
Engineer based in Sharjah
Compiled by Donia Jenabzadeh/Community Web Editor and Marianna Wright/Reader Interactivity Journalist
