Thank God for The Freedom of Blogging

I've been working at this company for about 7 months now. One of my job desks is to make the company newsletter to be distributed to visitors. I love to write. So actually my job desk is never a problem for me. But struggling with what the boss' wants, that's quite hard I must say. As for the October issue, the first theme to came up was Halloween. But then she wanted to add an article about gadget with this as the reference. Here goes my article which she apparently was not very satisfied about. So let me just post it here. Ah, well..

KIDS & GADGETS

In this era of digital information, technology has become every human needs. not just adults but children too. You may think it as a trend, but like it or not gadget has become an essential part for kids, especially those who live in metropolitan city such as Jakarta. We can easily spot kids in every corner of the playground concentrating on their gadgets.

There are pros and cons regarding this case. Those who disagree think the main reasons parents give gadgets to their child is because of their hectic schedule. When parents don't get time for thir kids, they provide them with the latest gadgets to keep them occupied. The cons also think giving gadgets to children at early age will only cause negative effects. While the pros side think the opposite. It's clear that today's kids live in a very different world than the generations before them. The evolution of technology growing so fast, thus parents need to teach their kids to keep updated.

According to Allan Hoffman, book author and technology expert, there are steps and ground rules you may want to consider before giving digital appliances to your kids.

Think and wait. If in doubt, hold off on the purchase. Be thoughtful about your decision, considering how this device may encroach on other activities and priorities. Kids are often crushed for time. Does this mean there's less time for bike rides or homework?
Establish rules. Be clear about how much time your child can spend with the device. Do you want your kid playing games at the dinner table? Or during a brief visit to grandparents? Probably not. In fact, if you think you're going to have to set up too many rules, then maybe it's better to hold off on buying the gadget altogether.
Emphasize doing, not watching. If possible, it is better to buy a device with the idea of inspiring creativity so it will give good affects to your kid's growth and development.
Calculate the costs. Many devices require you to buy music, games and assorted applications. So before buying device, figure out how much you are willing to spend money on its feeding and upkeep.
Use parental controls. These devices often have controls to allow parents to monitor usage and prevent the viewing of inappropriate material. Use them wisely.

There are so many devices these days that giving space for the kids to sharpen ups their creativities. LeapFrog Enterprises Inc., for instance. The company which is known for its educational children toys has just launched The LeapPad Explorer. It has built in microphone, camera, video recorder and kid-size stylus for writing and drawing on its five-inch touch screen. This tablet can be used for reading e-books, playing games and also as personalized education. Children can enter their grades, ranging from prekindergarten to sixth grade and then the device's activities automatically tune to a child's capabilities. Regardles the pros and cons, it's actually okay to introduce children at young age to technology in the right amount of proportion. So now it's up to you parents, how ready are you to give your kids digital devices?