This week I walked in the local mall for some exercise. It becomes a good place for indoor exercise to escape the cold of winter. That's when I saw this little boy. I'll call him Mark.
The mall was not crowded, so it was easy to spot Mark, about 5 years old. He sat on the tile floor in front of a high-end jewelry store's glass counter. His coat still on, he was alone and engrossed in what I'm fairly sure was an Ipod. The Ipod was plugged into a nearby socket. I watched him for a few minutes. Curly-haired Mark was quiet and never looked up.
Immediately I was sad, and mad. Now I realize I had no idea what Mark's situation was nor all that was going on. But what is a 5-year old doing sitting alone and watching something on a screen? My next thought is, where is the adult who is supposed to be looking after young Mark? Hopefully she was nearby.
Can we please take back childhood for our kids? Five year-olds do not need mom's Ipod. One might think that there are fine educational Ipod applications or kid-movies that are suitable for Mark. Maybe, but digital apps and programs should not be primary babysitters. They engage a child only so far, and they fail to develop a child's true imagination, thinking processes, or sensory development because many apps do it for them.
Kids will thrive with a few good ole fashioned toys, coloring books, etc. that help them complete a simple task or spur them to create their own make-believe play. When a group of kids came with their parents to our house a while ago, they discovered my bucket of animals on a stick. The kids immediately grabbed them and began playing, making up conversations between them, laughing and enjoying themselves. It was wonderful.
And most of all, five-year olds need parents or caretakers who are there for them, teaching, nurturing and giving them a non-electronic toy. They don't need someone who leaves them sitting by themselves on the floor of a mall with some gadget plugged into a wall.
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