How do parents react to kids raised on iPad ?

Engaged in interactive computer  - Sidharth, 7, with kid brother Nikhil,5.  Video by  granddad.

As I read author Hanna Rosin's article - The Touch-Screen Generation - I was thinking about my US-based grandsons, aged 5 and 7, who, I noticed, loved to spend time with an iPad during their India trip for a couple of weeks. They watch basketball, run car races, play tennis, chess, and do quite a few other things I am not familiar with. 

The Atlantic magazine article discusses the phenomenon of today's children spending more and more time with digital technology. What does it mean for their development ? Hanna Rosin, who disagrees with the American Academy of Pediatrics,  favours  the idea of children engaged with interactive digital media for their development.. She reckons a child who is adept with iPad hardly needs any teaching. The Academy of Pediatrics wouldn't recommend children's exposure to digital media, even though over 90 percent of American parents say their kids - even 2-year olds - are exposed to some form of electronic media at home.

The question, as Hanna phrased it,  how would you want today's children to deal with technology ? Parents who, in their own childhood learned to  curb technology , would want their kids to keep off it. Those who realise  inevitability of increasing role of technology in daily life would rather want to see their young ones to integrate technology , making it a natural, organic part of life.

Hanna Rosin is not among those who believe free and open exposure leads to addiction. As part of parenting those bringing up young kids amid a digital clutter around their house - smart phone,  iPad, computer, interactive Tv etc -  would do well to be discriminative enough to understand when their kids engaged with iPad are concentrating intensely ; and when  iPad becomes an addiction. Incidence of iPad addiction among children is a rare phenomenon, says Hanna Roasin.

Didn't know ducks eat sand, stones

It wouldn't have  occurred to me to do Internet search about matters such as  the lifespan and eating habits of ducks,  if I had  not escorted a bunch of  children in our apartment complex  to the Gateway School pets' club. They ask too many questions - these children.  The pet club visit  followed Children's Day tree-planting at Mantri Synergy apartments complex. We had children plant nine saplings - pongai - representing each residential block - A to I.. After which we asked them to name the saplings they planted.

The  children came up with  Aditya, Buddha, Cashmeera, D'Arcey, Ezhile, Freddy, Gautham, Harish and India.  Frankly, I couldn't catch the C- name that Sundeep's  kids gave for their plant.  And I am not sure about the  'D'  plant's  spelling ( Trishna, who named the plant  can tell us). I got stumped by kids, once again, at the pet club ducks enclosure. Watching the ducks Nitya asked how long do they live and what do they eat for breakfast or lunch. Nitya and other children had just come  after watching couple of caged rabbits making a meal of cabbage.
 

Google search reveals that average lifespan of domestic duck is 10 yrs. And they eat almost anything - small fish, snails, worms, weeds,  algae, insects, seeds and,  at times, even  sand,  gravel and small stones. But for having to respond to such inconvenient questions,  it was fun spening time with children. OMR Greens organized Children's Day programme on Sunday ( Nov.14 being a working day) because we wanted  parents' participation. Our hunch was that  parents have as much fun watching children having fun.Besides, such social programming generated a community chemistry among Mantri Synergy residents.

Santa at Mantri's

At Mantri's we do things somewhat differently. Not for us, the portly old man with bulbous nose and a pot belly. Santa, for us at Mantri's, doesn't spring down on us from North Pole on flying reindeer. Nor does he park himself on a rocking chair near a Christmas tree. Our Santa comes down the E block elevator from his 8th floor abode.

We, on D block 9th floor, were alerted of Santa's arrival by the cheers of the children assembled at the central park. He bounced about dancing with children,ringing a puja bell, and raising hungama in the joint. The Mantri's Santa, far from being an oldie, turned out to be an young man, athletic built with no belly to speak of, even after stuffing in a pillow under his red robe.

He reached out to all comers, handing out gifts to kids, blessing their young mothers,and seniors twice his age, out there to join in the fun.A platoon of children followed Santa wherever he went in the complex.

Santa's agenda at Mantri's included planting of a sapling under our community tree-planting programme. Children and community elders filled up with sand the planting pit, prepared by gardener Raj, and watered the plant. The tree, when fully grown, would have exotic flowers growing out of its branches and trunk.

Our Santa is multilingual, profecient in Tamil, English, Hindi. He spoke Bengali to the daughter and mother of a migrant worker at Mantri's construction site. Our effort at Mantri's is to make our community events inclusive, engaging in festivities the Mantri staff and residents alike.
The tree we planted has a name - Nagapushpam - but we prefer to call it Ujjal Santa. We the Mantri community would like to see the tree, the children, and Mr Ujjal Mukherjee grow up together to higher heights over many, many more Christmas to come.
More photos on our Facebook page.

Relocated play area

The children's play area, being re-located to a better and bigger spot,is coming up well,though some say, at the pace of a tortoise, symbolized in the photo. More images of children's play area uploaded in Facebook page - OMR Resident.

Why can't we have some ducks ?

Reading Mr Sriraj's post I gather that the fountain would soon be functioning at Mantri's. I wish we could have ducks in the water, as they have in this pond at the Blackhawk Mall in Danville CA. It is a major attraction for children visiting the mall. If our fountain isn't big enough for ducks, we could at least have some colourful fish. I am sure children woud love it.