Alliance for Childhood

About the author: The Alliance for Childhood is a partnership of individuals and organizations committed to fostering and respecting each child's inherent right to a healthy, developmentally appropriate childhood. The following viewpoint is excerpted from the Alliance's report Fool's Gold: A Critical Look at Computers and Childhood.

Young children benefit more from interaction with the real world than with machines. Pushing young children to become computer experts has a negative effect on their creative development, which is a central part of childhood. The best way of improving early childhood education involves hiring more teachers, not buying more computers, so that all children receive adequate individual attention from teachers. Schools should implement an immediate moratorium on computers in early childhood education until the effects of such technology are more fully understood.

Why...