In today's competitive world, what responsible parent would not want to give their children the best possible start in life? For this reason, many parents want their children, often as young as ten months old, to become familiar with computers. They seem to think that if their children grow up with computers, they will be better equipped to face the challenges of the future.
No one has proved that computers make children more creative or more intelligent. The truth may even be the opposite. Educational psychologists claim that too much exposure to computers, especially for the very young, may negatively affect normal brain development. Children gain valuable experience of the world from their interaction with physical objects. Tenmonth-old babies may benefit more from bumping their heads or putting various objects in their mouths than they will from staring at eye-catching cartoons. A four-year-old child can improve hand-eye coordination and understand cause and effect better by experimenting with a crayon than by moving a cursor around a computer screen. So, as educational psychologists suggest, instead of government funding going to more and more computer classes, it might be better to devote resources to music and art programs.
It is ludicrous to think that children will fall behind if they are not exposed to computers from an early age. Time is too precious to spend with a "mouse". Now is the time when they should be out there learning to ride a bike. There will be time later on for them to start banging away at keyboards.
NEW WORDS:
- to be exposed to sth: phài hứng chịu, phải nếm trải, có cơ hội tiếp xúc với (exposure)
- hand-eye coordination: sự phối hợp giữa tay và mắt
- crayon: bút chì màu
- interaction with: sự tương tác với
- cursor: con nháy, con trỏ trên màn hình
- to bump one's head: va đầu
- funding: sự tài trợ
- eye-catching (adj): hấp dẫn, bắt mắt
- to bang away at sth: đập mạnh vào
Question 22. Children who spend a lot of time on their computers…................................................................
do not necessarily make more progress than those who don't. tend to like music and art more than those who don't. will suffer from brain damage. tend to have more accidents than those who don't.