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Software
designer Kai Krause, whose firm, MetaCreations, makes design and editing
tools, was giving a demo at a technology conference when someone asked
him which program his kids liked best. "I try not to be a computer dad,"
Krause said. "I let them play with a couple of simple programs, but then
I kick their butts to go play some soccer." The audience burst into applause.
No one--certainly not a techie--suggests that kids shouldn't use computers.
But even industry insiders say parents need to set some guidelines for
their use. Mary Furlong, the founder and CEO of Third Age Media, says
she steers her two boys, ages 11 and 18, toward creativity-enhancing software
like Kid Pix, a drawing program, and SimCity, a strategic-planning game.
"Be as careful choosing software as you are with books," she advises parents.
"Learn what's right for different ages." Marleen McDaniel, the CEO of
Women.com, lets her two boys, ages 7 and 10, play "almost as long as they
like--as long as their homework is done." Intuit executive Scott Cook
allows his three kids virtually unlimited time on the computer, with one
trade-off: "We sharply limit TV."
How about
educational software? So far, there's little hard evidence to prove it
really works, even though Cook insists that the Reader Rabbit series helped
his eldest son learn to read. But software doesn't have to be educational
to be a good buy. Just Grandma and Me became a best seller among preschoolers
even though it was little more than an interactive picture book. And parents
who found Arthur's Teacher Trouble such a charming diversion from the
tube will also like Arthur's Computer Adventure, which has reading and
math games.
So take
some advice from the experts: introduce your kids to a computer, but set
some ground rules. And keep a soccer ball on hand.
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