In a guest lecture at the Open EYE conference (12 June 2010), Aric Sigman argued that computers should be banned until children reach the age of nine. He wasn't the first to criticise our use of computers in the early years - Jane Healy's Failure to Connect was first published more than a decade ago.
On the face of it, the arguments made against children using computers in the early years may seem obvious. Young children need exercise, access to the natural environment and fresh air; computers encourage sedentary behaviour and are most often located indoors.
One problem with this level of argument is that it would lead us to ban a good many other activities that we value in pre-school practice. Most policymakers and practitioners take it for granted that the early years curriculum should be broad and balanced, and that children should be playfully learning from their interactions with the widest possible range of resources, drawn from both the natural and man-made environment.
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