Christmas Technology

Greetings and welcome back. I hope all both of you readers had a great Christmas and New Year's celebration. One thing this blog helps me with is to think through the implications of technology from a Christian worldview. This came up in my mind as I was in Toys R Us a few days before Christmas. Besides the obvious foolishness of even being there, something stood out to me: how much electronics are built in to toys. There was a whole aisle called something like "preschool learning" that was basically a bunch of simple computers. The whole thing was screens and buttons. And it didn't end there. So many other toys for toddlers make sounds & music, and some even start making noise after they've been ignored for a short period of time. On the one hand, we do live in a technology saturated culture and helping children navigate that at an early age is good. On the other, I fear teaching them (and wiring their brains) so that they expect to be entertained and have stimulation come to them rather than develop their own creative play. Lydia's favorite toys so far this year are her My Little Pony figures. We can have all sorts of adventures we just make up, and they don't chirp or buzz at us to get our attention. Stephen has some new Lego sets, obviously a good creative outlet. I'm not against computer games (and may get Stephen one of his own soon) but I believe it's something to be thoughtful about; at least making sure they're not just getting passive entertainment devices.