Would children really be LOST without their gadgets?

Since the beginning of the school term, Miss and I have been trying our best to rescue those poor, misguided words, but to no avail. Encouragement and extra penmanship every afternoon has still to yield well-rounded and proportionate letters, which frankly have begun to look like some of the characters of Foster’s Home for Imaginary Friends.

I decided it was time to bring out the mother of all punishments – “No gadgets, TV or Pok?mon cards (his latest craze) until your handwriting improves.” “What? Why are you ruining my life?” he yelled in a high-pitched voice, his eyes welling up with tears. Anybody who didn’t know the back story would have sworn that I had sentenced him to be hanged. All that was missing was for me to say in a solemn voice, “And may God have mercy on your soul.” When he realised I was standing my ground, the wailing and gnashing of teeth subsided, and he decided to try a different tactic. “Mummy, a good handwriting is not absolutely necessary in life,” he proffered. “Yes, it is,” I rebutted. “But Mummy, that girl at your office. The one who sits next to Debra (Greaves, Newsday’s Features Editor).

Her handwriting is terrible. The worst I have ever seen. And she is a writer. She has a good job,” he argued. I was stumped, albeit for a few seconds.

“Well she is an adult and she is the only one who has to read her writing (sorry Melissa Doughty).

Miss and I have to read what you write, so you have to write neatly.” And that was that as far as I was concerned.

Since colouring was for babies, he had already read all his books, he was in no mood to draw, paint or to practice his music, and he was “totally fed up” of all the toys he has, he walked around the house sulking.

Jokingly, I suggested we play picture or no picture (showing my age here) and he quickly asked, “What is that?” I was taken aback by his interest, and explained that it was a game I played as a child. “We had to make up a lot of games because we couldn’t always afford toys.

That was a game we played with our books,” and I demonstrated. We played for over an hour, neither of us realising how much time had passed.

The following day, as soon as he had completed his homework, he suggested we play again. “It is fun,” he declared. This opened the door for Boy, Girl, Animal, Place, Thing, TV Show; moral; and creating some crafty toys using supplies we had around the house. I also encouraged him to write letters to his cousins and friends living abroad and we went to the post office and mailed them. His handwriting was barely legible, but he is anxiously awaiting their responses. When I suggested starting a journal so he would be able to read his documented childhood when he becomes an adult, he was a bit sceptical but eventually caved. I do hope his older self can decipher what he wrote.

Anyway, I have said all this to say, our children have turned into tech zombies because we have let them. I will be the first to admit that many times I have allowed my son to spend more hours than I’m comfortable with on his tablet or the computer because it gave me some uninterrupted time to get things done, or even just to relax. And I am sure I will do it again. However, time constraints should not prevent us parents from making the extra effort to give our children an alternative to the tech monster. You may be as surprised as I was to find out that they will be willing to give your archaic pitch a try.

Now if only somebody can give me a few ideas on how to solve this handwriting dilemma.