cover image Failure to Connect: How Computers Affect Our Children's Minds -- And What We Can Do about It

Failure to Connect: How Computers Affect Our Children's Minds -- And What We Can Do about It

Jane Healy. Simon & Schuster, $25 (352pp) ISBN 978-0-684-83136-7

Parents and educators will want to ponder this cautionary report on the spread of child-friendly digital technologies. Although Healy (Endangered Minds), an educator and consultant, does present positive examples of how computers can enhance young students' education (citing, for example, the Internet's value as a research tool and the use of software to assist children with learning disabilities), she remains concerned about the overuse of computers at home and in school. Healy argues that parents who have been led by the computer industry to think that they should purchase PCs for their young children are unaware of possible health hazards and allow far too many hours of unsupervised game playing, which she considers no more beneficial than TV. The lack of trained teachers to work with children who have access to computers in school is, according to the author, a major problem, as is the high cost of computers, which can drain funding from other needs. Healy believes that computers cannot substitute for the learning that takes place through socialization with peers and interaction with teachers and parents who instill values, support decision-making and encourage creativity. Healy's contention that computers often fill young minds with information at the expense of teaching them how to think and feel is unlikely to dissuade many school administrators from rushing the latest computer technologies into classrooms. Either way, this carefully researched study offers ample evidence that the next generation will be plugged in and tuned out. Editor, Bob Bender; agent, Angela Miller. (Sept.)