I worry about the future of IT. Not so much the technology, but the effect it is having on the people required to operate and develop it.
As a simple user, I find myself gradually conducting more of my life in front of a screen – most of my work, the bulk of my communication, shopping, music, photos and a thousand other bits and bobs.
But at least my generation (and several following) grew up without this screen-dependency, which has provided us with some experience of real human social interaction.
The tricky question facing us now is just how much time small children should spend using a computer. They need IT skills, certainly, but they also need to socialise.
My fears over the way IT is dominating human life were hardly allayed by a document called Practice Guidance for the Early Years Foundation Stage, published by the UK’s Department for Children, Schools and Families.
These are some of the “early learning goals” it sets for today’s children – 22-36 months: “Show an interest in ICT. Seek to acquire basic skills in turning on and operating some ICT equipment”; 40-60+ months: “Complete a simple program on a computer.”
Basic skills in operating ICT equipment by the age of three? It makes you want to scream “Run, kids, run – get a life”.
I am sure the official stance is well intentioned. But it comes as we enter an era in which a top priority will be the imagination to explore what can be achieved with IT; and in which well-rounded social skills to interact with and draw together people, ideas and technologies will be crucial.
So, just as many of us might be feeling concerned about our growing computer-dependencies, the public authorities could be in danger of steering the very young towards becoming dysfunctional screen junkies.
