Electronic inanities

I've had to don my iPod earphones to drown out the electronic inanities issues by the soporific 'educational' toy the child in front is playing with. 'What comes after 4?'.... 'Well done !!!' This insipid drivel is blasting the eardrums of the whole carriage accompanied by its trite bingly bong congratulatory jingles.

True to British stereotype I refrain from asking whether the child could use headphones or put the gadget in silent mode. I'd rather fume. I suppose I'm being churlish.

Why do we patronise our offspring with a cartoonish representation of reality? It seems that under-threes are enveloped in a world of primary colours and massively simplified 2D representations of the world. It doesn't get much better for older kids. Girls seem to be directed towards a world of pink. We gush and coo over the smallest achievement, and talk to them in idiotic singsong tones.

I can't help thinking we do our young a disservice by smothering them in a cotton candy universe. Rather than dumbing the universe down surely we should be stretching their ability to understand its complexities.

G is for Giraffe :


One of these pictures might help you recognise a real giraffe if you saw one, and tells you a bit about where they live, and see those big trees? That's why giraffes have long necks - so they can eat the juicy leaves on top of the trees that none of the other animals can reach. The other picture is cutesy, awwh aren't giraffes sweet. Err... No.

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