Technology, Kids | featured news

HealthCanal reports that a new study of nearly 500 12 year olds found noticeably increased creativity among those who played video games, while use of cellphones, the Internet and computers (for non-gaming purposes) were unrelated to that particular branch of the imagination.

With hack days and e-petitions they're pushing for education to keep up with the digital economy. People of an older vintage tend to balk when they see seven-year-olds blithely reprogramming their TV sets, or changing the background on their smartphones. But a few among them believe kids have even more potential when it comes to software — they can actually create programs, if they’re only taught how.

The lawlessness of the Internet, its potential for casual, breathtaking cruelty, and its capacity to cloak a bully’s identity all present slippery new challenges to this transitional generation of analog parents.

Once upon a time -- in the 1990s -- e-books for children came on CD-ROMs, and for digital wizardry, offered only mouse clicks and hidden pop-up-like animations. Not anymore. Touch screens and app stores have given new tricks to old books, and the number of new titles is blossoming.

More parents are handing their smartphones to their young children in restaurants or on car trips to keep them entertained. That may be why almost half the top-selling iPhone apps are games for kids.

Facebook is considering installing a "panic button" on its site to allow users to report suspected pedophiles, it has confirmed.