This morning, Edward is upset because, as he complains to me, he can’t find a small radio to bring to school. Huh? Turns out he wants a tiny radio so he can listen to it at recess. I reply that I didn’t really like that idea, that he should be playing at recess. It’s for indoor recess, he responds quickly. I glance at the window. Partly cloudy, no precipitation. Hmm.

Instead of debating whether or not he could bring a radio and if so, which one, I get to the heart of the matter. I ask, do you want a radio because everyone is playing their Gameboys and Nintendo DS’ instead of playing with each other?

Well, duh, Mom. He doesn’t say it, but I can hear it.

I start grilling him, because I’m a mom and that’s what we do.
What about so-and-so? Plays his DS.
What about this kid you’ve talked about playing with a lot? He just listens to his iPod now.
He just sits at recess and listens to his iPod? Uh-huh.

Are you picturing a bunch of fourteen-year-olds in baggy jeans and hoodies, slouching against the brick wall of the school, scuffing their sneakers in the dirt while they bleep and blip away their leisure time?

Think again.

These are seven and eight year olds! SEVEN! EIGHT! They should be running around, swinging, climbing, pretending to shoot each other, throwing balls… all that fun stuff. Instead, they are hunched over their electronic geegaws during the only time they have during the day to blow off some energy. And gee, isn’t it ODD that the kids are a bit on the wild, unruly, and distractible side in the classroom?

Edward does not have a Gameboy. Or a Nintendo DS. Or an iPod, a cell phone, a built-in DVD entertainment system in the minivan, or a TV in his bedroom. Yes, he watches TV. Yes, he plays games on the computer. He gets his fair share of electronic stimulation. But he looks around at his friends and his classmates in our fairly affluent town and feels like he’s the only kid without a Gameboy or DS (he’s not, but he’s in a very small minority).   

Regardless, school is NEVER the place for such diversions. As far as I am concerned, they might as well install video monitors looping Cartoon Network in the cafeteria.

Our town just voted yesterday on whether or not to approve an override to raise additional money to cover a shortfall in next year’s budget for the school district. We already pay a ludicrous amount in property taxes. You’d choke if I told you how much. Be damn well assured that parents in our town would be in a furor - rightly so - if our school district proposed saving money by eliminating recess time. And yet, these same parents are willing to allow their hard-earned and hotly debated dollars to be spent on several periods throughout the school day during which their kids can electronically numb themselves.

Why are these devices even allowed at school? The official policy is that they are strongly discouraged, but are technically not forbidden because most kids ride the bus and the bus rides can get boring…. BOO F***ING HOO. A cell phone you could make an argument for. But a Gameboy? There is no excuse.