Reflection #1

I was nannying the other day, the mother is sometimes home while I am there so I just help watch the kids while she does other things.  When her boys got home from school around 4 o'clock, the oldest who is 9 asked if he could play video games, she said he could play until 5 and then he had to do homework.  When she was thinking about whether or not to let him play I thought to myself, should kids be allowed the priveledge to play video games before doing homework? I realize that this decision all depends on the parent, but it is still a topic to be thought about.  In this particular situation, the mother said she lets him play games before doing homework because it seems to get rid of some distractions for him, so that when it is time to do the homework, he's not thinking about when he gets to play games.  Though this logic makes sense, I couldn't help but think that video games are a priveledge that kids should earn.  If kids wanted to play after being at school all day, I'd rather send them outside to get fresh air and release some stored energy before doing homework, then once they finished their homework, allow them to settle down and play video games. 
There's no right answer to this situation, but it just became evident to me that technology really is what kids think about these days, and they turn to it first as entertainment.  Should kids at this age be given so much time and priority to video game playing even though that's where our future is heading? Or should parents somewhat force their kids to use their imagination to entertain themselves and have their kids go outside to play or do something artsy?  Like I said, there's technically no right answer to this question.  This little situation did show me the role that technology plays in a childs life, and also how far technology has come since I was 9 years old.  It makes sense why kids learn so much quicker using technology once you see what they have available to them in their own living rooms.