VOA News – Aida Akl
“Toys have come a long way. They’re smarter. They’re Wi-Fi connected. They can talk to children and become their new best friend. And for some experts, that might be a potential problem that could hinder children’s development and put their data at risk. Many connected toys interact with children. Some might record their names or address them by name. Others can answer questions or hold a conversation with children – to a point, as in the case of My Friend Cayla, the first Internet-connected smart doll, My Friend Teddy, and Mattel’s Hello Barbie doll. For Psychologist Larry Rosen of California State University at Dominguez Hills…“My rule of thumb with young children is you never let a child use a piece of technology for more than about a half-hour at a time and that … you then use 3-5 times that amount of time to let them engage in creative play, in the kind of play that stimulates other parts of the brain that [are] important for their development.””(more)