Last weekend, I was at a USS swim meet and heard parents and coaches complaining about the "distraction" of many swimmers now. They blame this distraction (in addition to the rise of the boy/girl crazy period) on the advent of cell phones and IM-ing, etc. Apparently, at meets, and I've seen it, the kids spent scads of time on their cells phones, phoning friends, phoning kids across the pool, texting constantly (even to kids 5 feet away). Then they go home and IM for hours, checking and gossiping over the instant meet results and who beat who. Now, all the swimmers seem to know each other because, even if they're not on the same team or live in different states, they now can communicate easily via IM-ing and texting. I heard one coach say he's not sure how to get his swim kids to focus in this new techo-age. Obviously, some kids are focused like lasers, but I see an abundance of chatting and cell phone use too. Would kids do better without cell phones at meets? And is technology distracting them? Some seem to be swimming blazingly fast, but are others not swimming up to their potential because of this?
hey how long before we get a swimphone, so you can take those calls mid lap?
For me the answer would be "when hell freezes over."
About the "multi-tasking" thing. Yes, sometimes you have to juggle several things at once, but in my mind multi-tasking is never something you want to encourage. Anyone familiar with "lean" manufacturing, etc. should know that multi-tasking is best avoided whenver possible. So the idea that texting, IMing, etc. helps kids learn to multi-task seems a little specious to me.
hey how long before we get a swimphone, so you can take those calls mid lap?
For me the answer would be "when hell freezes over."
About the "multi-tasking" thing. Yes, sometimes you have to juggle several things at once, but in my mind multi-tasking is never something you want to encourage. Anyone familiar with "lean" manufacturing, etc. should know that multi-tasking is best avoided whenver possible. So the idea that texting, IMing, etc. helps kids learn to multi-task seems a little specious to me.
