Playing outside is fun, but you learn more with computers

I’m tempted to agree with former GCHQ boss Robert Hannigan, who says that we shouldn’t get fixated about children spending too much time online (‘Question of the Fortnight’, Issue 509). I’m in my 70s now, so I’m one of those ‘old fogeys’ who you’d expect would have fond memories of spending long summers outdoors, getting up to mishaps and mischief. But, actually, I think a lot of the time I spent outside was wasted. I certainly had fun playing in woods and streams, but did I actually learn anything that would help me in later life?

Looking back, I would have loved a bit more structure to my free time. Instead of roaming wild, so to speak, I wish I’d been taught skills. Obviously these couldn’t have been computer skills, but they could still have been relevant to the era I grew up in.

The key to a positive upbringing is balance. As a kid, I probably spent 90 per cent of summer holidays messing around outside. That was probably too much, but we didn’t have a TV, and computers were decades away, so I had no other distractions. I would be worried for a child nowadays if they spent as much time outdoors. Yes, learning to climb trees is fun, but programming a computer is more likely to get you a job.

For an expert opinion, I asked my nine-year-old grandson. He said a day without using his tablet or computer would feel “strange”, but also that he wanted to see his friends in person every day too. In fact, one leads to the other. He uses his computer to ask his friends if they want to play. I think he’s got the balance about right. Keith Bradshaw