CHILDREN'S PREFERENCE FOR THE CELL PHONE OVER PLAYING WITH MATERIALS IN THEIR EVERY SCHOOL DAY: A CASE STUDY AT THE MOURA BRASIL EARLY CHILDREN'S EDUCATION CENTER, FORTALEZA, CEARÁ

Abstract

The ability to handle information technologies (IT) covers all social strata and age groups, especially children and adolescents who make up the so-called Generation Z: those who were born in an environment with IT, being very skilled in using cell phones. Children who are enrolled in preschool already know how to use these tools. In this context, there is a relevant concern on the part of the School to investigate the following question: if these children are introduced to the virtual world early, mainly through smartphones, this implies school, psychosocial and cognitive impairments. To discuss these and other important issues related to the use of cell phones by children aged 4-5 years, the author of this article developed a field research with children from Kindergarten VI, aged between 4-5 years, enrolled in the Centro de Educação Infantil Moura Brazil, located in Fortaleza, Ceara, Brazil. The central objective of the research was to verify if there is a preference of children for the cell phone in detriment of the use of the daily school materials. The following specific objectives were established: to verify the degree of satisfaction of students using cell phones to the detriment of school materials; investigate the routine of children at home in terms of cell phone use and games and the likely impacts on the work carried out in the classroom; suggest pedagogical actions to guide education professionals on how the use of IT should be introduced in their curriculum planning. The results revealed that children enrolled in Infantil IV, aged 4-5 years, prefer the cell phone, and even more so if it is a smartphone model, to the detriment of toys, notebooks and children's school books. The great expectation of these children is fun. It is concluded that choosing a cell phone compromises the daily use of school materials, which are essential for school and citizenship education. Thus, it is necessary to promote interventions at school (with the participatory collaboration of parents) so that methodologies are applied to organize the children's routine both at home and at school, with the aim of mitigating damage to the child's cognitive and social learning.