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https://www.facebook.com/Funjenda-729416787431030/?modal=admin_todo_tour

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When I interviewed parents about their children's use of technology, they shared that their child spends a lot of time on it. They were asked if their child still likes to play with toys and they said yes. The parents said that their children love to play with both toys and technology, however, they prefer technology more (iPads, iPhones, Playstation..). They stated that they feel that their child likes toys but they need technology.

I then interviewed Youssef, a 12 year old, about the issue:

Q)How do you spend your days?

Y) I go to school, and then back home. I play Fortnite on the Playstation for two hours until my mother asks me to study. I finish my homework and then play Fortnite again.

Q) Do you think you can live without your Playstation?

Y) Yes, but my life would be boring. Everyone I know owns a Playstation.

Q) Do you like playing with toys or board games?

Y) Yes, sometimes.

Q) Kids not long ago used to enjoy toys, now, obviously, things changed. Do you think it's better or worse?

Y) I think it's better, now we have more options. We can still play with toys if we want to, but technology is easier. Also, it is better because you can do different things on an iPad or Playstation. It's easier.

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This calendar is created in order to affect children’s’ creativity and increase the time spent between the child and his parent. There are some strict rules that need to be present in order to reach our goal:

1- Parents must leave their phone during activities (urgent call only)

2- Parents cannot cheat.

3- Activities are meant to be fun and educational, and not to create a tough atmosphere.

4- The child is not forced to complete the challenge.

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I interviewed two parents, and their children in order to build a hypothesis for the findings.

First I interviewed Mona, mother of Ahmed, a 12 year old. I kept all the questions friendly and smooth so that I can get all the results I want from the parent and from the child as well without any filtration. I started with the mother, asking her about what she thinks the most used/ favored entertainment medium for children nowadays, and she said "Technology is eating their brains", I had the feeling that she was upset about it, but wanted an assurance, so I asked her what do you think of that? She replied by saying that technology is great and helps us a lot throughout the day, but overusing it is not good.. overusing anything is not good. Obviously she wasn't happy by the overuse of technology by the children. I also asked her how she thinks technology should be used by children, she replied that technology should be used more in education, the schools should help the children study through something they like [technology], something they already leave studying just to do [technology], I want the children to engage their studies with their technology. I also asked her what she thinks about her son's usage of technology, she said that her son has a terrible obsession with playstation, and he favors it over so many other things.

Consequently, I asked Ahmed, keeping in mind that he is a child I had to be extremely friendly with him. I firstly asked him what's your favorite game, keeping in mind that I didn't say toy or videogame to see what he will say.. he didn't take 2 seconds to think he uttered "fortnite tab3an". I then told him it's a great game and my cousin loves it too! I then told him there's this new toy where we both can challenge each other and it has a lot of challenges let's see who will win.. I bet I will. I told him so, so that I figure out what he likes about games in general.. I found him so eager to play.. he told me "akid ana haksab" so obviously he likes to challenged, I made up quick challenges and surprisingly he did them, and was so happy he won.

Conclusion of interview 1:
The mother wasn't happy about the overuse of technology, and also wasn't happy about the wrong usage of technology, she thought it could be used in education.
The kid is obsessed by videogames, but afterall seems to be obsessed with being challenged and not videogames.

For my second interview, I interviewed Shaimaa, the mother of Malak, an 8 year old.

The parent I was interviewing this time is a psychology graduate, so obviously she knew what I was doing and I hadn't to search for methods to get out info from her, so I approached her from a different perspective, I talked with her about what she thinks about the effect of technology on children in general and in relationship to families in specific and in relationship to her son more specifically. She told me that technology is undoubtedly a problem solver, it is a creative way to express our being and communicate, but children don't understand that, and that's okay. Children don't have to understand everything, because we ourselves don't understand everything, we need to go easy on the. I was fascinated by how she took it to the perspective I was trying to send her to, and she even went further. I asked her what she thinks about the effect of technology use on children and families, she said that some parents are so keen to keep their children to the extent that they don't really think about the outcomes, and the effects. I told her so you think some parents are the ones who encourage their children to obsess over technology? She told me, indirectly they do, they most probably don't mean to, but they do. I asked her if we can get deeper and talk about her child, she told that her child, Malak is very smart, and that she raised her to be able to identify what time to do what and what deserves my emotions, my feelings, and my power. I personally was amused by her. I thanked her and asked her if I can interview Malak.

As Malak came in, I told her who I am and high fived her. I even told her that I'm doing a research and I'm interviewing her just like a grown up, she got so hyped and was excited about it. I wanted to get into the wave she's swimming in, so I told what do you think of technology, she told me I do my assignments on, and I watch my favorite shows on youtube. I told her when do you watch your favorite shows, she told me everyday after I finish my studies. I also tried with her the challenge activity so I told her. Malak, it's time now to show you something interesting! Do you think you can beat me in board games? She eagerly told me YESSS, we played a quick round and she totally forgot about the show she wanted to watch before we start the interview, and she was very entertained while we were playing.

In conclusion for interview 2,
The mother is very smart in raising her child, and thinks that children shouldn't know everything, what's right and what's wrong, but rather need to know what is more important.
Malak is a very smart kid that likes to watch tv shows on youtube, but also a kid that likes to challenged.

Conclusion of interviews:

Both parents agree that technology should be used in the right way, and quantifiably reasonable. The children, both being obsessed with technology, both were also very challenging. They wanted some challenges to get out of the technology obsession.

I think that if there is a way were by the children can challenge each other, apart from videogame levels, or show episodes, there would be a better connection through the family, and a better interactive way to express their thoughts, in a right manner.

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We are adults; we are so busy now with our mobiles and our advanced tablets. The world became more complex and more stressful, but at the same time the human being is always digging to find new way to turn his life more leisurely, calm and easier. We, the grown up community, were liked to some primitive toys, and now we are tied up with our new advanced mobiles and tablets. We, as Fungenda creators, saw that kids nowadays are more into technological stuff like Ipads, iPhones, and games consoles.

I want to know more about toys market and sellers, and advanced game consoles like Game Valley.

I conducted 2 interviews to know more and see how the interviewer will engage and help us to see the difference.

The first shop was Hamleys. It is a well-known store for selling toys and dolls. I talked to the manager of the store and asked him some question:

1- most popular toy? And why?

He told me that some parents want to increase the creativity levels so the most popular toys are the demonstration toys.

They are toys that relate to physics, math, and some activities like colors.

2- what the difference between kids today and 5-10 years ago?

He answered that children nowadays are more into technology, advanced and complex stuff like Ipads and PS consoles.

And as the kids became more complex, the toys evolved and the packaging became so important because it attracts the child attention. He added that Hamleys is a famous store for the show that sellers execute in front of its main entrance. (Juggling balls)

3-do you think technology is an insult for old toys?

He accepted and refused in the same time, because he sees that technology advancement was beneficial for toys to evolve. But the technology itself expanded in other ways devouring a huge part of the toys market.

4-are new toys in your store are as attractive as the old ones?

He started talking more on the brand and the quality of its product complementing the high quality and the complexity of its product because it came from London. (the kid doesn’t give attention to who manufactured this toy.)

During the second interview in a PlayStation and Xbox retailer, the responsible in the store was really happy to talk with him about this topic and the difference.

I asked him the same several question but always adding a part related to video games.  He told me that a lot of difference took place in the last 10 years, for toys and also for video games. He added that for a 12 years old kid, he must play with educational toys and tells story about it because it increase his imagination and creativity level. But one hour of PS could be extremely beneficial for his imagination too. He said that most off kids and adults love football as soccer gamed and also the games that let the player live a story along all the gameplay. He explained that technology is not bad or an insult for toys because it is a factor that all things around us were and will be always affected by. In the end he told me that if we go back in time, he would open a giant store for toys because it was more successful than PlayStation and video games consoles.  But now people orientation drifted toward technology and other things like ipads and laptops and PS and Xbox.

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The more technology develops and becomes more accessible, researchers have found that it's negatively affecting children's attention spans. This affects their ability to be able to think critically, use their imagination and practice healthy human interaction. Children are vocalizing less, and using touch screens more.

What is the affect of all of this on children when they grow up?

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Children are becoming more reliant on technology and electronic games and less on old fashioned toys.

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When Parents were asked what their child would prefer as a gift a regular toy or an electronic device. Most said their children would electronic devices pointing out phones in particular. When asked about how much time their children spend ‘online’ the general trend seemed to be that most kids were spending most of their time online one parent even mention that her children can spend up to 12 hours on their phone.

I asked a 14 year old(Jana) the some questions

1- Why do you think technology has replaced old fashioned toys?
Jana: Kids are now growing up in a world where technology is mixed into our everyday life, so it’s
become more encouraging for everyone to use it.
2- Do you think kids are changing for better or worse?
J: Definitely for worse, we are becoming more and more antisocial and more addicted to their devices.
3- Which do you prefer?
I believe in a balance between the two, limiting screen time so you can enjoy a healthy life.

Afterwards, I interviewed two managers from toy stores to see what they think.
Most managers did not present any kind of concern that they don’t sell as much toys anymore. So while Tech is becoming a big part of kids’ lives, they still buy physical toys. Though, one manager did express that most of their sales come from selling gifts versus children picking out the toys themselves. One of the two managers I interviewed expressed a sour taste towards tech as he believes it doesn’t cultivate the same creativity in a child like an old fashioned toy would. On the other hand the other manager (Abdo) believes that it’s a matter of upbringing, where if the child is left with devices most of the time but is still encouraged to be creative, the child will be creative. Both managers believed that toys 5/10 years ago were much simpler and less complex than the toys around us today.

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We are indirectly targeting children from 4-12, through directly addressing parents.
The access to our program is online, on our facebook page

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Here's a summary of the outcomes of all our interviews

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When I asked parents " Would your child choose an electronic device as a gift or a toy", the parents answer was " definitely an electronic device or anything related to electronic devices such as gift cards for Fortnite ".
Then I asked them, how much time does their child spend on electronic devices, one said " Believe it or not, if I do not stop Yassin (her son ) from playing Playstation, he can spend his whole day playing Fortnite, he might even forget to eat."
The other one's answer was " minimum 3 hours, if I do not stop him"
An additional question I asked the parents was how does technology and their long use of technology (whether playing or watching movies) affect their children; what are the consequences. Both parents claimed that there was an obvious effect on their Child's behavior, as their attention span has decreased. This is obvious and proved through their school grades.

When I asked Yassin, a 11 years old child, if he still uses toys or if he plays with board games, he claimed he can not remember the last time he played With a toy. Then I asked why he does not play with toys or board games he claimed that it is not cool and no one uses them anymore, everyone became more technology oriented. He also said toys is not part of our current generation.

When I asked Mariam, a 12years old girl, if she plays with toys or board games she said that she uses them but not that often. She said that she mainly plays with board games when she does not have access to internet or when her family suggests to play all together. Moreover, I asked her what she enjoys more, playing or using electronically devices or playing with board games. Mariam answered, that she obviously enjoys playing online games or playstation games rather than board games, as these games attract her more and are more fun. When I asked her why, she said that online games somehow find a way to keep her attached to the game as for example many games are related with escaping levels so she always try to reach a higher score or escape a certain level. However, this is not the case in board games or toys, when one finishes a game such as card games or monopoly, there is nothing that keeps him attached or motivated to play it the day after.

In conclusion, it is obvious that children nowadays are much more technology oriented as well as enjoy using and playing on electronic devices. Parents of these children can see an obvious consequence of this issue, academically as well as behavior wise

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1- https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-power-prime/201212/how-technology-is-changing-the-way-children-think-and-focus%3famp
2- https://medium.com/thrive-global/will-technology-ruin-your-childrens-development-663351c76974
3- https://www.thoughtfulparent.com/2016/01/electronic-versus-traditional-toys-what.html?m=1
4- https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2565061/amp/How-iPad-replaced-toy-chest-Researchers-children-play-touchscreens-traditional-toys.html
5- http://www.applerubber.com/blog/is-technology-ruining-kids-communication-skills/