MIL has got DS a computer for his 4th birthday. WWYD?

[justaphase]

I need some perspective here. I know that there is no avoiding the games and computers but I wanted to put it off for as long as possible for my kids, at least while I can control what they play with. I want him to run outside and use his imagination, not sit in front of a screen.
Am I being precious, is he going to be obsessed with the stuff anyway in six months? Or are most kids this age not bothered and he will just ignore it?
His birthday is in 2 weeks, he just proudly told me yesterday that she has got this for him. I gather it is a kid's laptop with some education activities and several games.
I just want to take it from her and hide it.

Or maybe I should only show him the education activities and make sure he gets really bored with the thing quickly ....

Am I overreacting?

She sadly didn't get him a computer. She got him an electronic games device. Not the same thing.
I don't think it's helpful to think of 'games and computers' in one breath. That's just not the reality and certainly won't be the reality for our children's lives in adulthood. My DS (just 5) spends a couple of hours a week on the BBC Natural History pages looking at video clips, writing on Word, playing with poissonrouge. It's no biggy. It's one activity he might choose to do in a range of options. He also takes pics with a digital camera and downloads them.
I would personally avoid a kid's laptop for the reasons mentioned previously. The screen on a kid's laptop can be pretty painful. The activities offered can be shocking in quality. Leapster games are better quality than most of these laptops.
I wouldn't buy my son a PS or DS or Wii because there's just no need. He has other ways to play but a proper computer is a window to a world. It's not addictive and they are here to stay. A lot of children starting school begin with some experience of computing, some basic mouse control and an understanding of how a keyboard works. I'm just waffling on like this because I think it seems a shame that you are anti-computer at his age. However I would also sigh if my DS was given a kid's fake laptop.

I am not anti computer Tambajam, I let DS mess about with my laptop occasionally. Although I really do not think they are necessary at just four.

I am, however anti computer games at this age. I know they are unavoidable, even more so for a subsequent child, but would like to delay his exposure to them for as long as possible. A friend's DS is just 2 and obsessed with his PSP already. That I do not want for my son.

Dd had a Barbie laptop thing when she was 4 and an updated version last Christmas...she tinkers about on it every so often, nice, fun but educational games....

She uses my computer for cbeebies, playhouse disney etc (and FB fish world!) and has done keyboard skills in her last year at nursery.

Don't see a problem....DS/nintendo and all that malarkey though, is more hardcore and dd doesn't know what they are even yet.....
(we're a bit of a luddite household really!)

tambajam actually there is a lot of evidence that computers are extremely addictive and internet addiction is a recognized addiction for which

help is available

Also, to suggest that computers and videogames are totally different is totally wrong IMO. Because while computers do have other uses, playing games is something most computer users do. And even the educational sites for children are made up mostly of games.

And as I said before, there's a vast difference between allowing access to a computer and giving a child one of their own. At four there is absolutely no reason for a child to have their own computer. What the hell for?

My nearly seven year old has access to dh's computer. He doesn't need one of his own, and won't be getting one any time soon. Why on earth should someone spend £2/300 on a computer for a four year old if they can have access to the family computer?

I appreciate the internet can be addictive. I also feel that labelling computers as intrinsically evil (which I don't think the OP is doing) is a bit silly. My DS watched a short video on starling formations and talked about it for days afterwards. Surely that's about as wholesome as you can get. They are simply a tool and parental discretion is always advised. Not that my DS really engages in them but it's sensible to distinguish between different types of games. 'Games' are also not bad in themselves and vary massively in quality. A huge proportion of what goes on in classrooms to enable learning is a game and usually without a computer. Computers can offer games which require imaginative thinking, social interaction and quality learning.