Techno tots must get wise

By Christina Okoli

YOUNG people of today are the most technologically advanced generation the world has ever seen. The average 15-year-old Internet user will probably grow-up to be more informed, more culturally aware and, unfortunately, more physically disabled as a result of the IT revolution.

The number of children online has doubled in the last year. People under the age of 15 spend around an hour a day at a computer terminal - surfing, chatting, playing, typing. But this generation of techno-tots are wiring themselves up for disaster as they hunch over keyboards, double click mice, squint into flashing computer screens. They may be inflicting irreversible damage on their bodies.

A new report, by leading ergonomist Dr Leon Straker highlights a worrying increase in the number of children complaining of back strain, and pain in their hands, necks and fingers.

Dr Straker is urging schoolteachers and parents to pay greater attention to their child's posture when working at a computer. Regular breaks from the screen and properly tailored furniture are also vital to the maintenance of a child's physical health.

A previous study carried out by Dr Straker at the University of Perth in Australia, has displayed chronic levels of RSI in the country's young people. Some as young as 10 were found to be suffering from severe cases of the illness. In Australia, where computers have been widely used in schools for many years longer than in Britain, RSI in children is a widespread problem. The British authorities are being urged to lean from Australia's mistakes and take urgent measures to prevent an outbreak of RSI in the country's future workforce.

Dr Straker says: 'Kids are at a greater risk than adults because their bones and muscles are still developing. If we don't get knowledge quickly about how to use computers safely, I think we will see a lot of children disabled from using computers.'

Various organisations, including the Chartered Institute of Physiotherapists, are calling on the government to implement computer health and safety classes in the National Curriculum. Six out of ten UK schoolchildren use a computer on a daily basis, and many of the young people in Dr Straker's study were at a computer terminal for more than three hours a day. It is this band of young people that are most at risk of developing RSI.

Yet, although the government encourages schools to teach young people essential IT skills, it offers no financial assistance to ensure that schools are equipped with the right facilities, which in most cases are also expensive. For example, adjustable chairs and mice designed for smaller hands are extremely costly and many schools are finding themselves in a catch 22 situation where they can't afford to pay for the right equipment, yet they also can not afford to leave I.T. skills off the agenda.

What's your view Are you a victim of RSI, are you a worried computer user, or parent Are you outraged Enlightened Not surprised by it all Whatever you view, join our RSI debate in the discussion forum.