兒科醫生警告 過度使用觸屏致兒童握筆難!大綱

Children are increasingly finding it hard to hold pens and pencils because of an excessive use of technology, senior paediatric doctors have warned.

資深兒科醫生日前警告稱，由於過度使用科技，兒童越來越覺得難以握住鋼筆和鉛筆。

An overuse of touchscreen phones and tablets is preventing children's finger muscles from developing sufficiently to enable them to hold a pencil correctly, they say.

他們表示，過度使用觸屏手機和平板電腦，正在妨礙孩子的手指肌肉充分發育，使他們不能正確握筆。

"Children are not coming into school with the hand strength and dexterity they had 10 years ago," said Sally Payne, the head paediatric occupational therapist at the Heart of England foundation NHS Trust.

英國國民保健制度信託基金會的兒科職能治療師薩莉·佩恩說：“入學兒童手的力量和靈活性不如10年前。”

"Children coming into school are being given a pencil but are increasingly not be able to hold it because they don't have the fundamental movement skills."

“兒童入學時老師會讓他們用鉛筆，但他們越來越不會握筆，因爲沒有掌握基本的運動技能。”

"To be able to grip a pencil and move it, you need strong control of the fine muscles in your fingers,. Children need lots of opportunity to develop those skills."

“你必須對手指上的細小肌肉具備強大的控制力，才能握住和使用鉛筆。兒童需要大量機會來掌握這些技能。”

Payne said the nature of play had changed. "It's easier to give a child an iPad than encouraging them to do muscle-building play such as building blocks, cutting and sticking, or pulling toys and ropes. Because of this, they're not developing the underlying foundation skills they need to grip and hold a pencil."

佩恩稱，遊戲的性質變了。她說：“給孩子一個iPad要比鼓勵他們玩增強肌肉的遊戲（比如搭積木、剪切和粘貼東西、拉扯玩具和繩子）容易。正因爲此，他們沒有掌握握鉛筆所需的潛在基本技能。”

Six-year-old Patrick has been having weekly sessions with an occupational therapist for six months to help him develop the necessary strength in his index finger to hold a pencil in the correct, tripod grip.

6歲的帕特里克連續6個月每週都去一名職能治療師那裏接受治療，以幫助他發展必要的食指力量，使得他能以正確的三點握持方式握筆。

His mother, Laura, blames herself: "In retrospect, I see that I gave Patrick technology to play with, to the virtual exclusion of the more traditional toys. When he got to school, they contacted me with their concerns: he was gripping his pencil like cavemen held sticks. He just couldn't hold it in any other way and so couldn't learn to write because he couldn't move the pencil with any accuracy."

他的母親勞拉自責地說：“回想起來，我發現我給他電子產品玩，這幾乎讓他接觸不到更傳統的玩具。孩子上學後，學校聯繫我，告訴我他們很擔心：他像穴居人拿棍子那樣握筆。他完全不會用其他方式握筆，因此也無法學習書寫，因爲他不能精準地移動鉛筆。”

"The therapy sessions are helping a lot and I'm really strict now at home with his access to technology," she said. "I think the school caught the problem early enough for no lasting damage to have been done."

勞拉說：“治療過程有很大幫助，現在我在家裏嚴格控制他使用電子產品。我認爲，學校發現這個問題足夠早，沒有造成永久傷害。”