Jane Healy, Ph.D., has been an educator for more than 35 years, including stints as a classroom teacher, elementary school administrator, and college professor. To research her new book, Failure to Connect: How Computers Affect Our Children's Minds -- for Better and Worse (Simon & Schuster), she visited classrooms and homes across the U.S. to watch kids interact with their computers and teachers.

How much time does your child spend on the computer? 1 hour per week. 2-3 hours per week. 4-5 hours per week. 6 plus.

FamilyEducation Today: The sales of software programs for children aged 18 months to 3 years tripled in 1997. Some parents think these programs will help their kids read earlier or count sooner. Have you seen anything to prove this?

Jane Healy: Parents are buying software for babies with good intentions, but they've mostly been sold a bill of goods. Not only is there no evidence that today's computers and software will make kids smarter, but there's a lot of evidence suggesting that it may do them more harm than good. We have research literature that shows that reading to children from books practically guarantees that kids will be better readers. But we have nothing on computer games.

We need to ask ourselves some questions about our attitudes toward childhood: Are we trying to propel kids through a curriculum at home, or are we trying to build a richness of experience, intellect, and emotion? This won't come from a superficial pass-through on the alphabet sounds.

FET: You write that research shows that some of the most popular educational software may "be damaging to creativity, attention, and motivation."

JH: Computer activities end up replacing time-tested and developmentally appropriate activities for kids, such as playing with blocks, creating with paint or clay, or playing with another child.

A child who is making something out of nothing, say a dollhouse from a shoebox, is engaging in a very creative activity. The child sees the idea in her own mind, then carries it through to completion, learning a lot about problem solving in the process.

But a child who is presumably "creating" on the computer is taking an idea from someone else's mind and doing something with it. This lacks the same germ of originality here. Much of the software is too close-ended and limits creativity.

FET: If you were still teaching, how would you use computers with kindergartners or first graders?

JH: Until we get better software, I don't think I'd want a computer in my classroom. But if I had to, I'd be very selective. I would ban "edutainment" software. I'd use only the tool-side functions, such as word processing and the Internet. I may use drawing programs, but under limited circumstances. I've heard alarming stories about students not wanting to draw without a computer because it doesn't look jazzy enough. They're afraid of their own creativity.

FET: How do you feel about the value of software for older kids?

JH: There is some good software out there. Children in fifth through eighth grade are developing new sets of intellectual skills. We have new evidence that shows that computers are sometimes better than humans at helping kids learn to think in complex and abstract ways. But it has to be very good software, and it needs to be used by wise adults, teachers or parents who work with the kids. It must also fit in with what the child is ready for, and what the child can do.

FET: U.S. schools are in a hurry to get connected. What can parents do if they question a school's use of technology?

JH: Parents can be the watchdog. They can ask their schools questions: "Why are you investing this money? Why are you choosing this type of software?" Schools need a plan. They need to have a good curriculum. They need to know why they're using each tool to support the curriculum. The computer is just one medium for getting ideas across to kids. There are pencils, papers, books, and teachers, too.

Jane Healy is the author of several books, including Endangered Minds: Why Children Don't Think and What We Can Do About It (Touchstone Books). This book examines whether children in today's fast-paced electronic world use their brains differently than did children in past generations.