Editorial: Virtual playgrounds?

Saturday, May 5, 2007 | 7 a.m.

As obesity experts call louder for pulling children away from video games and pushing them outdoors to play, video game companies have created technology that gets players off the sofa but still doesn't get them away from the TV.

Among the most popular of these technologies is Sony's Wii, a game system in which a wireless wand allows players to leap around the room in such activities as virtual tennis matches.

But homes aren't the only places where children are using these technologies. This week The New York Times reported that middle school physical education teachers across the nation are using the Dance Dance Revolution video game. A song plays while the arrows on a television screen tell students in which direction to step on a special mat on the floor.

And now, even preschoolers are being pulled into the indoor exercise craze. As the Times reported, Fisher-Price has introduced the Smart Cycle, a brightly colored, tot-size stationary bike that hooks up to the TV. Once it is plugged in, preschoolers can pedal their way around potholes while matching letters or playing learning games with the joystick that is attached to the handlebars.

Certainly, many adults enjoy working out inside on treadmills or stationary bikes. But do we really want to instill such behaviors in preschoolers? Indoor machines cannot replace the experience of a walk or run through the park and cannot replicate the exhilaration of speeding downhill on a real bicycle. And playing sports with others can teach teamwork and boost confidence.

Children shouldn't be encouraged to trade in these important real-life experiences for virtual playgrounds, let alone as early as preschool. Indoor games are fine, but parents must remember to send their children outside to play, too.