Children are shown playing in this file photo. British children’s brain development is being threatened by their failure to work with their hands in school and at home, said a report released on July 14, 2008. REUTERS (Reuters)

LONDON (Reuters) -
British children's brain development is
being threatened by their failure to work with their hands in
school and at home, said a report released on Monday.

With woodwork, metalwork, craft, music or car mechanic
classes dropped by many schools and children wanting to play
computer games at home the UK is becoming a “software instead
of a screwdriver society,” said the report, commissioned by the
Ruskin Mill Educational Trust.

“Working with one's own hands in a real-world 3-D
environment is imperative for full cognitive and intellectual
development,” said the report's author Dr. Aric Sigman.

“Research is showing that increasing time spent in the
virtual world of computers is displacing hands-on play and
hands-on learning.

“That allows young people to experience how the world works
in practice, to gain an understanding of materials and
processes and to make informed judgments about abstract
concepts.”

The report cited examples of 11-year-olds with deficits in
certain areas of their cognitive development and a decline in
the ability of young engineers and apprentices to conceptualize
straightforward mechanical problems.

“The findings of this report clearly point to strengthening
the role of '3-D' learning and crafts in educational
policy-making today,” said Sigman.

“The implications for the economy are significant and will
actually improve the workforce's ability to use computers in
research, design and development.

“But parents too have a responsibility to ensure their
children have more of a 'hands-on' upbringing.”

Sigman also warned class-obsessed Britons needed to drop
their snobbish attitude to hands-on vocational training within
schools.

“Working with your hands is considered declasse and the
sciences are often seen as 'trade,”' said Dr. Sigman.