While parents, elected officials and technology leaders are pushing for more technology in primary school classrooms around the nation, a backlash against this movement is growing as educators, children's advocates and physicians are saying the long-term damage to children's health and well-being could be substantial, the San Jose Mercury News reports.

A new report, "Fools Gold: A Critical Look at Computers in Childhood," makes the case that computers promote such physical problems as obesity and eyestrain in young children, and contribute to a break-down in the development of such skills as creativity, hands-on learning and building relationships.

The report, written by the Alliance for Childhood, also calls for a moratorium on computers in classrooms so research can be completed on technology’s impact on children's development and the educational process, the newspaper reports.

"It's time for a few heretics to stand up and say we need to look at this more closely," said Lowell Monke, founder of the alliance and assistant professor of education at Wittenberg University. "We can't just sit on this bandwagon charging down the road with our public funds and our children."

More than 80 child development experts and educators –- including researcher Jane Goodall and professors at the University of California, Berkeley -- support Monke. The report also finds school districts that are already underbudgeted are using funds on technology that would be better distributed on more critical issues in low-income communities, the Mercury News reports.

Ed Miller, the report's co-author, says parents -- who naturally want their children to have educational advantages -- are welcoming the Internet with open arms without really thinking about long-term consequences, the newspaper reports.

"It's fear on the part of parents who themselves feel threatened and uncomfortable with technology...," Miller says. "They see people making huge amounts of money in technology and think...the earlier the better for their children. But that's what's fallacious."

The report calls for research on the emotional, developmental and physical hazards posed to children by computer-based education, and for elementary schools to return to "real-world, hands-on learning." It also suggests teaching older students how computers work -- but also emphasizing the social and ethical implications technology may have on society, the Mercury News reports.

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