April 18, 2023, at the Ontario Science Centre in Toronto.Fred Lamb/The Globe and Mail
Zahireen Tarefdar is a Toronto-based creative.
I grew up in the Thorncliffe Park community of Toronto, just a short walk from the Ontario Science Centre. As a child, I never would have imagined that we lived in a low-income neighborhood. I loved the treasures of the halal food store my parents visited every week, the smell of fresh kebabs wafting from street corners, and of course, the Science Centre itself. I thought it was the most magical place in the world, and I would go there at least once a month, sometimes more if there was a new exhibit.
My love for the Science Center comes not only from nostalgia but also from a deep gratitude. As a member of Generation Z, I am one of the first generations to grow up with social media. Without the love of learning that the Science Center instilled in me, and without the Science Center being where it is, the internet would have robbed me of even more of my childhood.
I’ve been thinking about this ever since the science center was suddenly fenced off and declared “permanently closed,” leaving children, parents, and local residents in dire straits. When governments remove essential institutions like science centers from low-income neighborhoods, they deprive children of something they deserve: a safe, real space in which to deepen their understanding of the world and their place in it.
Today’s school-age children have never known a world without smartphones. While many worry about screen time, it’s unclear how bad the situation is for low-income children. Research over the past few years has shown that poor young people Significantly longer They spend more time on screens than their wealthier peers, according to a study. studyChildren ages 8 to 12 from low-income families spend an average of 7 hours and 32 minutes per day on screens, compared to 4 hours and 21 minutes for children from high-income families.. another 2022 Survey A study of 179,000 children in 40 countries, including Canada, found that children from poorer families are more likely to be addicted to social media, according to the 2016 census. Consider the impact on kids growing up in neighborhoods like Thorncliffe Park. 60 percent of children live in poverty.
Children live in a world where the digital divide is determined not just by whether they have access to the internet, but by whether they have the tools to moderate that access. This is not just my opinion. I have heard reports from private schools and colleges across Canada. America Mobile phone use has long been restricted in classrooms, and the lack of extracurricular activities in underfunded schools has led kids to turn to the nearest screen.
Places like science centers create a level playing field, a protective buffer against digital over-reliance for learning, socialization, and entertainment. When the internet is the easiest (or only) way to meet these needs, Serious risk factors For young, developing minds: depression, anxiety, social isolation, and impaired problem-solving skills.
From my own experience, while growing up with the internet has changed my mindset in wonderful ways, some of those risks may have been avoided by me if I had known when to log off. Thankfully, my monthly pilgrimages to the science center ritualized my time learning about the physical world through the sights, sounds, and touch of the exhibits. Though I didn’t realize it at the time, the museum was preparing me for the hard work of choosing to be physically present rather than online.
I have yet to come across an argument in favor of relocating the Science Centre that is worth the cost of depriving children in Toronto’s poorest neighborhoods of the opportunity to develop some of the few cultural enrichments they have access to.
The argument that the area is inaccessible would be more persuasive if the province hadn’t built the Ontario Line to connect the area to the rest of the city. So for whom is it inaccessible? For me, the Science Centre has always been close, even when I moved further into Scarborough. It has always been closer than the Art Gallery of Ontario, the Royal Ontario Museum, or the myriad cultural experiences concentrated downtown. It would have taken my family more than three hours by public transportation to get to the proposed new location at Ontario Place and back home.
For this generation of children to grow up and ultimately contribute to Ontario’s prosperity, they need the skills to critically engage in both the physical and digital worlds. If we care about children in every neighborhood in Toronto, we should invest in improving existing science centres. We help schools to maximise their potential and that of the children living nearby.
