Why Parents Should Limit Screen Time 87% of kids ages twelve to seventeen are online or have access to the internet. When used properly, the internet can have many benefits and advantages. It can be used as a learning tool and can help students perform better in school. This also means that kids are constantly being exposed to this dangerous web of information. If technology and the internet aren’t used right, they can be hazardous to a child. The internet has many disadvantages and is the base of many problems we see occurring today. This constant exposure to the internet is also affecting child development. Some of the differences we have seen are: kids brains are being wired differently, they’re bodies are forming differently, and …show more content…
Technology has many positive aspects and can help improve scores and school performances but also has a major effect on many problems we see occurring today. Connections have been made between obesity rates and technology; children and teens relationships with their parents and peers aren’t as stable and previous generations have been. Technology and the internet influence child development. Children have a different development process today than previous generations have had. Their brains are being wired differently, they are growing up in a very different environment then our parent and their parents did. Kids these days tend to turn to technology and don’t feel the need for books. Our brains would rather have the fast paced and distracting internet then a slow paced, and imaginative book. This is an example of the different views today’s youth has compared to the last generation's youth. Youth today spend way more time than necessary on the internet and their devices which cause them to view everything very differently. They get distracted much easier and tend to not care much about the real world and anything that doesn’t have to do with technology. As a solution to all of these recurring problems, screen time should be limited. If kids avoid technology until at least two, then spend only twenty minutes a day on the internet and stick to educational games and videos, children would develop completely. If we don’t try and stop this now, the next generations are going to face bigger and worse problems than what we see happening today. We need to teach people to limit themselves and spend more time working on their social and mental health and the environment. Overall, technology has benefitted and worsened our generation, but if we take the time and effort to fix these problems, we can solve this issue and help the upcoming
Both authors are writing to parents of children who they think spend way too much time on their electronics. However, Dana Boyd has a much better compelling argument for not restricting a teenager’s screen time. Boyd has a much better appeal to both audiences. She manages to employ better uses of both pathos and logos throughout the article and appeals to both parents and children.
Due to this argument, parents and children now heavily rely on technology for a main source of play, limiting the challenges of all creativity and imagination (Rowan 3). Although technology can provide some games and tools that can help children learn, it does not provide the same benefits as actual play and actually causes more harm than good. One of the main problems with play through technology is the fact that children are seeing a “symbolic representation of the real world” and are not receiving a direct experience of the real world with real people and materials (Rice 3). The more time children spend looking at a screen, the more they are isolating themselves and not spending time with other children and adults (Rice 3). This is not only damaging to the learning development of a child, but also the healthy development of forming relationships and social skills (Rice 3). According to a 2010 Kaiser Foundation study, children who are in elementary school use on average 7.5 hours per day of entertainment technology and spending this much “screen time” is damaging to the development of children because their “sensory, motor, and attachment systems have biologically not evolved to accommodate this
Using the internet as an easy shortcut for things lacks the experiences that children need to develop correctly. There must be a balance of internet and the real life, hard copy form of things for people to really form independent ideas and feelings based on the vast experiences of going to a concert or reading a heavy, worn out, and loved book under a tree that the online version cannot provide. It is experiences like these that help develop motor and sensory skills that are crucial to child development. According to Cris Rowan, the author of “The Impact of Technology on the Developing Child,” the “four critical factors necessary to achieve healthy child development are movement, touch, human connection, and exposure to nature. These types of sensory inputs ensure normal development of posture, bilateral coordination, optimal arousal states and self-regulation necessary for achieving foundation skills” (Rowan). In other words, too much time spent on digital devices instead of playing outside and interacting face-to-face with people can cause some detrimental developmental issues that would affect someone's quality of life. Although technology advancements have created the biggest storage database ever and a world wide web of information and resources, like digital books, that overall improve how society functions, it is still essential for young children to have the experiences that do not involve a screen so that they can develop into healthy young adults who have a understanding of the world, empathy, and their self. Thompson believes that, “We need a new way to talk clearly about the rewards and pleasures of our digital experiences- one that’s rooted in our lived experiences and also detangled from the hype of Silicon Valley.” (353) Individuals cannot appreciate the benefits of technology without the real life
Many people have a wide range of opinions on whether technology is having a positive influence on our children or a negative, there is a vast amount of evidence to support both of these arguments. Technology can refer to so many things, but there are three main parts of technology that have the greatest effect on our children: video games, television/media, and computers. The modern technologies we have today are so powerful because they attract our genetic biases, that the human brain has a tremendous love for visually presented information. Video games, television, movies and computer programs are all very visually oriented and therefore they attract and keep the attention of children easily. By far the largest concern of technology today is video games.
To continue, everyone can agree that children need a healthy environment to develop cognitive, social, emotional, physical and linguistic development. How much technology can improve or distract from these essential skills varies with age. The impact and implications of technology tools on young children has been studied and researched through the Let’s Move Childcare initiative and results concluded that little to no “screen time” is preferred for children under the age of two. For children two years or older, the recommended “screen time” is limited to thirty minutes per week in the classroom setting. (White House, 2011.)
...ttention and focus to reduce the negative impacts on development of children. Research suggests that technology use and especially computers enhances development of children when properly used. On the other hand, the uncontrolled use of technology in childhood education may produce negative effects and impair development in children. Uses of technology in childhood education range from enhancing social interactions, language development to initial computer use skills. It is important to note that, technology use in children education is a matter of how it can be harnessed for the purposes of learning in children. Research by health professionals argues that technology use in children education can produce detrimental health effects especially obesity. Thus, children exposure to technological gadgets like computers and tablets among others should be greatly checked.
Kids now I days won’t live their full childhood experience. Their days are only going faster as they get older. Time really does go fast when you are wasting your time stuck looking at s screen all day. Over time the internet has increased its popularity and it has become a must in our daily lives; However, to our children, it has negative effects and leads to an unhealthy lifestyle. We want our children to live a worry free adulthood, and by restricting screen time at a young age will fulfill that need.
Technology is so easy for the youth to access and there are many things that affect children through the use of technology. Children can misuse technology by accessing inappropriate materials, most kids today have smart phones and are able to access this so easily. Another reason children are affected by technology is that they are never taught how to properly use it, so they begin to think what they are doing is okay, when it is not, at a young age. My generation is more prone to the misuse of technology because they have grown up with it and it has been apart of their childhood. As technology becomes more developed it will be more vibrant in children’s lives and as they grow up it will become more of a part of their childhood. The more it is in a child’s life the more it will become more known. I did not receive a phone until I was 14 and it was not even an IPhone, but today there are children who have IPhones at the age of 8. This affects children because they are becoming more dependant on technology as a young child and they think that it is alright to depend on technology. They are given technology and they do not know how to use it properly nor do they know that it is not okay for them to depend on technology and that they need to depend on their minds to do things not just technology. The more technology comes involved in children’s lives the more it will affect them throughout their
If kids are using the internet the right way, they are being benefited without even knowing that they are. Despite fueling an age of technological marvels, the Internet is often derided as being as harmful to humanity as it is helpful. But even if a steady diet of cat videos and Facebook posts isn’t a recipe for mental acuity, the Internet really is making the children of today smarter. Using
There has been a long lasting debate in the resent years on whether or not technology has a positive or negative impact on today’s kids. As the years move on, the negative effects have begun to outnumber the positive. The generations previous spent their childhood making forts, fishing, and using their imaginations, contrary to today’s generations who spend their free time texting, playing video games, and watching videos. Damaging effects such as decreases in school performances, addiction to electronics, and lack of brain development have all been linked to the electronic media stimulation. In order to prevent the future generation from following in the current generations footsteps, one must full comprehend just how much technology impacts
The use of the Internet has exploded in the past few decades, and the age of the user is swiftly declining as well (Greenfield, Patricia, and Zheng Yan). “The spread of Internet access has been described as nine times faster than that of radio, four times faster than the personal computer, and three times faster than television” (Shields, Margie, and Behrman 5). The Internet has woven itself into people’s daily lives and has really changed culture in numerous ways. It has helped make education more accessible, especially to those in developing countries. Specifically, it has brought life saving health practices and information to those who otherwise would have gone without it. Also, children who need extra help learning, like kids with special
Almost every child between the ages of eight and twelve are getting cell phones. The average home in America has as many televisions as they do people. Only 20% of American homes do not have a computer. Technology is quickly becoming a new way of life. The amount of time people are on their devices is growing rapidly. According to The Huffington Post, people are on their devices for on average about eleven hours and fifty-two minutes a day. That is almost half a day and a lot longer than most people sleep or work. People have not realized yet how they or their families are being affected by this constant use of technology. As a result of technology increasing, children are experiencing health problems, school issues, and social problems.
Technology affects everyone - and everyone! Whether positive or negative, we are all affected, how it manifests itself into problems for youth will be studied and debated for years. Balancing technology throughout the educational process and keeping with current trends and uses of technology will affect everyone. Technology has transformed our youth’s daily and social lives. How do we measure the effects of technology on our ability to socialize or have a successful social life?
Internet is a network that virtually connects computers around the world. It has an address network which makes communication possible between the computers. It is an open phone line and an open television channel to millions of people around the world who can communicate anonymously (Palmer, 2006). People use it to exchange files and e-mails, to surf the World Wide Web, to download songs or other types of files, to take part of discussion boards, and to send instant messages. It can be beneficial when it comes to freedom of press, and less disintermediation between people (Palmer, 2006). It can also be of assistance when it comes to doing some kind of research, finding some specific information about any topic, or even getting an undergraduate or a postgraduate degree when it comes to busy people who want to expand their horizons. However, internet has many risks in contrast to its benefits and it should not be used by children without adult supervision and parental control.
Children of all ages everywhere these days seem to only depend on the internet. The internet is an amazing creation, but people take advantage of it. Since there is internet there is access to all kinds of social media, games, and all sorts of other things. However, because of today’s society internet is one of the only things kids use and go on, whether it’s go on Facebook for hours or watch ridiculous videos on YouTube, the internet is taking a negative turn towards children, their brains, smartness, and attitude. Despite helpful or early learning programs, the internet does not make children smarter.