The world today revolves predominantly around technology; people use some form of it to get through the day--- cell phone, television, computer, tablet, etc. Just like the technology industry is expanding and growing, so is the human population causing people of all ages use these “smart” products. As people become more reliant on technology, some wonder if its effects could potentially harm the person using it, whether that be a child or an adult. Allowing young children to use technology creates many issues in different areas of children's lives. Technology could potentially create social, psychological, and physical issues for young children that can affect them negatively in both the present and the future.
In today’s world, the reliance
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The excessive amount of time spent using technology affects children's brains. Children, exposed to too much screen time during their “critical period”(Margalit), and not receiving the “required stimuli from the real world”(Margalit) causes their development to “[stunt]”(Margalit). Children spend too much time in front of tablets and computers in their younger years, causing them to miss the different cognitive skills their brains need to help them continue developing. Tablets and smartphones take away from the time children should be dedicating to developing their abilities to focus, communicate, and building other different life skills. Some parents may think that giving a child a tablet will help them learn, but a tablet can only teach so much information. Children exposed to too much screen time as infants “can affect [children] forever”(Margalit). Technology advances further, and with each day, parents should take into consideration the damage the technology causes on their children and monitor it more closely to ensure their children develop …show more content…
Technology creates physical issues among children and produces ideas like “As children spend increasing amounts of time in front of computer monitors—in addition to time spent in front of a television screen—they are likely to be increasing their risk of obesity”(Subrahmanyam). Parents are handing their children tablets instead of tennis balls and smartphones instead of softballs and teaching their children inactivity is OK. This causes children's physical health to decline and overall setting a negative precedent for the wrong skill set that they need to grow up and live a healthy life. If parents continue to allow their children to play on their devices, children are missing out on the physical activity they need. Physical activity is needed to live a healthy lifestyle and to stop the incessantly increasing rates of obesity in children. Handing children these tablets and smartphones will never solve all of their problems in life. While it may help them learn letters and numbers, it will unceasingly deprive children of simple outside activities like riding a bike or playing a sport. Children, without a doubt, need physical activity to be healthy and stay fit; but technology fails to go outside for
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
With the expansion in technology, children are hastily becoming more and more inactive. In the past century, kids would play outside from sunrise to sunset. Little did they realize, that playtime served as great daily exercise. Physical activity is a key necessity in keeping a healthy lifestyle. With the advancement of technology and the growing popularity of video games and television, fewer children are getting exercise. Stationary activities, such as video games and watching T.V., are keeping children inside and away from exercise. To blame just the kids for this lack of exercise would be wrong. The parents are the ones responsible for giving the children these games, but that is not all bad. Where it does turn bad however, is when the kids are given these games or televisions without a time restraint. Through research, they have found that 26% of children watch television for more than four hours a day. In efforts to encourage outside playtime for kids, Nickelodeon shut down programming daily from noon to 3pm. This seemed to be a great idea, but does it really help? Children are in school session Monday through Friday from 8am 3pm. The time Nickelodeon chose to go dark is the same time child...
Television is a distraction for children and can hurt their cognitive abilities if they watch too much because it is non interactive. In the International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity Helena Duch and colleagues mentioned that the American Academy of Pediatrics advises, “parents avoid exposing children 2 and under to screen media, a nationally representative survey found that 68% of children under the age of 2 use screen media in a typical day, and that average screen time was 2.05 hours per day” (Dutch et al 2). Children live in a world full of screens, ranging from iPhones, TVs, to tablets and computers. Drastic brain development occurs during the ages of 1-3 and exposing them to too much screen time of any kind can have negative effects on them (Hopkins 27). Putting them in front of a screen also steals away from times they could be talking, playing, and interacting with their surroundings. Pediatrician Dr. Michael Rich claims that shows d...
The use of video games, television, and the internet consumes children’s free time. In the Physical Activities article it states, “Children and adolescents spend an average of five and a half hours a day using media that includes TV, video games, computer activities, and the Internet” (917). These hours spent on electronics have consequences, children are not receiving the amount of exercise needed to keep them from gaining weight. Parents should encourage their children to spend less time on electronics and more time spent participating in physical activities. Children learn by example, so parents hold the responsibility for installing these healthy lifestyle habits in their children. According to Mahmood, “Studies’ suggested that parents should encourage outdoor play since children of active mothers were twice as likely to be active as children of inactive mothers” (9). To prevent obesity in Children, parents need to limit the amount the use of electronics and encourage their children to participate in physical activities that will burn calories and keep them from gaining excessive
Michael Strahan shows that “limiting screen time can have tremendous benefits on children’s physical activity” (Strahan). Furthermore, the American Academy of Pediatrics suggests, “Children should get no more than one to two hours of screen time a day” (Jones). Screen time has become a problem simply because it is used too much. Limiting screen time could massively benefit not only children, but adults as well. There are other forms of entertainment besides technology that can be equally as entertaining and healthier than the use of a screen.
It is important to consider that screen time represents only a portion of a child’s overall sedentary activity. Other sedentary activities may include doing school work, talking on the phone and riding in a school bus or car. Low levels of physical activity combined with consuming low nutrition energy dense foods are major contributors to the health challenges our children face today
Firstly, excessive exposure to screens and electrical devices is shown to drastically effect a growing child's social skills. These skills are invaluable and without them children are incapable of making and keeping loyal friends; more likely to suffer from behavioural issues and more likely to be uncomfortable speaking to people: especially their elders and people unbeknown to them. A long term research team, The Millennium Cohort Study Group, has conducted a study consisting of nineteen thousand children born in 2000 and 2001. In following this group of children, the study group has discovered that children who are prone to watching or interacting with electrical devices for more than three hours a day are more likely to suffer from behavioural and relationship-orientated problems by the time they were seven than those who spent less time on their devices. This study demonstrates the damaging effect these devices have...
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.
Putting children in sports, clubs, involving them in reading, dancing, singing, or even drama, can help keep children from reaching the risk of becoming overweight and obese. Parents are responsible for their child’s health rate, so allowing them to partake in more activities benefits their child. Parents who buy their children video games are pushing their child to stay inside instead of pushing them to go outside and play. Playing outside for just one hour every day will make a difference in a child’s health. Staying inside only collects more calories in the body, rather than being outside and burning calories. I started playing soccer when I was in seventh grade which helped me stay active and healthy. Sports are a good way to keep children on track and physically healthy so that they avoid becoming overweight. Parents should be aimed to help find a hobby or a healthy lifestyle that their child enjoys. Parents who don’t aren’t helping their child participate in life lessons which keeps there child focused on unhealthy actions such a focusing more on T.V shows and video games.
...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.
Society as it is seen today is oftentimes described as being overwhelmed with technology, stifling today’s generation. Evolving at such a breakneck pace, it is easy to see that technology is affecting every aspect of human life. This raises the question of what effects technology, specifically screens, may have on children. The speaker, Sara Dewitt, initiates a conversation about digital parenting, and the amount of screen time parents should allow their children to have at home. Sara Dewitt is a vice president at PBS Kids Digital who had begun her study in children’s literature, until her area of focus shifted when she was asked to lead a research study about preschoolers and websites.
First and foremost, health problems due to the increase in technology usage is becoming a bigger issue than one might think. With technology becoming a bigger factor in everyday life, diseases and other health issues that used to be less prevalent are now becoming epidemics (Rowan). For example, obesity, which is a condition in which a person is very fat or overweight. Obesity is caused by not getting a proper diet and exercise. Technology is causing this to become an epidemic in children, because children need at least sixty minutes of physical exercise a day and when they are watching TV, on the computer, or playing video games, they are not physically active (Loop). Also, when children are less active and on electronics, they are more likely to eat food that is not healthy for them, such as high calorie junk foods (Martin). With obesity can come many other diseases or health problems. For example, people who are obese are more likely to develop heart problems, diabetes, or high bl...
Children growing up in the modern world of today would rather stay inside and play on the internet, watch television, or play video games than go outside and play. Serious repetitive strain injuries suffered after spending hours glued to game consoles is up 60% since 2002 (Par. 5 Clarke). Technology and modern society have created lifestyle changes that are detrimental to the well being of children. First, this paper will discuss the effects of technology and modern society on the physical and mental health of the children. Second, the paper will discuss the dangers to children resulting from new technology. Lastly, the paper will discuss the modern lifestyle changes in families and their effects on the children.
As disclosed in the article, The Impact of Technology on the Developing Child, Chris Rowan acknowledges, “Rather than hugging, playing, rough housing, and conversing with children, parents are increasingly resorting to providing their children with more TV, video games, and the latest iPads and cell phone devices, creating a deep and irreversible chasm between parent and child” (par. 7). In the parent’s perspective, technology has become a substitute for a babysitter and is becoming more convenient little by little. It is necessary for a growing child to have multiple hours of play and exposure to the outside world each day. However, the number of kids who would rather spend their days inside watching tv, playing video games, or texting is drastically increasing. Children are not necessarily the ones to be blamed for their lack of interest in the world around them, but their parents for allowing their sons and daughters to indulge in their relationship with technology so powerfully. Kids today consider technology a necessity to life, because their parents opted for an easier way to keep their children entertained. Thus resulting in the younger generations believing that technology is a stipulation rather than a
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.)