Technology vs Kids

Technology Vs Kids: Expectations vs. Reality

With most of the people plugged altogether the time, I often wonder what effect technology has on our youngsters. Some say technology is another helpful learning tool that's making our youngsters smarter and a few say it's having no significant effect in the least. Still, others propose that technology use is encouraging social isolation, increasing attentional problems, encouraging unhealthy habits, and ultimately changing our culture and therefore the way humans interact. While there's not a causal relationship between technology use and human development, I do think a number of the correlations are strong enough to encourage you to limit your children's screen time.

Is television really that harmful to kids? counting on the show and duration of watching, yes. Researchers have found that exposure to programs with fast edits and scene cuts that flash unrealistically across the screen are related to the event of attentional problems in kids. because the brain becomes overwhelmed with changing stimuli, it stops getting to anybody thing and starts zoning out. an excessive amount of exposure to those frenetic programs gives the brain more practice passively accepting information without deeply processing it. However, not all programs are bad. Kids who watch slow-paced television programs like Sesame Street aren't as likely to develop attentional problems as kids who watch shows just like the Power Puff Girls or Johnny Neutron. Educational shows are slow-paced with fewer stimuli on the screen which provides children the chance to practice getting to information. Children can then practice making connections between new and past knowledge, manipulating information in memory, and problem-solving. Conclusively, an honest rule of thumb is to limit television watching to an hour to 2 hours each day and keep an eye fixed out for a glossy-eyed transfixed gaze on your child's face. this is often a sure sign that his or her brain has stopped focusing and it's definitely time to shut off the tube in order that he can start thinking, creating, and making sense out of things again (all actions that grow instead of pacifying the brain).

When you do shut off the tube, do not be surprised if you've got a melt on your hands. Technology has an addictive quality because it consistently activates the discharge of neurotransmitters that are related to pleasure and reward. There are cases of addictions to technology in children as young as four-years-old. Recently in Britain, a four-year-old girl was put into intensive rehabilitation therapy for an iPad addiction! I'm sure you recognize how rewarding it's to sign onto Facebook and see that red notification at the highest of the screen, or maybe more directly how rewarding playing games on your computer are often as you accumulate more "accomplishments." I'm guilty of obsessive compulsively checking my Facebook, email, and blog throughout the day. The common answer to the present problems is, "All things carefully ." While I agree, moderation could also be difficult for youngsters to realize as they are doing not possess the talents for self-discipline and can often take the straightforward route if not directed by an adult. consistent with a replacement study by the Kaiser Family Foundation, children spend about 5 hours watching television and films, 3 hours on the web, 1 1/2 hours texting on the phone, and a 1/2 hour talking on the phone every day. That's almost 75 hours of technology use hebdomadally, and that I am sure these results are mediated by parental controls and interventions. Imagine what proportion technology children use when left to their own defenses! during a recent Huffington Post article, Dr. Larry Rosen summed it up well, "... we see what happens if you do not limit this active participation. the kid continues to be reinforced within the highly engaging e-world, and more mundane worlds, like twiddling with toys or watching TV, pale as compared ." How are you ever getting to get your child to read a black and white boring old book once they could use a flashy, rewarding iPad instead? Children on average spend 38 minutes or less every day reading. does one see a priority problem here?

With such frequent technology use, it's important to know if technology use encourages or discourages healthy habits. It's reported that among heavy technology users, half get C's or lower in class. Light technology users fair far better, only 1 / 4 of them receiving low marks. There are many factors that would mediate the connection between technology use and poor grades. One might be decreased hours of sleep. Researchers from the Department of Family and Community Health at the University of Maryland found that children who had three or more technological devices in their rooms got a minimum of 45 minutes less sleep than the typical child an equivalent age. Another might be the eye problems that are correlated with frequent technology use. Going further, multitasking, while considered an excellent skill to possess on the work, is proving to be a hindrance to children. it's not uncommon to ascertain a faculty aged child employing a laptop, telephone, and tv while trying to also complete a homework assignment. If we glance closer at the laptop, we'd see several tabs opened to varied social networks and entertainment sites, and therefore the phone itself may be a mini-computer lately. Thus, while multitasking, children are neglecting to offer their studies full attention. This results in a scarcity of active studying, a failure to transfer information from short term to future memory, which leads ultimately to poorer grades in class. Furthermore, it's next to impossible for a toddler to interact is a few of the upper order information science skills like making inferences and making connections between ideas when multitasking. we would like our youngsters to be deep thinkers, creators, and innovators, not passive information receptors who later regurgitate information without really giving it good thought. Therefore, we should always limit access to multiple devices also as a limit duration of use.

Age comes into play when discussing the harmful effects of technology. for youngsters younger than two-years-old, frequent exposure to technology are often dangerously detrimental because it limits the opportunities for interaction with the physical world. Children two-years-old and younger are within the sensorimotor stage. During this stage, it's crucial that they manipulate objects within the world with their bodies in order that they will learn cause-effect relationships and object permanence. Object permanence is the understanding that when an object disappears from sight, it still exists. This reasoning requires the power to carry visual representations of objects within the mind, a precursor to understanding visual subjects like math later in life. To develop these skills, children need several opportunities a day to mold, create, and build using materials that don't have a predetermined structure or purpose. What a technological device provides are programs with a predetermined purpose which will be manipulated in limited ways with consequences that always don't fit the principles of the physical world. If the kid isn't being given a drawing app or the likes of, they're likely given programs that are in essence tons like workbooks with structured activities. Researchers have found that such activities hinder the cognitive development of youngsters this age. While researchers advise parents to limit their baby's screen time to 2 hours or less every day, I might say it's better to attend to introduce technology to your children until after they need a minimum of turned 3-years-old and are demonstrating healthy cognitive development. Even then, technology use should be limited enormously to supply toddlers with time to interact in imaginative play.

Technology is changing the way children learn to speak and use communication to find out. Many parents are using devices to quiet their children within the car, at the dining table, or where ever social activities may occur. the danger here is that the kid isn't witnessing and brooding about the social interactions playing out before him. Children learn social skills by modeling their parent's social interactions. Furthermore, taking note of others to communicate and lecture others is how children learn to speak to themselves and be alone. the advantages of solitude for youngsters come from replaying and acting out conversations that they had or witnessed during the day, and this is often how they ultimately add up to their world. rock bottom line is, the more we expose our youngsters to technological devices, the more severe their social skills and behavior are going to be. A Millennium Cohort Study that followed 19,000 children found that "those who watched quite three hours of television, videos or DVDs each day had a better chance of conduct problems, emotional symptoms and relationship problems by the time they were 7 than children who didn't ." If you're getting to give your child screen privileges, a minimum of put aside a time for just that and do not use technology to pacify or preoccupy your children during social events.

There's no question that technology use can cause poor outcomes, but technology itself isn't responsible. Parents got to remember their vital role as a mediator between their children and therefore the harmful effects of technology. Parents should limit exposure to devices, discourage device multitasking, confirm devices aren't used during social events and monitor the content that their child is engaging in (ie. Sesame Street vs. Johnny Neutron). Technology is often a really good learning tool, but children also need time to interact with objects within the world, engage in imaginative play, socialize face-to-face with peers and adults, and youngsters of all ages need solitude and time to let their mind wander. we'd like to place more emphasis on the "Ah-ha!" moment that happens when our minds are freed from distractions. For this reason alone, technology use should be limited for all folks.