Eliana Dockterman's Essay: The Digital Parent Trap

In her essay, The Digital Parent Trap, Eliana Dockterman carefully builds her argument by using ethos, pathos, and by using purposeful word choice to strengthen her argument that there are benefits to early exposure to technology for children. She supports her claims with evidence by using quotes, and by citing data from research studies and interviews. She leaves out any fluff and unnecessary words which makes the words remaining even stronger.

Dockterman demonstrates a clear understanding of the topic by use of statistical data in her writing allows for the reader to clearly understand the benefits and the wide scope of technology usage. This method utilizes logos, which works to appease the logical aspect of the reader’s mind. When the author says that more than 80% of U.S. school districts say they are on the cusp of

Eliana talked about the misconception of technology use by parents and brought some real life examples such as "the Parental Adage was simple: The less time spent with screens, the better." and she continued to show some of its disadvantages based on researches such obesity and

In this brief editorial adapted by Eliana Dockterman, "The Digital Parent Trap" portrays the current battle between a child's world with and without technology. As many schools and parents are split between the two decisions, Dockterman finds a way to be the tie breaker through her persuasion and smooth rhetorical devices. Docktermon tries her best to convince the readers that technology is okay in moderation, and builds her argument through word choice. With the formality of her diction and her many reliable sources to persuade the reader, she seems to have everything she needs to get the job done.

He points out three different mistakes that can be created in a child’s life when they use too much technology. These three mistakes are not setting limits, not having enough family time, and the parents themselves become too involved with technology. Too much technology can cause an increase of arguments between parents and kids, due to the amount of information kids now have access to. Children can use technology in a way to avoid real world situations and basic communication. In severe cases, Grover explains that technology can become addicting and can take over one’s life.

In Eliana Dockterman's passionate article "The Digital Parent Trap", the author builds her argument to convincingly persuade her audience that there are benefits to early exposure to technology which will greatly affect future generations. The author effectively employs use of persuasive and argumentative techniques including factual evidence and research, appeals to emotion, and well-supported statements from professionals.

Upon analyzing "The Digital Parent Trap" by Eliana Dockterman, it is very apparent that she uses multiple types of rhetorical devices to support her claim of how early exposure to technology benefits children and children's test scores. Dockterman claims studies show that student test scores improve after playing certain games. In a test done by SRI, studies showed that "kids who played games like Samorost (solving puzzles) did 12% better on logic tests than those who did not [play the games]"(Dockterman 8). This quote from the study done by SRI is one of many factual evidence pieces that Dockterman uses throughout her article to help support her point.

Many Authors vary their usage of multiple rhetorical devices to persuade their readers into looking at an argument from a different perspective. Dockterman uses these devices to persuade her readers that early exposure to technology has its benefits. The Digital Parent Trap is an article written by Eliana Dockterman published in 2013. In this article, Dockterman talks about how technology plays a valuable part in American schools and how it affects these families. Dockterman shares multiple points that support her argument, but she also talks about how parents feel about the technology that is used in schools.Through the use of Logos and Pathos, Dockterman persuades her audience that there are benefits to early exposure to technology

In "The Digital Parent Trap" by Ella Dockterman, she explains why early exposure to technology is beneficial for today's children. Dockterman persuades her audience by stating educational benefits, health benefits, and how knowing how to use technology is beneficial for college. Support 1: The first reason why technology is beneficial for children is that it has major educational benefits. In a recent study by SRI, kids who played games like Samorost (solving puzzles) did 12% better on logic tests than those who did not.

Author Elliana Dockterman employed data in the Article “The Digital Parent Trap” to demonstrate that not only digital devices are prevalent among the American children, but the prevalence of these devices can also stimulate children’s memory developments. These two parts combined highlight the central thesis of this article: widespread technology use among children can have many positive influences. In the first paragraph, Dockterman listed the statistics of child usage of three different devices. As “27% of children use tablets, 43% use smartphones, and 52% use laptops”, it can be undoubtfully said that electronic devices are very common among children in America. Dockterman again returned to the use of data in paragraph 10, citing a research

The current generation of children is completely different than the preceding ones. They are living in the digital age. “Technology has blended in with daily activity to become a way of life and children today take for granted all of which is automated. It is hard for kids nowadays to imagine a world that existed without all of the gadgets, electronics and seamless operations that computer technology provides.” (3) “Children in the United States devote some 40 hours a week to television, video games and the Internet.” (12) Many psychologists and researchers are concerned about the impact that technology has on children. Children, tomorrow’s future parents and leaders, are being consumed by the negative effects that technology had on their

Today’s technology has greatly impacted the young children’s everyday lives. Phones, tablets, and computers are all a form of technology that impact the way kids are influenced. Some children get phones or computers at young ages and it can cause kids to depend on it to entertain them. Eventually they will allow the technology to take over and have it become the form of communication between friend and family instead of face to face. As parents continue to buy their children new technology they don’t monitor the amount of time their children spend on the Internet. Technology is becoming more advanced overtime which causes children to become more attached and unable to function without it near by.

The debate regarding the usefulness of early exposure to technology is one that has lasted for years. In her article, “The Digital Parent Trap” Eliana Dokterman argues for tech fluency by writing that early uses of technology has more advantages than disadvantages. Her use of statistics counter arguments supports the points that she makes.

We all know technology is a good thing, right? Or is it? We can all come up with reasons why technology is helpful or appropriate like we can for a particular medicine. And while some drugs are really great to cure or prevent a disease, sometimes the side effects outweigh any possible benefit. The same is true with technology. Some common negative side effects of technology are kids playing on their phones instead of going outside to play or young people not interacting face-to-face as much as they used to. Parenting is an area that has suffered since the rise in technology, specifically with phone use.

Technology in the world today is becoming more advanced than ever. Parenting is being made easier and harder for some families because of the new technology. Some families do not have the money for the new additions to the technological world and other families have everything they have ever imagined. Amitai Etzioni is a professor at George Washington University. He has written nineteen books including the article “High-Tech Parenting.” It appeared in The American Enterprise in January of 1998.