The Negative Impact Of Digital Media And Technology

As far back as I can remember I have had a happy childhood. I didn’t grow up depending on technology to teach me the alphabet or learning to draw pictures on an iPad. Instead I played outside for hours in my tree house inventing new ways to climb the tree in my backyard, and learning to color inside the lines of my coloring book that I bought with the quarters I earned with my lemonade stand at the end of my drive way. Families that make up our society and individuals are affected by different aspects of technology everyday. The digital age that we have rapidly approached since the 2000’s has effected minds of young children teaching them to play a digital game in a computer

Research in New Zealand states that ‘Almost one in five of the 2-year-olds in the study were also regularly active on home computers, tablets and other mobile devices’ (Russell Blackstock, 2014). Benefits from using media and technology from a young age, suggest an increase in vocabulary, numeracy and social skills, through television programs that show cooperative behaviour. (Raising Children Networks, 2014) state that, it’s particularly ‘helpful if you get involved with your child and her use of media – for example, you can visit quality websites together, encourage use of educational software, and view TV shows offering extra learning opportunities.’ This leads to engagement with the content e.g. repeating and acknowledgement of words, numbers and objects, decision making skills. Even from a young age babies can develop knowledge for culture, problem solving skills and an early grasp of technology use, which will largely shape the generation they live in.

This technology revolution sparked a debate on children’s use of technology. Children are constantly using iPads, iPhones, tablets, and other computerized devices. By over exposing children to technology, they are being robbed of the mental stimulation that comes from doing real, non computerized, activities. It has gotten to the point where one can see a two-year-old navigate an iPhone with ease but struggle to speak. Sixty-nine percent of children aged two to five can use a computer mouse, but only eleven percent can tie their own shoelaces (Generation Tech More Kids Can Play Computer Games than Ride a Bike). Also, children are at an all time low in the creativity department

Mom turns on the television and sets the table, dad comes home from work, checks his personal digital assistant for an email he’s been waiting on, while his daughter sits at the table finishing up a “thumb lashing” on her cell phone that she is giving to her “BFF” because she just failed her history test. This scenario has become the norm in homes across America today. It’s the digital age, technology is booming at such a rapid pace we cannot even wear out our devices before the newer up-to-date models arrive. Technology has negative effects on society, because it is causing our critical thinking and social interaction skills to decline, it is disrupting the American family unit, and it has caused us to become a distracted society that is

Twenge is thorough and credible in listing the many ways in which youth and young adults of today are affected by new technology. The article was intended to prove that children who grow up with a phone or tablet in their hands will have

When her family got their first color tv, her father was so happy because now he could see the different football team’s colors when he watched the game. But no one really sat in front of the tv all day, because there weren’t many shows on. She then got her first computer in her house in ‘98, a little after she had her first 3 sons. She thought it was so neat that she was able to email her old high school friends and reconnect with people who she wouldn’t have ever talked to again. Of course, her boys liked to play video games, but they were largely outdoor people. Today she mostly uses an iPad, for business, research, and the occasional Netflix binge. Sometimes when work is getting hectic, she says, “It helps stop my mind from thinking about everything at work.” She can use it as a stress reliever, or a distraction. But even then, sometimes she feels that she has to pull herself away and take a walk. At work, she notices that when people are in the waiting room, they no longer reach for the magazines that have been set out, they are all on their phones. She deals with lots of parents at her job, and she realizes that parents seem to be using technology as almost a “babysitter”. When their toddler gets fussy, their mom hands them her phone so that they have something to do. That is starting the dependency from an

Included below is a summary about the article titled “How Young is Too Young for Technology,” by Josie Gurney-Read, and published by Telegraph. This article talks about the positive and negative impacts when exposing young children to technology. First, Read opens up the article explaining that by the time children start school, 70% are already confident in using a laptop, tablet or smart phone. Read also notes, that 17% of children under the age of three have their own device. The article then discusses that the American Academy of Pediatrics says that children under the age of two should be discouraged from using technology and that preschool kids shouldn’t be using devices for more than two hours per day (Read). Professor Manfred Spitzer

We live in a time where technology is constantly advancing, and the media is in every aspect of the typical American’s life. Our parents lived during a time without cell phones or televisions in their homes, their connection to the media was through books, magazines, newspapers, and the radio. As a twenty year old in 2016, I've always had a television, computer, and cell phone in my home, so my connection to the media was though what was on television, movies, video games, music, and many different things on the internet. Growing up I spent a lot of time playing outside and technology wasn’t something that had to be limited because it wasn’t a problem until I was a teenager. Now days it’s rare to come across a child who doesn’t have their own iPad, old smartphone, or a cell phone that is in service. Have you ever thought about how the media influences you, what you watch on television, the music you listen to, your views on certain subjects, when you have a question about something you look it up on the internet; then think about why you lean more

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

If you were to take a stroll down any populated street in America, you would see the use of technology. So how has this impacted the children of this generation? In order to contrast this, I have interviewed two members of my community. Ron Moore (58) and Brayden Johnson (11), have lived very different childhoods, despite being raised in the same community, Ron spent most of his youth doing outdoors activities, learning to work, and was raised in a more family oriented manner.

It is explained that past studies were conducted in a time when only video games and TV where the norm and that the advent of smartphones and tablets requires further research. The researchers thus conduct a self-reported survey on 2,620 children from ages 8 to 16 asking their use time regarding common devices including iPads and laptops. The finding was that children ages 8-16 are for the most part exceeding the limit time but the use of the devices and type of use differed depending on the sex, age and even grade of the child. The study also goes into great detail on the fact that schools are more and more embracing technology. This source may be somewhat useful for my paper. My research is supposed to be focused on very young children, 8 – 16 years old is not exactly a toddler. However, the article serves as a reminder that technology use is already very prevalent in older children and becoming a part of standard education. I can use this information to tie it with all my other findings about importance of adopting

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

Children from two years old to the age of ten years old can be effected in a negative way. Sometimes parents give their children a tablet or their cell phone to entertain them while they try and get something important done. Sometimes they are out in public and their child is being too loud so they pull out the phone and let them watch T.V. on it so they can become quiet. The American Academy of Pediatrics explains, “Screens are distractions, not tools to soothe children. Television is not a “babysitter,” so parents should enforce rules about media use” (Roman). From the start of a child 's life parents should be careful about letting kids have the ability to watch too much tv or spend too much time staring at any type of technology. Parents tend to use their technology to keep

As asked by the English alternative rock band Muse in their famous song “Screenager,” “Who’s so phoney and always surrounded?” This song perfectly depicts the effects of technology on America. People are engulfed by different types of technology everywhere they go and even carry around technology such as phones, laptops, and iPods. These items may seem like a blessing, but they are potentially dividing America. Every day, eight to eighteen-year-olds watch four and a half hours of TV, listen to two and a half hours of music, use the computer for an hour and a half, and spend two and a half hours on their cell phones, two hours for texting and one half hour for talking. This adds up to eleven hours dedicated on the media per day (Crawford).

Like many people my age, media is a huge part of my daily life and is prevalent in all my memories. Media such as photography brings to life memories I otherwise would have forgotten, while the internet allows me to connect with others from across the world and gives me access to resources like Khan Academy to aid me in school. Media also has more negative impacts, such as interfering with family time. Whether its effect is positive or negative, media has influenced my life since the start and this reflection helped me realize that.