The Negative Use Of Technology

Although adults who didn’t have cell phones and computers when they were growing up think that all of this “screen time” is bad for children it really is not, “screen time” is actually good for kids, phones and computers help the human population communicate faster and more efficiently, the average social media user has more close ties, and the opportunities outweigh the so called “distractions”.

“How Screens Turn Kids into “Digital Addicts” by Lynch March is about how technology makes kids get addicted to it. Many studies have shown that kids experience overall attention deficit, boredom, and apathy when kids are not looking at screens. Electronic devices have a similar effect as a drug , they affect the frontal cortex, the part that controls execution and impulses the same way cocaine does. This “digital addiction” is harder to overcome than a drug addiction. On the flip side, Lynch says you cannot deprive your children of technology. Classrooms are transforming into digital playgrounds, with Smart Boards, smartphone, educational apps, games, etc. More and more jobs will require at least basic computer knowledge.

Modern Technology is good for the developing brain of a child.When using any modern technology like Ipad, Iphone, Ipod, laptop computer anything, when using these amazing their brains are constantly being used. Each icon they click each word they read each picture or color they see is all recorded in their brains. When a child is on a application, that child zooms in on the activity which causes a chain reaction to the brain keeping the brain active, and exercising. “The impact of heavy media and technology use on kids are social, emotional and cognitive development is only beginning to be studied, and the emergent results are serious.” This quote proves of my statement because it says that a child’s emotional and cognitive development are being affected by technology. There are a lot of brain exercises on the internet. Just for a kid going on the computer and seeing screen light up and reading the words to guide them to a activity is exercising because you’re using your brain to use the computer, and reading the word google or yahoo or even the startup menu.”Children now rely on technology for the majority of their play, grossly limiting challenges to their creativity and imaginations,

Technology has always been a controversial subject between conservative people and innovators. Some people believe that it is a great tool to connect cultures and improve education and innovation in our society today, but others view it as a menace in our lives. “Growing Up Tethered” by Sherry Turkle and “George Orwell...Meet Mark Zuckerberg” by Lori Andrews both view technology as a dangerous tool. They believe in the many drawbacks of technology and the harm it can do to our lives with no explanation of the positive effects it has had on our society. “Our Future Selves” by Eric Schmidt and Jared Cohen plays the role of a positive look at technology and its role in our lives today. It gives examples of how advancing technology helps us and improves so many peoples’s lives. We can use Schmidt and Cohen’s essay as a lens to view the other two texts and gain a different understanding of what they are writing about.

Children are replacing physical activity with video games, YouTube, Netflix, text messaging, and social media accounts. Instead of going outside on a nice, sunny day, they would much rather stay indoors and play on their IPod, IPhone, tablets, or computers. In Jim Taylor’s article, there were studies done on children and screen time. While most researchers thought that children did not spend that much time on their devices due to busy schedules, they were shocked to find out that children are just multitasking. They are texting, playing video games, and watching videos or movies in between their free times, or even while doing their homework. Children are becoming less active and more dependent on their devices.

According to a 2010 Kaiser Foundation study, which involved elementary children, concluded that on average 75 percent of parents allowed their children to have bedroom TV’s, North American households keep their TV’s on for 50 percent of the day, and use 7.5 hours of technology entertainment per day (Rowan). Technology is becoming a problem throughout the United States, especially in elementary aged kids. Parents are introducing technology as early as infants so that they understand certain information at an early age. When parents introduce technology at such an early age they are giving their children the advantage to be addicted to the wonders of it. Young children are at a high risk of brain damage with the advancement of technology. The more adults introduce technology to younger children the higher the chances of problems it causes. Technology has a negative effect on younger children and should have limitations on the age in which it is being introduced.

Many studies and observations have been made on how technology can negatively affect a child’s physical health, mental health, emotional well-being, values, educational development and relationships. The results of these studies found technology exposure can be linked to childhood obesity, behavioral problems, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, autism, coordination disorder, unintelligible speech, developmental delays, learning difficulties, anxiety, depression, sleep disorders, poor physical activity and poor school performance.

Every day, the Generation Z/Boomlets, those born after 2001, are starting to interact more and more with technological devices. This can cause very serious consequences and it can affect their development, such as irregular sleeping pattern, lack empathy, social and language skills and health issues. The Common Sense organization did some research and discovered that 10 percent of one year olds have used a technology device. They also found out that 38 percent of children between two and four years old have used mobile devices like iPhone, tablets or Kindles and more than fifty percent between ages five to eight years old also use mobile devices. How can kids have this much access to technological devices at such a young age? I remember I didn’t have my first phone until the ninth grade and it was a flip phone; I received my first iPhone in my senior year of high school. Kids these days are growing up too fast and interacting more and more early with technology and besides affecting their development, this will come back to affect our future.

There are lots of studies in the impact of technology on children’s developing minds. Studies found that diagnoses of ADHD, autism, coordination disorder, developmental delays, unintelligible speech, learning difficulties, sensory processing disorder, anxiety, depression, and sleep disorders are associated with technology overuse, and are increasing at an alarming rate (Rowen). Technology is causing a harmful effect on some children these days and it could potentially be harming them in the long run. children who use too much technology may not have enough opportunities to use their imagination or to read and think deeply about the material (Deloatch). I am a single parent of a 3-year-old girl and I face the problem of technology overuse from my daughter on a daily basis. My daughter has had a mobile device since she was able to walk. She is completely and utterly obsessed with watching her cartoon shows. Every day after she gets home or wakes up in the morning, the first thing she asks for is her shows. She would always ask for our cell phones before she got to watch things on the big TV in the living room, and when we would tell her no she would throw a big tantrum about it. She has a very short attention span as well; it is hard for her to focus on one thing at a time. The technology keeps her up until almost 2 or 3 in the morning sometimes. If we try to turn it off, she still roams around the house and throw fits until she gets someone to turn it back on or falls asleep.

The parents let their kids become too addicted to technology. According to the PEW Research Center, in 2015, 92% of kids ages 13-17 go online daily and 24% are on “constantly.” This is bad because if kids are waiting for someone to call them or waiting for a message, they could be distracted from work or for the older teens, driving. This caused the relationship between the parents and the kids to fall apart

"this generation of American kids (ages 3 to 18) is the tech-savviest in history: 27% of them use tablets, 43% use smartphones, and 52% use laptops." This shows that is quite an important subject and it is worth acknowledging. Then he also mentions how the country is also contributing to this issue by starting, "the most tech-saturated school year ever: Los Angeles County alone will spend $30 million on classroom iPads this year, outfitting 640,000 kids by late 2014." Yet only half of the parents in the USA agree that there should be such a prominence of technology in kids' lives, according to findings by, "the research firm Grunwald Associates." As you can notice, we are only though the first couple of paragraphs, yet we have passed through a number of statistics and studies. Then he shifts his concentration to the Parental Adage, "The less time spent with screens, the better." He tries to explain why parents support such a rule and apply it to their kids' lives. He represents some side effects of extensive tech use, such as, "watching too much TV can lead to obesity, violence and attention-deficit/hyperactivity

Technology is doing more harm to our population than good, especially where children and teens are concerned. In the article “It’s ‘digital heroin’: How screens turn kids into psychotic junkies”, it says that 8 to 10 year olds spend on average 8 hours a day with digital media, while teenagers spend around 11 hours a day using technology. Also in this article it is said that 1 in 3 kids are using tablets or smartphones before they can talk. This much exposure to screens can be the start of an addiction for many kids and also cause behavioral

Technology and these devices are addictive. To tell parents and children that they should not limit themselves or their children on the amount of time they spend looking at screens is foolish, and sometimes it dooms

How many people could take a whole day out of their week to not look at their phone? “Tech Free Tuesday” could be the new hit of the times. Children in today’s world grow up with their iPad’s, iPhone’s, tablets and computers that basically does everything for them What about dinner time conversations, playing in the neighborhood, and exploring at their own leisure. We are constantly consumed by our technological devises and the newer generations are continuing to grow worse with the amount of technology they use on a daily basis. The age at which children begin using technology continues to grow younger and younger. In this day and age people would rather spend their free time alone consumed with electronic devises rather than engaging in conversation. Therefore, reducing the amount of technology use in homes across the United States could have serious positive

Another source of the overdependence of technology in children is school. At school, they are introduced to technology at a very young age, sometimes even in preschool. Children are introduced to calculators at a very young age, helping them with math problems they should be able to do in their heads. The teachers are encouraging it so the students don’t take the time to learn how to do it out and then struggle when they have no calculator. Also, children today are proven to have much worse handwriting than in the past. They are now expected to type English essays and in elementary school; many aren’t taught cursive but rather how to use computers. For example, in 2009, 97 percent of teachers had at least one computer in their room, and out of that, 93 percent of the computers were connected to the Internet (Gray, Thomas, Lewis). Intelligence is continuously decreasing due to all of the shortcuts children now are able to take advantage of. In some aspects, the advancements are really aiding students. They have almost any information they can imagine wherever they go, just by going to Google. Typing is neat and