Effects of Technology on Children - Essay Example

Novia Deansari Jamie Wilson English 102- Essay 4 15 March Effects of Technology on Children Technology keeps on changing and is very different from what it was in recent years. Back when I was a child, I always love playing with my gadget. Either it was applications for games; notebook, camera, or social media, using a highly technological gadget was giving me lot of experienced and successfully educated me in my playgroup time. In my elementary school, I was being introduced to cell phone. Since I have a cell phone, it helps me a lot to keep in touch with my friend. I could ask about homework and assignment easily. Therefore, when I turn to a young-adult, I assume myself to be an expert in gadget. I could edit picture easily at my phone, mixing music through the application, and specialize for chatting and texting. However, I recently realized that children now on is smarter than me for using technology. The toddlers were being introduced to IPod and keep playing with their gadget instead of playing with their friends. I also find out that child in this era has being addicted to games and not being responsible for their assignment. Skoric feels that addiction is not simply playing video games throughout but playing video games to the point of neglecting their responsibilities. However, people think --parents--that technology really helps child to learn and enhance more creativity. "Is it true that technology educate child to a better learner or it actually isolated them from the world and changes their behavior?" I believe that technology is harming the children because of the negative effects it is giving them. Children of today are mostly on their phones and iPods playing games. This leads them to becoming game addicts and inactive in other things that can help make their life improve such as studying. For example, they just sit in their bedrooms playing games and there is drop in their school performance. According Skoric in Cyberpsychology & behavior, trend of addiction are negatively related to academic performance. This is because they give more of attention to playing video games than school work. The child put effort to win the games and miss out on the value of educations. Mostly, the children who get addicted to these games have problem with interacting with other kids because they spend a lot of time on computer device playing video games. These make them even more addicted and there is a drop in their academics since they do not create time to study (Skoric 572). However, this game can also be good for the children if they play for reasonable amount of time. Skoric describes that it may be beneficial for the child to enjoy some gaming and relax their mind as long as it is for a reasonable amount of time. Their brain is challenged and forced to exercise while attempting to win. If parents controlled the amount of time their child spend on computer or iPod playing game then a chance of addiction to video games will reduce (Kuss 18). The parents can also train them to appreciate academics and balance between reading and playing. Technology can be beneficial to the child in that they can use it to research on important things which will expand their knowledge. For example if they want to know the definition of a word or the facts of a certain theory. Parents only need to guide the child toward making the right decisions. Another negative effect of technology is how the children are ignoring their parent or guardians. This is because they become busy chatting or playing games or downloading new things such as applications. The children today are spending more time online than with their parents. When they are called upon to do something they pretend not to hear so that they can continue chatting and downloading latest things. They are becoming unwilling to follow instructions if it means stopping chatting or playing videogames. This is also coming between the relationship of the child and the parents. According to Gentle, Pathological Video Game Use Among Youths: A Two-Year Longitudinal Study the children lack ability to connect with those around them because they are too consumed with browsing the internet. They also become lazy and ignore their studies as well. This may end up leading to poor grades and constant collision with their parents. This problem may be solved by encouraging the child to spend more time with human beings such as their age mates or their parents. If the child is ignoring the parent on purpose, then they can use sensible disciplinary measures such as withholding the opportunity to use computer. It is good to use patient with such children so that they can be willing to change and not feel like you are forcing them. This way, they may learn how to interact with people. The parent can also regulate the amount of time they spend on the internet and explain to them that the other uses of the internet such as researching useful information on different subjects they study in school (Gentile 319). For example they can research World Wars in History. Technology is also making the child change in behavior sometimes becoming violent and bullying age mates. This may be because of the type of video games they are playing which may have violent missions. They may pick out these violence and try to practice it in reality so that they may continue feeling powerful. These children bully others in school and even through the internet by posting negative comments and threats. Their morals are undermined and they do not see the wrong in what they are doing. It is up to the parent to take a stand and guide them on how to deal with fellow age mates this act is not pleasant and may cause trouble between the child and the parent (Skoric 569). According to Kuss, in the article Online Gaming in Children and Adolescents, evidence suggests that excessive online gaming may be a behavioral problem. So as to avoid this problem, he` urges the parents to create more family time with their children and caringly create strong bonds with them. This will help improve on their behavior. With the guidance of their parents, they will be able to distinguish which are the good traits to borrow from online activity and which are wrong. These behavior of violence and bullying can be destructive to not only other but themselves as well. They therefore need to be taught the value of boundaries and having respect for other people and their feelings (Kuss 20). The parent will also have an easier time relating with their child once they stop being violent and aggressive. Technology have also affected the development of a child. Use of touch screen tables and not having to think hard enough to get answers is having a negative impact on their mind. Parents are also concerned and asking how much touch screen will affect the child’s motor skills and the ability to think for themselves before searching for answers in the internet. There is worry that through the existence of platforms like the social media their children will pick up bad information. This negative things they may come across on the net may lead to immoral behaviors that a parent cannot change. The matter if therefore of great concern to many since the way a child develops will determine how they end up becoming in future. It will also determine the kind of decisions they make in future. This is because from a very tender age the child may start getting used to using a smart phone or a tablet. According to Livingstone in Children and their changing media environment, we see that are various changes taking place in the world and the children will find themselves trying to adopt the new things they come across. They lack the ability to think for themselves and always refer to the internet. Due to this, they cannot have a developed brain because their intelligence is not developed. They show poor performance in school and are slow in matters that require sharp thinking. The parent should be very keen on how much the child spends on the iPod or the gone or the tablet. It is up to them to try and instill the positive values in life make sure their children grow up very healthy. This is through encouraging their interaction with fellow age mates and providing a healthy environment for them and their child to bond. The parents should ensure that even though they limit the access to the internet, the child also needs to be made to understand the technology and the proper way of dealing with it (Paus-Hasebrink 47). Another harmful effect of technology is obesity and physical fitness. This comes as a result of among other thing sitting in front o the television all day or using the computer to for long periods of time without engaging in exercises. There is a big decrease in amount of physical activity as this child continues to consume the required amount of food every day. According to Kautianen, in the international journal of obesity, there has been an increase in the number of children with obesity and this is party contributed to by sitting around the whole day watching television or playing video games all day. They endanger their health and risk becoming oversize for the sake of playing and browsing. They also risk a social life of isolation since they will be different and will not know how to interact with fellow age mates. To repair this problem, the parent or guardian can regulate the amount of time the child spends sitting in front of a screen or playing video games. They can also encourage them to play games with other children so as to keep their minds occupied and stop them from feeling the need to keep playing. This is also so as to keep them in shape so that they are healthy and can leads normal lives in school. Sometimes, the children suffering from obesity may face harassment from other children at school hence it is for the child’s own good to keep them away from technology for some time and train them to work out for health purposes. It is the duty of the parent to protect the child from such an experience where possible (Kautiainen 930). This is despite technology being important for providing some rain exercise and entertainment for the child, the health of the child is even more important. In conclusion, technology does have negative effect on children. It alienates them from the rest of the world and they become unaware of reality. It may cause undisciplined habit to start up in a child for example ignoring their parents when spoken to. They can pretend to be very busy while they can hear very well that they are being called. The children can also get bad behaviors such as being violent and bullying other students who have done no wrong. These habits may even cause expulsion from school for not cooperating with fellow students. Is not all negative. The child may also develop problems while growing up due to enough us of their motor skills at a young age. Sadly, technology can also cause obesity if a child fails to take enough exercises. There are some good things about it such as gaining of knowledge about a lot of things that they may be curious about. With supervision, they can even research useful material to use in school. Socializing is also another great aspect of technology. You can communicate with an individual from all over the world. This includes Facebook, which also has a number of children who socialize through it. On the other hand, technology may bring entertainment through devices such as an iPod Entertainment. However, it is the duty of the parents to ensure how much their child becomes attached to technology without getting disconnected with reality. References Skoric, Marko M. "Children and video games: addiction, engagement, and scholastic achievement."Cyberpsychology & behavior 12.5 (2009): 567-572. Livingstone, Sonia, and Moira Bovill, eds. Children and their changing media environment: A European comparative study. Routledge, 2013 Gentile, Douglas A., et al. "Pathological video game use among youths: a two-year longitudinal study." Pediatrics 127.2 (2011): e319-e329.. Kuss, Daria J., and Mark D. Griffiths. "Online gaming addiction in children and adolescents: A review of empirical research." Journal of Behavioral Addictions1.1 (2012): 3-22. Paus-Hasebrink, Ingrid, et al. "4 On the Role of Media in Socially Disadvantaged Families1." Audience Transformations: Late Modernitys Shifting Audience Positions: Shifting Audience Positions in Late Modernity (2013): 47. Kautiainen, Susanna, et al. "Use of information and communication technology and prevalence of overweight and obesity among adolescents." International journal of obesity 29.8 (2005): 925-933. Read More