Electronic Tools and Impact on Kids DSPD - Assignment Example

Running Head: Electronic Media and Effect on Children School Work Electronic Media and Effect on Children Name Course Lecturer Date The use of electronic media has been on the rise and has both positive and negative impacts. Children and those in the adolescent age have showed a great interest in the media. The impact is attributed to the fact that most of them tend to spend more time using electronic media such as TV, cell phone, computer among others. This is seen to intensify if the electronic media are in their bedrooms. Indeed, there has been an increase of the usage in weekend which has affected their school work. This has been a major concern especially if the electronic media are placed in their bedroom. Increased time spent on electronic media has led to Delayed Sleep Phase Disorder among these groups (DSPD). DSPD refers to a circadian rhythm disorder that is caused by delayed sleep. The factors that result to this disorder include increased extracellular activities in school and at home and technology use such as television, computers and gaming consoles. As a result, children face various consequences such as daytime sleepiness, low academic success and psychological problems. Notably, the question whether teenagers and kids are sleepy at school as a result of having electronic media in their bedrooms has been on the increase. The truth of this query may be evaluated through a review of various literatures that aim at relating electronic media in children’s bedroom and the disorder. In recent times, television, radio, cell phones and computer networks have greatly assumed a core role in the daily lives of children. As such, they have continued to affect the children’s social, cognitive and behavioral development. One of the recent effects registered by various psychologists is on the sleeping habit of children in school and DSPD. Amschler & McKenzie (2006) carried out a survey of 199 5th grade students in relation to their sleeping habits. In their study, instruments such as Sleep Self Report, Questionnaires and Morningness/Eveningness Scale were used. The research indicated that students experience sleep related problems including DSPD. The students acquired poor grades as a result of spending less time in sleep as much of their sleeping time was spent on electronic media. Brunborg et al. (2011) investigated the relationship between the sleeping habits of teenagers and adults, and the use of electronic media in their bedroom. From the studies, the authors were able to come up with various data that depicted that most people had the technology in their bedrooms and these related to their poor disorder that led to children sleeping during the lessons. Indeed, technology has a significant role in causing the disorder among children. For instance, most of the adolescents’ respondents agreed to the fact they may wake up in the middle of night to pick up calls or answer text messages. The researchers have indicated that the time spent in using the technology rather than the volume of the phone calls and the texts interrupted sleeping habits which eventually had effects on the daily activities such as school work. With the above observation, there is a probability that one may have a sleep hygiene or emotional component issue which may later delay the individual from going back to sleep. In addition, more students admitted spending ample time past sleep onset to answer their cell phones or return texts. Owen et al. (1999) asserted that late television viewing practices were linked to sleeping disturbance among children and teenagers. They were able to conclude this through an investigation carried out that was directed at studying the relationship between sleeping habits, sleeping disturbance in schools and television viewing practices. They sampled 495 children from the kindergarten to the fourth grade in three schools and this was accomplished through questionnaires. In this investigation, parents also admitted that increased TV viewing near bed time or having a TV set in the child’s bedroom affected their sleeping time which would result to sleeping during their school hours. Going with the above observation, one may safely assume that a TV set in a child’s bedroom is likely to affect sleeping pattern of a school going child. This results to irregular sleeping schedules, resulting to sleep problems such as DSPD. In addition, apart from the disorder, the child is likely to suffer from inability to concentrate and emotional instability. Tazawa & Okada (2002) also discovered that boys tend to view TV past sleeping time. As a result, more boys experience muscle stiffness, black rings on the lower skin of the eye and displacement of the scapula than girls. They discovered that the more one is exposed to TV viewing and playing past sleeping hours, the higher the possibility of exhibiting physical signs associated with lack of sleep. Eventually, this affects concentration in school. Notably, children who have access to TV in their bedroom are seen to develop bedtime resistance due to the exposure as compared to those less exposed. This, to some extent is accompanied by sleep anxiety. Most commentators associate such behaviors to long exposure of the electronic media to the children from a tender age and the child grows with the behavior already adopted. Of importance is that most parents find it hard to prevent such children from growing fond of the electronic media. As such, there is a need for the parents to regulate TV viewing for the school going children in order to mitigate the consequences (Dewald et al., 2012). Increased use of computer games before bedtime also has effects on the sleeping patterns, of the child leading to the disorder. The effects of these games are that they cause an increase in the activity level of autonomous and central nervous systems. In addition, they may heighten physiological arousal and nervous alertness making it difficult for the child to sleep at the right time. Most researchers have discovered that this is most dangerous during weekdays when the child is expected to wake early in order to attend his or her classes. Of importance to note is the fact that lack of enough sleep as a result of the children accessing the electronic media in the bedroom leads to sleep debt, a characteristic of DSPD, which is mainly paid when the children are in the school. Still, presence of an electronic media in a child or adolescent bedroom is likely to lead to less sharing with most members of the family, and less parent awareness of what the children access in the media; consequently, less control not only of the duration that the children are using the media but also the content of the particular exposure. From the literature, it has been proven that it is true electronic media in the children’s bedroom has led to DSPS which causes them to sleep during classes. Indeed, this is most evident in school as they tend to sleep during school hours in order to compensate the sleep they never had at home. As such, it is expected that the parents should play a role in managing behaviors which result to DSPD. References Amschler, D. H., & McKenzie, J. F. (2006). Elementary students' sleep habits and teacher observations of sleep-related problems. Journal of school health, 75(2), 50-56. Brunborg , G. S., Mentzoni, R. A., Molde, H., Myrseth, H.,Skouveroe, J. K., Bjorvatn, B., & Pallesen , S. (2011). The relationship between media use in the bedroom, sleep habits and symptoms of insomnia. Journal of Sleep Research, 20(4), 569-575. Dewald, J. F., Meijer, A. M., Oort, F. J., Kerkhof, G. A., & Bogles, S. M. (2010). The influence of sleep quality, sleep duration and sleepiness on school performance in children and adolescents: A meta-analytic review. Sleep Medicine review, 14(3), 179-189. Owens, J., Maxim, R., McGuinn, M., Nobile, C., Msall, M., & Alario , A. (1999). Television-viewing Habits and Sleep Disturbance in School Children. Pediatrics, 104(3), e27. Tazawa, Y., & Okada, K. (2002). Physical signs associated with excessive television-game playing and sleep deprivation. Pediatrics International, 43(6), 647-650. Read More