Technology and its impact on child development

Dilon Cowell

Albion High School

12/07/2017

Abstract
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Technology has changed the world in many ways for the worse or for the best. Once

technology started invading households young children spent less time being active and

increased the risk of obesity. Every negative comes with a positive so when gaining weight the

young children are learning new skills and learned skills normally taught from a book faster and

for efficient. The young children need new safe environment to learn new skills and some

developers made this true, now the children have a place and learn social skills and more while

staying away from cyberbullying and other hurtful things. Digital technology has a strong

powerful influence on young children and it obtains their attention easier than a book, this helps

to keep children occupied and learn faster than normal. In this world full of digital technology is

all depends and how it is used for good or for misfortune.

Technology has a big impact on our lives, from health solutions to transportation to

education to the development of this generation's children. having a home computer in your

house can affect your kids’ lives, the children’s physical, cognitive, and social development.

With this simple piece of technology, kids from the age 8 - 18 spend around 6 hours a day

excluding the amount of time used on schoolwork, more time on the computer is less time doing

other activities increasing the risk of obesity (Subrahmanyam.et.al). Technology isn't just a

problem and ruining the lives of people that use it, it also can improve our life significantly.

Computer use at home can be harmful and good for this generation of children. One

positive side of a home computer is that it’s linked to better academic performance and can

improve abilities for future use. “Research suggests that playing a computer games can be an

important building block to computer literacy because it enhances children's ability to read and

visualize images in three-dimensional space and track multiple images simultaneously” ( The

Impact of Home Computer Use on Children’s Activities and Development). One downside of

being on a computer for long periods of time is that it has a negative impact on children’s

friendships and family relationships and it may blur the ability to distinguish real like from

digital. This generation of kids are growing up in the “information age” and being able to accuse

that information might be helpful for the children “Surveys of parents suggest that they buy

home computers and subscribe to internet access to provide educational opportunities for their

children” (The Impact of Home Computer Use on Children’s Activities and Development). The

longer your children are on the computer the less time they spending moving around and getting

an exercise. “These studies suggest that children’s extended computer use may be linked to an

increased risk of obesity, seizures, and hand injuries.”, also they said ”25% of children in the
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United States are overweight or obese”,”Obesity in children is linked to excessive television

watching, that is, five or more hours per day.”( The Impact of Home Computer Use on

Children’s Activities and Development).

Technology doesn’t just affect the body physically it can also affects it mentally. Social

networking sites such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc are a part of everyday life for teens

and young adults. These social networking sites can be used to communicate easier and for

entertainment but with these sites there is potential for cyberbullying to be inherited. However

social networking sites can also provide useful skills “These sites have many attractive features

and perhaps provide important skill in a technological world (including reading and

keyboarding)”(Websites for young children: gateway to online social networking?). There are

also social networking sites for young children also (e.g., Club Penguin, Webkinz, Poptropica),

the developers claim that these websites can help children learn valuable skills “Although

developers of these children’s Web sites proclaim that children learn valuable internet social

skills , as well as literacy, problem solving, and finance management in a safe

environment”(Websites for young children: gateway to online social networking?). In the age of

technology children are exploring computers at a young age and learning to use them for

entertainment and educational purposes “One survey found that 18% of children under the age of

7 go online (Rideout & Hamel, 2006). Children ages 2 to 6 are able to manipulate the mouse, and

the older end of the range, they can type short words or phrases.”(Web sites for young children:

gateway to online social networking?) With in this generation the children are more educated

about computers and how to use them for efficatialy, this will help the children have more

advanced skills in school and be safe online “Children who are ages 6 through 8 have more

advanced skills. They understand that an avatar represents a person with whom they can compete
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or befriend, They pay attention to rules, and may be distressed when rules are broken. Their

tolerance for frustration has increased somewhat. They also are now more skilled at computer

use in general, and they may use bookmarks,right mouse-click, and passwords proficiently

(Buckleitner, 2008) making navigation of the sites easier and more efficient”(Web sites for

young children: gateway to online social networking?)

Some children may be exposed to digital technology before being exposed to books.

Digital technology is now part of your everyday life from the digital images of you inside your

mother's womb to you being hooked up to a buzzing heart monitor. Digital technology can be

very helpful for child development if it is a safe and appropriate environment, technology has a

way to draw in young children and they reposed to what the child wants “Digital technology has

the potential to seduce young children with color, movement, sound, and interaction. It responds

to a child’s input in a most immediate and satisfying way, it empowers the child to make things

happen instantaneously.”(Developmentally appropriate digital environments for young children)

Reading is a challenge for young children and is necessary to learn in life, reading is like walking

for children. You have to read to know any information given to you and you have to be able to

walk to get anywhere, walking is a step by step process that is difficult to learn just like reading.

“Learning to read may be the greatest cognitive challenge that young children face. Young

children's understandings are largely concrete and sensory rather than abstract and symbolic. As

they mature, they begin to understand the symbol use of their culture. The task of reading is

made up of a series of steps. Children need to recognize alphabetic symbols and attach them to

sounds. They need to decode symbols groups (words) and then read each word for meaning.

They need to link together series of words (sentences) and read those for meaning as well.” Now

that children are born in a age where technology is everywhere it can be used to learn and
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achieve new and better skills in life if its a safe and appropriate environment ”If a child is

working in a digital environment, there may be links through which he must move, and he must

understand the process and progression of moving through these links to the next appropriate

screen of information. Developmentally appropriate digital environments for young children

support the accomplishment of these steps.”(Developmentally appropriate digital environments

for young children)

Technology has a big impact on our lives, from health solutions to transportation to

education to the development of this generation's children. having a home computer in your

house can affect your kids’ lives, the children’s physical, cognitive, and social development.

Technology isn't just a problem and ruining the lives of people that use it, it also can improve our

life significantly. This all depends if it is used correctly and not misused.

Bibliography
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Bauman, Sheri, and Tanisha Tatum. “Web Sites for Young Children: Gateway to Online

Social Networking?” Professional School Counseling, vol. 13, no. 1, 2009, pp. 1–10.,

doi:10.5330/psc.n.2010-13.1.

Cooper, Linda Z. “Developmentally Appropriate Digital Environments for Young Children.”

Library Trends, vol. 54, no. 2, 2005, pp. 286–302., doi:10.1353/lib.2006.0014.

Subrahmanyam, Kaveri, et al. “The Impact of Home Computer Use on Children's Activities and

Development.” The Future of Children, vol. 10, no. 2, 2000, p. 123., doi:10.2307/1602692.