When it came to technology in the past, how many parents remember hearing, "Too much of everything is good for nothing?" However, today's parents are more concerned about their children's use of technology.
Children with technology are a major problem for parents all
over the world. Technology has become an integral part of our everyday lives in
today's fast-moving world, and the amount of time we spend with our personal
technology devices is only increasing. As a result, it is quite tough to keep
our children from craving these interactions as well.
It is, in fact, our(parents) responsibility to help our
children choose the best way to connect with technology. And, in order to
fulfill our responsibilities, we must first understand the effects of
technology, decide whether it is harmful to our children to use technology, and
learn how to manage our children to avoid becoming tech addicts.
This article provides an overview of children and technology,
as well as the effects of technology on children and how to manage our children
to prevent them from becoming tech addicts.
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What Are The Effects Of Children's Technology Use?
Positive Effects
It is always a good idea to start with positive effects; for
example, children who use their parent's laptops, mobile phones, and other
devices are not a disaster. In fact, there are many advances in using
technology while you are a child. Some of the positive effects of technology
are as follows:
1. It improves one's ability to learn
In recent years, technology has been brought into the
classroom to help children improve their learning skills. Smartboards, 3D
printers, and other technologies are now being integrated into the educational
systems to improve learning skills and methods and to engage students in real-world
learning.
Teachers and students have increased their interest in
learning and teaching as a result of the increased use of technology in the
classroom. They have also boosted their creativity and project-based or live
interaction-based learning opportunities, making academic life more interesting.
Furthermore, educational activities and YouTube channels for
toddler-aged children help them learn alphabets, letters, numbers, colors,
rhymes, and other basic skills before they enter formal schooling.
2. Educational Applications for Mental Skill Development
Many educational applications and YouTube channels have now become
available online in recent years. They usually repeat the same task in educational
activities or games, which develops their cognitive skills.
With the correct applications, children may access the
internet safely. Of course, parental supervision is important while choosing
the right applications. Also, try to teach your children how to identify which applications
or channels are useful and which are not, so that they can only enjoy the
positive effects of technology.
3. Increased Creativity
Children, in general, have a lot of imagination and
creativity. Technology provides ideas and a platform for children to more
freely imagine their ideas or thoughts. In the past, they tried to make their
imaginations come true by using art supplies like crayons, colored papers,
colored markers, and a few other things, but now they have computers, laptops, and
tablets to help them turn their ideas into more modern reality or hard copy
with the help of a printer. Who knows, their innovative thoughts may become
famous in the future.
They analyze or search for information based on their own
ideas. Children use technology to apply their ideas and construct a virtual
model picture using various applications on mobile devices.
4. Parental Control in the Event of an Emergency
The use of technology by children in emergency situations is
most important. Even if they are not old enough, it is necessary for your
children to be able to reach you immediately in case of any emergency. Simple
android or basic mobile phones or smartwatches are manufactured to perfectly
satisfy this need.
Note: Teach your children to dial the number in an emergency
situation.
5. Education Promotion and Improvement
Without a doubt, technology is the largest source of
knowledge and educational content. Yes, I am talking about the internet. On the
internet, children can read and learn about anything they are interested in. They
can also read additional information in addition to books, and they can watch videos
on YouTube about academic content.
Through the use of technology, the concept of e-learning has made
education and learning more interesting and easy. In a fun and easy way, children
can find and understand various aspects of a given topic that they read about in
their school academic syllabus.
Negative Effects
There is nothing in the world that has only positive effects;
whatever you think about, it will have both positive and negative effects. Even
though technology has a variety of positive effects on children, it also has negative
effects on their growth and development.
Let us take a look at each of technology's negative effects:
1. Technology Addiction
Actually, we were blessed that we grew up doing a lot of
physical activity and playing outside, and, of course, we did not have any kind
of access to digital devices back then, so we did not worry about much. Today,
however, the situation has undergone a drastic change.
The negative effects of technology on early childhood growth
and development are often ignored by parents. With so many technological
improvements, different problems are appearing in society, and one of the most
important things to consider is technology addiction in children.
Their playground has changed to include mobile phones and
tablets. They have complete freedom to watch cartoons, funny videos, and play
games. Children's physical and mental health can be affected as a result of
their technology addiction.
2. Technology is having an effect on children's health
Technology gives children a great opportunity to explore and
learn new things, but it also has a negative effect on their physical and
mental health due to overuse. Children spend hours watching cartoons and
playing games, resulting in the following health problems:
* Effects on sleep quality due to excessive device use children's
sleep patterns are disturbed, and they are unable to sleep peacefully
* Eye vision problems arise as a result of hours of eye
contact with digital screens, and the lights emitted by the device have an
effect on vision
* Head, arm, and shoulder aches as a result of overuse of devices
in the wrong positions. Most importantly, children are unable to maintain good
physical posture.
3. Technology contains unnecessary content
Technology, digital devices, and the internet. All three are
like an open world with a lot of information. The major concern of all parents
when it comes to technology is that their children have easy access to unnecessary
content or information.
Children are easily exposed to unnecessary content. Such
content can be harmful to a child's mental health. Ads and other pop-ups on the
internet can sometimes contain unnecessary content, such as photos and short
videos or scenes. For example, violence, scary videos, crime scenes, and other
similar content might make a child feel insecure and negatively affect their
mental health.
4. Reduced Physical Activity
Because children spend so much time with technology or
digital devices, they spend the majority of their time sitting, which means
they spend less time outside playing games or staying active in physical
activity. As a result, obesity, cardiovascular disease, and a variety of other
diseases are on the rise in children.
5. Poor Academic Performance
Poor academic performance is also one of the negative effects
of technology on children. Spending too much time on technological devices such
as computers, laptops, smartphones, and tablets causes distraction and loss of
concentration, which leads to poor academic performance.
Today, many children's academic performances suffer as a
result of spending more time with technology. With more time spent on
technology, less time is spent on academic tasks such as homework, project
work, and so on, resulting in academically.
It is clear from the facts and information that technology has both positive and negative effects on children. A child would never have the opportunity to explore and learn new things if they did not have access to technology during their growth and development stage. At the same time, it is important to understand technology's negative effects. So, keep an eye on your children at all times to avoid the negative effects of technology on their development.
Is Technology Harmful To Children?
It is common knowledge that parents are concerned about how
technology affects their children. Children nowadays use new technologies at a
higher rate than previous generations. Parents are concerned about the
increasing improvements in technology, fearing that they will have a negative
effect on their children's growth and development.
So let us look at a frequent problem that all parents have:
Is technology harmful for children? And the answer is definitely "No".
As long as children participate in physical activity and do not spend their
days watching TV, playing games on mobile phones, or using other technology, it
does not put them at risk of negative effects.
What Should Parents Do To Help Their Children Strike A Healthy Technology Balance?
1. Act as a role model
You will be your child's first teacher; children learn
everything and follow what they observe, both good and bad habits, by observing
you. If you are concerned about how much time your child spends on devices,
then you could choose to limit your own usage.
2. Set boundaries and limits
Setting limits and boundaries, as well as following those
rules, is important when it comes to technology use. Setting limits and boundaries
as well as following those rules can be difficult for anybody, but it is especially
tough for children. Support your situation in this situation by giving art or
craftwork, as well as coloring activities during the day, when technology use
is not allowed.
3. Teach your child about the risk of tech addiction
Understanding the risks and problems associated with
technology addiction is the best way to help your child. Make an effort to have
a talk with your children about technology and its effects. If you are a parent
who is having trouble limiting your child's technology use, you may use any
parental control application to set a time limit for your child's technology
use.
Final Thought
Almost everyone, especially children, finds it hard to
imagine life without technology. Technology, like many other things that children
enjoy, such as chocolates and pizza, should be in limit. Parents, teach your
children to use technology responsibly and help them to pick up the right skills
and habits that will help them become successful tech citizens in the future.
So tell us about the problems you are having and how you are
managing them. Leave your thoughts in the comments area. So that I can keep
providing you with high-quality content!
Really a good content
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