By Joanna Aramini and Sarah Casey
What do you do before you go to bed? Do you read a book, or do you play the most popular new iPhone app? It’s sad to admit, but the majority of children would answer “playing the most popular new app.” Over the past decade, new technology has been emerging and overpowering children lives so much that it’s become a problem.
Children as young as eight to ten years old are spending nearly eight hours a day staring at a screen consuming different media. Weekly, adolescents spend an average of 25 to 30 hours per week watching television and using computers, according to a 2010 study done by American Journal of Epidemiology. A newer study by the American Academy of Pediatrics shows the use of such electronic devices alters children’s sleeping patterns and in turn, their development. Is playing the newest iPhone app really worth risking your biological development? Certainly not.
A 2010 Kaiser Foundation study showed that 75% of children have televisions in their bedrooms. Instead of getting the sufficient eight to ten hours a sleep a night, children are hoarding under their bed covers staring at a screen into late hours of the night. Children have been developing physical, psychological, and behavioral disorders because of this insufficient amount of sleep. Child obesity and diabetes have also been related to technology overuse. Instead of riding a bike, enjoying the fresh after school hours, children tend to take cover inside wrapped up in the newest media. And according to the May 29, 2013 Huffington Post article “The Impact of Technology on the Developing Child,” diagnoses of ADHD, autism, coordination disorders, developmental delays, unintelligible speech, learning difficulties, anxiety, depression, and sleep disorders are associated with technology overuse as well.
Alongside worsening development, technology overuse prohibits social skills of children. According to WebWiseKids, 63% of adolescents go online daily, and 73% are involved in social networking. Interacting electronically is no substitute for face-to-face interaction. Because of a lack of social skill work, children are not able to develop true emotions or crucial life skills needed to carry on a conversation. Without real life communication, children develop social anxiety and as a result, tend to be less social. So, if you think the kid with ‘friends around the world’ is better off than you, think again.
The negative effects of technology overuse are becoming more aware to parents. A 2010 survey published by the American Journal of Epidemiology questioned parents and issues concerning technology overuse among their children. Half of the parents admitted they do not set limits on screen time. However, only 18% of children of adults who set limits on screen time actually obey them. Parents must teach their children pros and cons of technology, and limit their usage of the overpowering factor.
