Adverse Effects of Technology on Young Children's Mental and Physical Well-being

Running head : TECHNOLOGY AND YOUNG CHILDREN
TECHNOLOGY AND YOUNG CHILDREN
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1TECHNOLOGY AND YOUNG CHILDREN
Technology has altered the fabric of human interaction. Man is a social animal. The way
we interact now is different from the way we used to before. It has affected the masses
drastically but its effects on children have been incomparable (Plowman,2015). Children no
longer play in the evenings, they are no longer engaged in activities like swimming, cycling,
playing various sports, and many other such activities. There were days when children were
more connected with nature. I can recollect spending my vacations either hiking with my family
or going to the beaches. Nowadays even parents are not able to spend quality time with their
children. Our lifestyle, after the advent of technology has taken a U-turn for the worse (Radesky,
Schumacher & Zuckerman,2015) . I meet parents who complain that their child does not read
storybooks, does not draw or participate in the extracurricular activities in school. My question to
the parents is that do they read. I ask this because children tend to imitate us more than they tend
to listen to us. They try to impersonate everything we do and that is how they learn and grow into
young adults (Tizard et al.,2017). The impression they have when they are young gets ingrained
in their minds when they reach adulthood. Thus, it is important for parents to conduct themselves
in proper ways as the child will always notice them. In recent times, obesity rates in children
have increased drastically (McDaniel, B.T. & Coyne,2016). This essay tends to discuss the
adverse effect of technology on the mental and physical well being of children and how can it
help the early childhood professionals and early childhood community address the issue broadly.
During the 90s and 80s when smart phones were not a trend, children played with toys,
read Harry Potter, build puzzles, arranged the Rubik’s cube and played in the open air until it
was too dark to go home. In this era of portrait photography, GPS navigation, WiFi connectivity,
finger print lock and umpteen other advanced features children have easy access to mobile
phones and other gadgets (Bredekamp,2014). Nowadays children play FIFA on their play

2TECHNOLOGY AND YOUNG CHILDREN
stations and i-phones. Children today are highly tech savvy and prompt when it comes to using
smart phones and computers. They own iPads, kindles, laptops and Xboxes (Beschorner, B., &
Hutchison,2013). Things children see and people they interact with impacts them greatly.
Research shows that children are becoming less creative and imaginative. Children no longer
spend time outdoors. Tablets, mobile phones and other electronic devices emit blue light that is
harmful of human beings especially young children. These rays cause headaches, eye strain,
brain tumor and irritation in the eyes (Blackwell, Lauricella & Wartella,2014). When kids are too
exposed to this blue light their melatonin level gets affected which in turn reduces sleep.
Technology affects a child’s ability to think and feel (Buckingham & Willet,2013). Kids these
days have a difficulty in concentrating on a particular thing and they also find difficulty in
processing information (Kabali,2015).
Children today think more superficially and lack depth in their thoughts. As kids spend
more time with gadgets and electronic devices than their family members or peers, at later stages
they find it difficult to interact with and socialize with people (Clark,2017). It also affects their
emotional intelligence as kids tend to emote less while spending too much time playing video
games. As they live in a virtual world, they lack the concept of reality and live in a bubble-
wrapped reality. Thus, when these kids are confronted with tougher situations in life they find it
difficult to cope up (Comer et al.,2013). The lack the knowledge and wisdom that is required to
navigate through life. They are exposed to the “half truth” of the virtual world most of which is
detrimental to the growth of the child. They start living in world full of fantasies and daydreams.
Staying away from nature, real people and outdoor activities automatically reduces their
cognitive abilities (Holloway, Green & Livingstone,2013). Children often lack the capacity to
think, reason, reflect, and communicate. Technology hinders their growth in unthinkable ways.

3TECHNOLOGY AND YOUNG CHILDREN
Parents should be careful and selective when it comes to giving technology to their children
(Ernest et al.,2014). The social media is controlling each one of us. It commands our choices,
perceptions, judgments, creating, innovating and acting to name a few (Dezuanni et al.,2015.
Thus the brain gets wired in various ways that it otherwise should not.
Learning has taken a new dimension by digital media as it comes with audio, video, texts
and graphic integrated social media applications (Mc Daniel, B.T. & Coyne,2016). Researchers
believe that it is important for parents to limit the screen time of the child and it should be
regulated at an early age (Heider & Jalongo,2014). It is believed that entertainment and learning
applications especially developed for children can be beneficial at the preschool level. Though
not all applications are beneficial for children as most applications have too many cartoons,
sounds of bells and whistles, and meaningless content (McDevitt, T.M. & Ormrod,2013).
Applications containing good content can help in the creative exploration of a child. Applications
with features like e-books, interactive platform and gathering knowledge by active participation
(Strasburger,2013). Technology that helps in developing children’s learning and vocabulary
skills can enhance their diction and increase their stock of words. Some believe that easy access
to all the information makes children lethargic, dependent, lack of tenacity and patience (Morey
et al., 2013).
Being an early childhood teacher myself, I have come across children who spent a
considerable amount of time on their computers and laptops at home. At this stage, children
should be interacting socially more than spending time with their devices. Parents tell me that the
only way to feed children is by allowing them to play games on their phones or tablets. As a
result, children deviate from social interaction and exploration of the world around them.
Children become introverts and shy away from interacting with people. This also leads to lack of