Technology vs Children!

Especially with the rise of the internet age, our lives have changed quite drastically over the last two decades. This holds especially true for children of this day and age. From being able to access content not suitable for their age group; to subscribing to services whose terms of use they cannot comprehend, let alone consent to; to being the subject of malicious data collection operations, children today are vulnerable to technology in almost unfathomable ways. This could also be one the many reasons for increasing mental health issues and depression in the teenagers.

The Propagation of the Internet in the modern day

The internet is a large place, full of many things that may not be appropriate for all age groups. Internet usage has been increasing: 90% of fifteen-year-old children have access to smartphones already, and spend a lot of time online daily. To add to concern, children have been gaining access to the internet at young and younger ages. In Britain, more than four out of five thirteen-year-olds have access to their own smartphones. I have nieces and nephews who I have been observing all along, it is surprising when they say things, that no adult in the house may have imagined. Kids spend at least 6-8 hours on their iPads and each child has access to their own iPad from the age of 2 years onwards.

How would this not effect their mental health, and what about their personal development, skills?

Technology: The Unacknowledged Threat

We need to realise children are particularly vulnerable to the harmful effects of the internet and technological gadgets such as the smartphone, iPads in ways that parents have not yet fully grasped. Studies carried out around the world, which found similarities in brain activity between cocaine addicts and video gaming enthusiasts. Reading some of these articles it made sense, because children do spend large amounts of time glued to the screen, and increasingly seem to lose an interest in maintaining a life off the internet.  This is done very easily if not managed properly by the parents.

It’s understandable that some time busy schedules of parents can be tiring and you don’t get to spend time with kids because the priority is feeding your kids, providing the kids with everything they need to be able to live a comfortable life. A lot of parents often use technology gadgets to pacify the aggression of their child, this practice should be completely prohibited. Because your child’s mental health is your responsibility so you will have to make the time and add some physical activities or board games, which also helps you understand their mental and physical health. They go to school but that’s not enough! You need to connect with your kids, give them the confidence incase something goes wrong, they should know where to go. When you walk around now you  would notice that nobody’s actually looking straight ahead and making eye contact, instead everyone is walking and looking down at their phones. Kids would develop neck and back problems and hunched posture.  I personally feel bad when I see my nieces and nephews wasting their time on the iPads, there should be strict timing if you can’t take it away because I feel they should spend more time with siblings, parents and learning skills.

Parents who let their kids have access to internet content such as YouTube say that their children have stumbled across inappropriate or unsuitable content in some form, are we surprised? Videos dressed as children’s cartoons have been found to be filled with high levels of on-screen violence, or with predatory comments, for example. The freedom of information on the internet has actually jumpstarted worries of hurting children in multiple ways: in everything ranging from religious radicalisation, to racist or to exploitative content, to exposure to pedophiles.

Yet, not everyone agrees on the damaging effects of technology, and opinions among the experts is split and deeply polarised.

Positive use of Internet 

As parents and educators, we are just beginning to explore the many options technology has to offer our children. As parents/adults it will always be our responsibility to pay attention to their mental health. Currently there are many arguments about the negative effects of technology on our children. However, we have the power to change this and inspire our kids to use technology for good. In order get your kids to be more actively involved with other activities we can use smart devices like digital wristbands which not only encourage kids to be active, but some also allow parents to assign kids chores and award them activity points. Kids have big imaginations; too big to be contained. For example some kids enjoy drawing, they still have pens and paper which they can use but now they can  also use their iPad’s/laptops instead of – or in addition to – drawing a picture, they can create a 3D animation which they can also print or share online for competitions. 

Technology can also give the child freedom of expression, think about the journey from idea to conceptualisation. They can process their own ideas even if they fail at start but if they can do things with technology now, they’ll be in better position to keep pushing and achieving as they grow older. The opportunities are endless! 

Is Anything Being Done?

The Government of Britain has proposed enacting to law several child-safety rules, including prohibitions on many features designed to keep users hooked; it is expected to require websites containing inappropriate materials to bar users under 18 years of age. Similarly, the EU has legal restrictions in place to prevent gathering data and targeting advertisments at children. social media companies by and large have merely repeated that children under the age of thirteen are not supposed to be using their services without parental consent.

This is a symbolic gesture, which has largely been ignored by children and some parents too!

It is not easy to make sweeping statements about technology. However this is a serious issue, and needs to have more involvement of parents, especially of younger kids, to avoid the most harmful effects. I cannot stress enough the importance of monitoring, protecting and limiting children’s time with technology. We need to understand that there are two aspects of everything, good and bad and if it is balanced well, we can protect the physical and emotional health of the children.

 All parents will have to play a responsible role in order to save the mental health of their own child.