Technology has advanced tremendously in just a couple of decades and advances still at an even more rapid rate than ever before. This is due to the phenomenon titled “accelerated change,” which not only allows for technology to improve upon itself but for it to be much more accessible, relevant, useful, and addictive to everyone regardless of class, sex, and age. The definition of technology, according to Britannica, is the application of scientific knowledge for practical uses and purposes. Technology is obviously a necessity, but what I mean here by technology pertains more to electronic devices. There are pros and cons to technology, just like any tool. It can be very beneficial or detrimental, it all depends on how and when it is used. While how much to use technology is a decision adults can and should make for themselves, it is something that parents must decide for their kids. Many parents, clinicians, and experts differ in opinion on what is best for kids, but I think the answer is simple. Too much of anything is not good! But what does a healthy balance look like?
It is first important to acknowledge that, whether you are for or against raising kids without technology, it is a fact that kids go through very important developmental stages and are impacted greatly by the tools used to raise them. Recent brain research has shown that the most imperative developmental years in children are from ages 0 to 3. Many parents like to play off planting their kids in front of an iPad or TV as harmless, saying that their kids won’t remember or be affected by it. However, this isn’t the case. Parenting is extremely difficult, and while technology may seem like a well timed solution, it could simply be exacerbating the problem.
Two-thirds of U.S. parents report they believe parenting is much more difficult today than it was a couple of decades ago. These parents cite technology usage and screen time as a likely reason for that, and they may be right. Many parents have raised concerns regarding their children being unable to hone proper social skills, and yet reports from a Pew Research Study disclose that one in five parents with kids under the age of 12 say their young children have their own smartphones. Additionally, when looking at parents with a child under the age of 12, 35% say their child began engaging with a smartphone before age 5. Kids cannot reason as adults do; it is up to the parents to guide their kids in the way that is most beneficial to their development. Now that we’ve established that kids are using technology at a young age, the next step is to examine what the harm is and how to deal with it.
According to author Natalie Regoli, there are many cons to raising kids with technology. It promotes a sedentary lifestyle which has caused an increased rate in overweight children. It poses safety risks, as a third of parents admitted to not monitoring their child’s online activities. Sexual related exchanges, pornography, and child trafficking are huge risk factors to children being unsupervised online. Regoli goes on to discuss the issue of in-person social disconnects and the fact that technology reduces the imagination of children. Furthermore, children do not have great time management skills, as these will take many of them years to develop, and since many parents allow their children to be online and on devices unsupervised, this allows for an excessive use of technology rather than a balanced one. Much more can be said on the negative effects of technology and its evils, but a more pragmatic way to spend our time may be to look at what can be done to prevent these possible damages for children in the future.
The World Health Organization (WHO) released strict guidelines within recent years on how much access children should have to technology. The guidelines state that children under the age of 2 should have no screen time and kids ages 3 to 5 should have a maximum of 60 minutes of screen time a day. Fiona Bull, an overseer of WHO’s process behind the guideline recommendations stated some adverse detrimental health effects that result from improper screen time boundaries such as impaired cognitive development, language skills, and motor skills. She instead suggested the alternative of playing outside and engaging in in-person active activities to promote those necessary developmental components. Melanie Pinola, in a New York Times article, discussed further how and when to limit screen time. Balance is important but difficult to gauge. Pinola suggests looking for signs that kids are having too much screen time such as complaining that they’re bored or unhappy simply because they don’t have technology, tantrums when screen time boundaries are set or updated, or when screen time interferes with social interactions and sleeping patterns. Secondly, Pinola suggests being a role model and using media the way you expect your child to. Third, she suggests making technology a family affair. What she means by this is making sure you're involved in your child's technology use. Protect your device, set blockers if you need to, and be up to date with your child's online activities.
Personally, I did not receive my first electronic device until high school, and I did not have a cell phone until college. This is not something I regret and I am grateful for my parents’ decision to raise my siblings and I this way. While my parents allowed us to watch TV as young children, when we did it was usually a family activity. Our screen time was monitored and we were encouraged and guided in what appropriate usage looked like. Additionally, our parents didn’t simply restrict our screen time and leave us with nothing else to do. They made sure to take us to the park, play sports with us, cook, play board games, and read with us. We took music lessons, swimming lessons, and participated in many more activities. They made sure we had plenty of hobbies that would not only stimulate our minds but further the development of our social skills. I think this is a great alternative to being raised with technology so that kids can be raised to think critically, communicate effectively, and develop fully in the most optimal way possible.
The Student Movement is the official student newspaper of Andrews University. Opinions expressed in the Student Movement are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the editors, Andrews University or the Seventh-day Adventist church.