English 114b
Professor Lim
2 February 2015
Over the past decade children’s use of electronics has become more and more favorable. Technology changes and becomes advances through the years and because of that children have the opportunity to do anything from playing games to coloring, not in an old-fashion coloring book with Crayola crayons, on the go. Because of this it becomes problematic because children’s overuse of technology can primarily cause, moderate, mental effects. The five sources I use to support my topic all state that the use of technology, in some way, affect the child mentally along with emotionally.
“The Impact of Home Computer Use on Children’s Activities and Development” by Kaveri Subrahmanyam emphasizes the affects computer usage can have on a young child both negative and positive. The Princeton University published article explains that a minimal amount of computer usage for a child can be “an important building block” because it can enhances a child’s reading and image visualizing abilities. Though, too much use of computers can increase loneliness, depression, and aggressiveness along with the ability to “distinguish real life from simulation.”
My second source “How iPads are Leaving Infants Unable to Talk” states literally what the title says. Because parents are trying to “juggle their childcare duties” they’ll shove a tablet in their child’s hand just to keep them occupied. The article explains that because of this toddlers who are entering primary school lack communication skills. Parents who aren’t giving much attention to their children because of the use of technology aren’t communicating with them, which is a key factor to a child’s development. “Thousands of children are entering a primary school system with the communication skills of a 2 or 3-year-old. Some of them cannot even talk let alone be in a position to learn to read.”
My third source gives statistical data about the age of children who start to use technology. “Do Toddlers Really Need Computers to Learn?” by Liz Szabo who explains that by the age of 8 children have already learned to master the use of mobile devices: iPods, tablets and smartphones. “About 38% of kids ages 8 and younger have used a mobile device…according to a survey by Common Sense Media. Breakdown by age: 10% of babies under 1, 39% ages 2 to 4, and 52% of kids ages 5 to 8.” Though this article doesn’t say much at all about the effects of the use of technology at such a young age, I chose this article because of the statistics it states to further support my topic.
“Don’t Hand Child an iPad to Deal with Tantrums, Parents Told” by Sarah Knapton writes about the mental and emotional issues electronics causes children when they start to use them at such a young age. Dr. Radesky, an expert in developmental pediatrics at Boston University, expresses that “Heavy device use during young childhood could interfere with development of empathy, social and problem solving skills that are typically obtained by exploring…” Throughout the article Knapton uses credible sources from professional therapists and doctors who say that “excessive screen time could cause children long-term damage” along with the affecting the development of sensory-motor and visual-motor skills. Knapton’s article goes on and on listing the negative effects towards the use of electronics for children such as decreasing a child’s development of language and social skills. Overall, Knapton strongly shows how unhealthy it can be for children to use technology.
Lastly, my fifth source “The Effects of Infant Media Usage: What Do We Know and What Show We Learn?” by Dimitri Christakis goes deep into infant and early television viewing. Christakis explains the following categories in detail: “the rise of infant tv viewing, theoretical concerns about infant tv viewing, effects of tv on language development, effects of tv on infants’ cognitive development, and tv’s effects on children’s attention capacity.” To briefly go over the main topic in his article, tv’s effect on children’s attentional capacity, Christakis explains that the more television that was watched before the age of three the higher the attentional problems children would have by the age of 7. “Specifically, each hour of TV watched on average was associated with an increased risk of being in the 90th percentile for attentional problems.”
All five of my sources for my topic relate to each other because they are all explaining the negative effects of children’s use of technology. All authors who wrote on behalf of this topic seem to be on the same page that children using technology at such a young age should not be a privilege. Though, it may seem repetitive because it is all the same topic, for the most part, each article states different effects.
For the most part, the sources position on behalf of technology usage of children is going against it because of all the effects it brings with it. Though, the sources have not considered why technology companies are continue to target children by making tablets, and even phones, for them when they bring such negative effects for children; other than the fact that companies are looking for profit. Parents must realize how electronics are upbringing their child in such critical ways so; why are parents continuing to let their children use electronics for hours on end with no issue with it at all? These articles show how it affects children so it should bring a concern to many people, parents especially, the next time they decipher whether or not giving their child their phone or tablet to occupy them is a good idea.
Works Cited
Christakis, Dimitri A. "The effects of infant media usage: what do we know and what should we learn?." Acta Paediatrica 98.1 (2009): 8-16.
Knapton, Sarah. "Don't Hand Child an iPad to Deal with Tantrums, Parents Told Edition 2]." The Daily Telegraph Feb 02 2015: 11. ProQuest. 5 Feb. 2015 .
Subrahmanyam, Kaveri, et al. "The impact of home computer use on children's activities and development." The future of children (2000): 123-144.
Szabo, Liz. "Do toddlers really need computers to learn?" USA Today 12 Dec. 2011: 01D. Opposing Viewpoints in Context. Web. 3 Feb. 2015.
"How iPads are Leaving Infants Unable to Talk Scot Region]." Daily Mail Jan 31 2015: 5. ProQuest. 5 Feb. 2015 .
(Word count: 1044)