TL;DR: Technology exists everywhere but has a negative effect on the development of children.

There is technology almost everywhere in the world. This means that it influences almost everyone on the planet. The people that are most affected are youth. They have been raised in an environment that contained smartphones, 4K televisions, and virtual reality. Technology permeates everything that they do and is always an influence. Is this a good thing? It is impossible to say for certain but what is known is that there is a strong argument for both sides but the use of technology is able to do extensive damage to the future of a child.

To many people, technology is a distraction for the youth of the world. Instead of taking a look at the environment around them, children are looking down at an electronic device. Most of the time, this device is a cellular phone that is owned by the parent. Many studies have been conducted that come to the same conclusion; the overuse of technology causes children to exhibit social and mental disorders. In 2010, it was found that on average, an elementary aged child used seven-and-a-half hours of entertainment technology per day. Also, three-quarters of these children have a television in the same room that they sleep in. And if that wasn’t enough, half of all homes in North America have the television on all day. These three things add up to a sedentary and isolated lifestyle. Children are distracted from the outside world and have weaker social skills while at the same time haveing a greater risk of heart attacks, strokes, and diabetes. All of which have been seen to rise in the youth of the world. On a nice day, children should go outside and and make friends. They should interact with their fellow human beings instead of being trapped in the confines of technology.

Another situation that the youth of today have is their sense of touch should be stimulated and there is no better way than letting them get hurt. Parents want to put their child in a protective bubble where they can never hurt themselves but this actually damages them more. This type of stimulation assists in planned movement as well as prepares them for injuries. They also build mental awareness by being able to take a simple forest and turn it into a magical wood that contains weapons and enemies. They work together to fight the forces of evil. They build forts and spend all day using nothing but their mind. This allows for better concentration as well as increased awareness of their surroundings. It even lowers their levels of adrenaline and anxiety to make them generally happier and more calm.

One thing that many young people do not understand is the importance of sleep. One of the leading causes of sleep deprivation is the extended us of technology. Eye strain is a major factor in being able to sleep. One must have eyes that can be relaxed to get a restful sleep. There are many ways to help with this especially on the computer. There is a program called f.lux that eliminates the harmful blue light that strains your eyes at night. It also adjust with the time of day to provide the color change when theate an unneeded source of blue light since most phones have a notification led. An excited brain also prevents sleep. Using technology before bed does not allow the brain enough time to calm down before bed which usually means that the person stays awake for at least thirty minutes before being able to fall asleep. There is no program to fix this. A lifestyle change will have to be made. It is recommended by researchers that a person should use no technology for at least an hour before they want to sleep. This allows enough time for the brain to calm down as well as the fact that you cannot strain your eyes in this manner if yo don’t use technology. Sleep is one of the most important bodily functions but technology keeps getting the way.

Many people do not realize this but it is possible for you to have sensory overload. This is caused by large amounts of bright light and loud sounds for an extended period of time. A sensory imbalance such as this impairs the brain permanently. Too much exposure has been linked to attention deficit hyperactivity disorder as well as a heightened sense of alertness. This is especially true when youth have been exposed to violent media. It causes the body to be stressed and create adrenaline because the body is unsure whether what it sees is true or not. It was reported that young people who use technology for a long period of time every day experience increased breathing and heart rate that is accompanied by a persistent sense of uneasiness. This is how the body prepares itself for the events that it believes might occur any minute.

Technology is here to advance the human race; is this statement the truth or does it have an asterisk attached to it? There are unseen consequences that exist in the world and the overuse of technology by children is one of them. It is a proponent of unhealthy lifestyles that can lead to diabetes and obesity. There is also the connection to to sensory development. If children do not go out and play with their senses, their bodily systems will not fully function in adulthood. Sleep is need in a persons life especially for those that are young. It increases memory retention and allows for growth through out the body. Another possible occurrence is sensory overload which may lead to the body not being able to relax. All of these things are not reasons that children should stop using technology at all. It is a wake up call to parents who need to monitor their children’s use of electronics to minimize the damage that may occur to their future. Be a parent that is aware, not scared.

Some information in this article was obtained from the following sources: The Impact of Technology on the Developing Child written by Cris Rowan and published by the Huffington Post as well as the book The Sleep Revolution written by Arianna Huffington

iPhone flickr photo by GONZALO BAEZA shared under a Creative Commons (BY) license