How Is Technology Affecting Children?

When first trying to understand the issues of technology abuse facing children today, we must consider that times aren’t like what they used to be. Just around 10 years ago, children would play outside, ride bikes, play tag, and engage in sports. They were all masters of their own imagination, creating new and enjoyable ways to entertain themselves without costing their families an arm and a leg. But now, todays families are different, and this change has occurred due to technology. Technology’s ability for making adult’s daily lives faster has completely changed people’s values. In result of technology consuming adult’s lives, it is not taking its toll on children. 22 percent of children, ages 6-9, own a cell phone; 60 percent of preteens, …show more content…
Because children’s developing sensory, motor, and attachment systems have not physically evolved to accommodate today's technology, the vestibular, proprioceptive, tactile, and attachment systems are under stimulated. But the visual and auditory sensory systems are in overload creating a sensory imbalance which causes problems in the neurological development, as the brain’s anatomy, chemistry and pathways become altered and impaired (Rowan). In result of this brain altering, aspects of thinking, such as perception, memory, language, learning, creativity, reasoning, problem solving, and decision making are diminished or can’t occur at all. Because children rely on technology for their entertainment, this utterly limits challenges to their creativity and imagination and decreases their potential to achieve optimal sensory and motor development skills. More than a third of children under the age of two use social media, the number increases to children 12-17 spending 95 percent of their time online. Adolescents who use search engines, such as Google, may become efficient at finding information, but can’t remember it. When playing video games, the brain conditions to pay attention to multiple stimuli, leading to distraction and decreased memory (DeLoatch). In addition, children who abuse video games may experience a high state of adrenalin and stress. The body doesn’t understand that …show more content…
Child obesity is on the rise in the United States, and technology is to blame. Pediatricians say that severe obesity is increasing among young people and children. Obesity increases a child's risk of high cholesterol, type 2 diabetes, asthma, joint problems, fatty liver disease, and social and psychological problems. From 1980 to 2012 in the United States, childhood obesity has tripled, with around 17 percent of children, ages 2-19, currently affected (Fuller). Although the main focus on obesity is what children eat, one study says obesity is on the rise, not because of food, but because the usage of technology. Studies has proven that technology has been identified as a significant contributor to childhood obesity. Because children are using technology more, they exercise less. Since the amount of free time spent is on the mobile devices, computers, and televisions, the amount of time given for physical activity is dropped (DeLoatch). In 2012, an Australian study of children, ages 9-16, found that more than 2 hours of screen time per day significantly increased the risk for being overweight and obese. In 2005, a study report involving 6,515 teenagers noted that increased television viewing and computer use were associated with the rising rates of overweight girls. In boys, only increased television viewing correlated with being overweight. In 2010, a report from the Henry J. Kaiser Family