How Does Technology Affect Children's Development?

The use of technology and media in our world today is skyrocketing, and usage is only going to increase. As we move farther along in time, this technology is spreading rapidly to children of young ages. Many parents struggle with how much media and technology they should expose to their children, which makes it a very valid issue. Some see it as a good, educational resource, but others see it as harmful to children’s development. I will be making the case that different aspects of a child’s development will in fact be harmed by spending too much time using technology and media. Therefore, parents should strictly limit the amount of time they allow their children to use computers, phones, and other technological devices. When it comes to physical …show more content…
A major advance in middle childhood is improvement in a child’s emotional regulation (Troop-Gordon, Lecture 13). This can only improve if they are faced with tough situations that they must deal with themselves. If parents limit the usage of media, their child will have more exposure to real life situations. Another huge aspect of emotional development is self-esteem. In middle childhood, children become much more realistic (Troop-Gordon, Lecture 13). One reason they become more realistic is that now they are more aware of social comparisons. (Troop-Gordon, Lecture 13). A social comparison is when someone looks at the people around them and sees how they measure up to other individuals. (Troop-Gordon, Lecture 13) In our day and age, media influences self-esteem tremendously, particularly females. The media photo shops images to portray an unrealistic picture of women. They are constantly telling us how beautiful, thin, and intelligent we should be. During middle childhood, children are beginning to understand how they compare to others. This is the understanding of social comparisons. If a child is constantly looking at media, they will see “perfect” people with no flaws. Instead, if parents limit their child’s time on media, they will be exposed to the actual world they live in. Every single person’s environment in our world will be different, no one will have the same experience. Thus, we need to experience what our life looks like, not someone else’s. We all know that children will be exposed to media, no matter how hard parents try to shield it from them. However, as parents, they can influence what media their children are exposed to. Not all media is bad so if parents expose their kids to appropriate or educational media, it will not harm them but may in fact benefit the