The world that is made available to us through new technologies is like nothing that has ever been seen before. Information that used to be available only through a library card and thorough researching is now a couple of clicks away.
After the pandemic, there have been noticeable changes to how we as humans interact with each other. While in many cases these changes have been conducive, such as the more common implementation of face masks at airports, other changes such as the overuse of technology showcase just how isolation can truly impact everyone.
Currently, children are performing extremely poorly in schools, with test scores showing levels as low as those in the 1990s for math and 2004 for reading in 13-year-olds around the United States.
This could be due to many factors, such as the lack of proper schooling throughout the pandemic and an emphasis on parents’ rights disrupting school boards around the country, but there is one aspect that has consistently shown to cause educational maladaptation.
Electronics such as iPads and other tablets are extremely hard to put down. The interactivity and colorful graphics present throughout several platforms on the singular device make it an entrancing tool, and ingrained addictive mechanisms transform it into a seriously dangerous weapon to hand to children.
Children’s neurological development is based entirely on what they do or don’t experience. As such, the presence of an everything-in-one entertainment machine can create a seriously dangerous precedent in the minds of young children.
Although research has not been able to clearly show what the long-term effects of tablet usage are for those who grow up with it, the immediate effects and current educational environment provide two solid avenues from which to analyze the result of excessive internet usage.
Studies have shown that not only do children learn less helpful communicative and intellectual skills, but also that extended tablet play often leads to tantrums and other aggressive behaviors in children as a result of confiscating the tool.
These effects become more apparent the earlier children are exposed to these devices, with children younger than 18 months being particularly vulnerable. Excessive unregulated media usage before the executive function and language sectors of the brain develop can carry particularly devastating effects on a young psyche.
Additionally, there are currently no official guidelines available to designate how much screen time is appropriate for children or what content is least harmful.
In fact, childhood development experts have warned that many of the shows geared toward children on many platforms are designed in such a way that it hyper-stimulates children and prevents them from developing the ability to play and interact with the world without constant stimulation.
However, as the world around us becomes more digitized, it is obvious that the complete removal of tablets and other methods of accessing digital platforms is not the most socially responsible option for parents.
Instead, parents should be extremely mindful of not only what content their children have but how much of it is being consumed as well.
Many professionals have suggested that a “Goldilocks amount of screen time” is advisable for teenagers, as their senses of self are often boosted when moderately connected to technology.
Not only is the internet and technologies that can access it crucial to many social processes, but the development of digital literacy is essential for today’s children to learn in order to utilize these spaces in the most responsible and ethical ways possible.
The internet is not disappearing anytime soon, which means that it is imperative for parents to hold themselves accountable and assess their children’s internet usage habits and help them navigate these new technologies in the best and most responsible ways possible.
This story was written by Clara Lebrón. She can be reached at [email protected].
