Studies have shown that technology is doing damage to our children, yet many adults go on supporting this unlimited use. These devices have made the access of toddlers, infants and children to the viral world easier, even though there are numerous critical factors for the children’s development, learning, and behavior.
Reasons to keep your children away from handheld devices :
1. Rapid brain growth
In the period of children’s development between 0 and 2 years, the brain triples in size and it goes on in a state of rapid development until the child reaches 21 years of age. The early phases of brain development are determined by stimuli or lack of these from the environment. If a developing brain receives stimuli from technologies and especially if it is overexposed to these technologies, it may result in executive functioning and attention deficit, impaired learning, cognitive delays, increased impulsivity and decreased ability to self-regulate.
2. Delayed development
The technology of today limits the movement for children and this can lead to delayed development. One out of three children that start with school is developmentally delayed, and this has negative effects on the academic achievement and the literacy as well. Movement improves the learning abilities and enhances the attention. When children under the age of 12 use technology, it can be detrimental to their development and learning.
3. Epidemic obesity
If you allow your children to have some device in their room, of any kind, you increase their risk of obesity for thirty percent. One in four kids in Canada and one in three kids in the US are obese, and 30 percent of the kids that are obese are very likely to develop diabetes. Also, those individuals who are obese have an increased risk of early stroke or heart attack, and this affect the life expectancy as well, because it shortens the life span. There are great chances that children from the 21st century will be the first generation that will not outlive their parents.
4. Sleep deprivation
In 60 percent of the children, their parent do not watch their technology usage, and in 75 percent of children, parent allow them have and use technology in their bedrooms. These 75 percent of children at the age around 9-10 years are deprived from sleep to the extent that this even affects their grades in school.
5. Mental illness
The overuse of technology implicates as a causal factor in the increasing rates of depression, anxiety, attention deficit, attachment disorder, autism, psychosis, problematic child behavior and bipolar disorder in children. One in six children in Canada has been diagnosed with a mental illness.
6. Aggression
Violent media often cause aggression in children. When young kids are frequently exposed to incidences of either physical or sexual violence like ‘grand theft auto V’ that frequently show murder, rape, sex, mutilation and torture, as many TV shows do, it is no wonder it results in aggression. The media violence in the USA is categorized as a Public Health Risk because of the casual impact on child aggression. According to the media, there is an increased use of seclusion rooms and restraints with kids that show uncontrolled aggression.
7. Digital dementia
A high-speed media content can lead to attention deficit, as well as to decreased concentration and memory, because of the brain pruning neuronal tracks to the frontal cortex. Children that are not able to pay attention cannot learn as well.
8. Addictions
Parents who use more technology are detaching from their children. And when children miss parental attachment, they usually attach to devices. These detached children thus become addicted. One in eleven children at the age between 8 and 18 are addicted to technology.
9. Radiation emission
In may 2011, the World Health Organization categorized cell phones as a 2B risk category (possible carcinogen), due to the emission of radiation. In 2013, Dr. Anthony Miller from the University of Toronto’s School of Public Health claimed that studies have confirmed that radio frequency exposure should be re-classified as 2A (which is probably carcinogen), instead of as 2B.
10. Unsustainable
Children are raised and educated in a technological era and this is no longer sustainable. Instead of teaching practical life skills, people nowadays educate children through the viral sinkhole of the aforementioned hazards. This means that the future is miserable, especially for children who overuse technology.
11. Eye strain
The staring of children at screens for hours has lead to the expansion of eye strain, which is becoming more and more common. This is often called the computer vision syndrome as well. You can prevent your children suffer from this syndrome and other eye problems by limiting their screen time to half an hour at a time.
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