Holly Speed
ENG102
Prof. Tammylin Gee
Rough Draft
The Effects of Technology on Today's Children
Technology can be used for many things, some positive, some negative. The effects that are now being documented on children whom are left unattended for hours on end are nothing but negative. Long term damage is more prevalent in the recent studies than ever before. Researchers are finding that many parents are using the internet and other forms of technology to "raise" their children. Thus leaving small children to have free reign, and spending hours "plugged in" to any form of technology is detrimental to many areas of the child's life.
Children are suffering academically in many ways. Technology is taking away from learning skills that are necessary to survive in society. Many enter school without the ability to pay attention for long periods of time, due to fast pace of the internet. Many other effects are being seen, we are used to the instant gratification of the internet more now than ever before, and do not have the patience to see projects thru to completion. Teachers are seeing more and more kids, without the ability to "control" themselves. If they do not receive the answer that they want, they have a meltdown, or a temper tantrum. A large number of children are unable to have a normal conversation, they have logged so many hours online, having chat conversations that they are unable to converse in a normal setting. (Martin 1)Teachers and other administrators are also finding that middle school kids are carrying attitudes of invincibility. The way that some talk online is completely different from reality, they are "tough" behind a keyboard, but without being taught respect, and the skills to have an educated conversation, we are doing nothing but a disservice to our children. If a child has been trained to occupy their time on the internet when mom or dad is busy instead of going outside and making friends, or riding bikes how are they to handle going to school with playground time, and activities with other children which do not involve technology? Parents need to realize these harmful effects of technology and make it a priority that their children learn proper socialization skills(Clinton, and Steyer). We used to occupy our time and attention with activities like reading (this is an activity that requires imagination, and memory), and writing. Both reading and writing develops academic skills such as problem solving, critical thinking, and better vocabulary. This is showing in testing scores, and school work.
Many teachers are seeing a decline in children's writing skills. With so much of their education now being online, the use of handwriting and general writing skills is being ignored. Cursive handwriting has become a pastime; most children cannot write their names in cursive let alone read it. As children emerge into adulthood there is going to be a need to be able to read cursive, not as much as in the past, but children still need to know how to read and write it.
Most of today's children would be lost if you were to drop them in a library and tell them to find information for a research paper, without using technology. For them the answer is to look it up on the internet, but what about how to find information in an Encyclopedia, or in a Reference section of the library? The use of the library is another part of education that is being forgotten due to the growth of technology. Findings show that they are not actually retaining information, but where to find the information. Research is showing that children are teacher taught in class are retaining more information than those students who are "plugged in" for class, learning information from an internet based program.
It has been determined that children who are using technology excessively are actually different internally; the changes are coming from the waves emitted. Doctors are finding that the overload of technology is hindering our short term memory. The radio waves are also causing us to be "wired" differently; the veins of the developing eyes are shrinking, and causing a rise in vision problems in children and adults alike. The pituitary gland is over-releasing dopamine more than ever before. If you get excited by something your gland will release dopamine. For many people instead of it releasing when you get excited about something like a new job or a workout at the gym, they are getting releases when they get an email. The problem with the release from something like an email is most people receive emails on a minute to minute basis, and this high frequency of small exciting moments is causing the pituitary gland to be overworked, thus the rise in depression. If the gland is overworked it will not produce as much as it should when necessary.
Some doctors say the overwhelming rise in diagnoses such as ADD and ADHD can be directly linked to the overuse of things like cell phones, tablets, computers, and televisions. The stress caused on the body during use of things such as video games causes a persistent hypervigalent sensory system, the long term effects of the body being on "alert" for long periods of time is the rise we see in weakened immune system, serious diseases, and disorders. Other auditory processing disorders that were mostly unheard of have become more common than ever before. Things such as CAPD (central auditory processing disorder), Depression, Anxiety, and Sleep Deprivation have become so common it is not odd, or awkward to see/hear of someone being diagnosed. Sleep Deprivation comes from the brain not knowing how to turn off. After hours on a technology based item the brain is moving on to the next level, or chapter instead of turning off and getting good rest. It takes over 30 minutes for your eyes to relax after you turn something with a backlight off (such as a cell phone or tablet). Anxiety can be caused due to the rise in blood pressure and heart rate for an extended period of time when using gaming technology.
Doctors and researchers are linking obesity to the rise in technology as well. Young children require 2-3 hours per day of active rough and tumble play to achieve adequate sensory stimulation to their vestibular, proprioceptive and tactile systems. Tactile stimulation received through touching, hugging and play is critical for the development of praxis, or planned movement patterns. Touch also activates the parasympathetic system lowering cortisol, adrenalin and anxiety(Rowan). Cortisol causes belly fat in humans. When children are sitting in front of a monitor instead of running and playing outside they are storing fat not burning it. This coupled with the decline in the purity of the food that we consume is a recipe for destruction, or obesity.
Many family units have been damaged due to technology use and although there are some small positive effects of technology on the majority the damage that it is causing to the brains of our children severely outweighs any positive.
ENG102
Prof. Tammylin Gee
Rough Draft
The Effects of Technology on Today's Children
Technology can be used for many things, some positive, some negative. The effects that are now being documented on children whom are left unattended for hours on end are nothing but negative. Long term damage is more prevalent in the recent studies than ever before. Researchers are finding that many parents are using the internet and other forms of technology to "raise" their children. Thus leaving small children to have free reign, and spending hours "plugged in" to any form of technology is detrimental to many areas of the child's life.
Children are suffering academically in many ways. Technology is taking away from learning skills that are necessary to survive in society. Many enter school without the ability to pay attention for long periods of time, due to fast pace of the internet. Many other effects are being seen, we are used to the instant gratification of the internet more now than ever before, and do not have the patience to see projects thru to completion. Teachers are seeing more and more kids, without the ability to "control" themselves. If they do not receive the answer that they want, they have a meltdown, or a temper tantrum. A large number of children are unable to have a normal conversation, they have logged so many hours online, having chat conversations that they are unable to converse in a normal setting. (Martin 1)Teachers and other administrators are also finding that middle school kids are carrying attitudes of invincibility. The way that some talk online is completely different from reality, they are "tough" behind a keyboard, but without being taught respect, and the skills to have an educated conversation, we are doing nothing but a disservice to our children. If a child has been trained to occupy their time on the internet when mom or dad is busy instead of going outside and making friends, or riding bikes how are they to handle going to school with playground time, and activities with other children which do not involve technology? Parents need to realize these harmful effects of technology and make it a priority that their children learn proper socialization skills(Clinton, and Steyer). We used to occupy our time and attention with activities like reading (this is an activity that requires imagination, and memory), and writing. Both reading and writing develops academic skills such as problem solving, critical thinking, and better vocabulary. This is showing in testing scores, and school work.
Many teachers are seeing a decline in children's writing skills. With so much of their education now being online, the use of handwriting and general writing skills is being ignored. Cursive handwriting has become a pastime; most children cannot write their names in cursive let alone read it. As children emerge into adulthood there is going to be a need to be able to read cursive, not as much as in the past, but children still need to know how to read and write it.
Most of today's children would be lost if you were to drop them in a library and tell them to find information for a research paper, without using technology. For them the answer is to look it up on the internet, but what about how to find information in an Encyclopedia, or in a Reference section of the library? The use of the library is another part of education that is being forgotten due to the growth of technology. Findings show that they are not actually retaining information, but where to find the information. Research is showing that children are teacher taught in class are retaining more information than those students who are "plugged in" for class, learning information from an internet based program.
It has been determined that children who are using technology excessively are actually different internally; the changes are coming from the waves emitted. Doctors are finding that the overload of technology is hindering our short term memory. The radio waves are also causing us to be "wired" differently; the veins of the developing eyes are shrinking, and causing a rise in vision problems in children and adults alike. The pituitary gland is over-releasing dopamine more than ever before. If you get excited by something your gland will release dopamine. For many people instead of it releasing when you get excited about something like a new job or a workout at the gym, they are getting releases when they get an email. The problem with the release from something like an email is most people receive emails on a minute to minute basis, and this high frequency of small exciting moments is causing the pituitary gland to be overworked, thus the rise in depression. If the gland is overworked it will not produce as much as it should when necessary.
Some doctors say the overwhelming rise in diagnoses such as ADD and ADHD can be directly linked to the overuse of things like cell phones, tablets, computers, and televisions. The stress caused on the body during use of things such as video games causes a persistent hypervigalent sensory system, the long term effects of the body being on "alert" for long periods of time is the rise we see in weakened immune system, serious diseases, and disorders. Other auditory processing disorders that were mostly unheard of have become more common than ever before. Things such as CAPD (central auditory processing disorder), Depression, Anxiety, and Sleep Deprivation have become so common it is not odd, or awkward to see/hear of someone being diagnosed. Sleep Deprivation comes from the brain not knowing how to turn off. After hours on a technology based item the brain is moving on to the next level, or chapter instead of turning off and getting good rest. It takes over 30 minutes for your eyes to relax after you turn something with a backlight off (such as a cell phone or tablet). Anxiety can be caused due to the rise in blood pressure and heart rate for an extended period of time when using gaming technology.
Doctors and researchers are linking obesity to the rise in technology as well. Young children require 2-3 hours per day of active rough and tumble play to achieve adequate sensory stimulation to their vestibular, proprioceptive and tactile systems. Tactile stimulation received through touching, hugging and play is critical for the development of praxis, or planned movement patterns. Touch also activates the parasympathetic system lowering cortisol, adrenalin and anxiety(Rowan). Cortisol causes belly fat in humans. When children are sitting in front of a monitor instead of running and playing outside they are storing fat not burning it. This coupled with the decline in the purity of the food that we consume is a recipe for destruction, or obesity.
Many family units have been damaged due to technology use and although there are some small positive effects of technology on the majority the damage that it is causing to the brains of our children severely outweighs any positive.
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