Technology Effects On Children's Social Development

In the United States, there is an ongoing debate that’s been discussed for decades. The debate is on whether too much time around technology can harmful to a young teen’s behavior, social skills, and attention to school work. Recently two article have been released, “Blame Society, Not the Screen Time” by Danah Boyd and “Don’t Limit Your Teen’s Screen Time” by Chris Bergman, that take similar sides to the debate, but two very different approaches. Bergman explains that technology should be allowed often to take away the hunger for time in front of a screen, while Boyd demands that parents give their children more freedom to interact in order to lessen the desire for technology. Regarding the ongoing debate on technology’s effects on children,

Technology has always been progressing thus it is rampant in our society today. We use technology; depend on technology in our daily life and our needs and demands for technology keep on rising (Ramey, 2012). Wherever you look, you will see people holding different kinds of technology like cell phone, laptop, tablets and etc. It appears to most of us that technology is a necessity to the point where we can no longer live without it. According to Gavin (2013), technology moves at a rapid pace, and can be hard to keep up with at times. The current study is the effects of exposure to technology on young children. As we become increasingly more reliant and absorbed in technology, it is no surprise that today’s children have become avid users as well (Hatch, 2011). Children at the age of three or four already have tablets, smart phones, and others; they could easily attain technologies and would even demand for one. As it makes easier for us, technology has both positive and negative impacts especially on young children. It comes with great opportunities but these opportunities likewise come with great risk

Whether it’s teens, kids, or adults, people uses electronics and social media daily. Electronic devices are a part of everyday life. From tablets to laptops, whether it’s for education or for entertainment. It can be a positive or negative thing depending on the person using it. In the article “Antisocial Networking?”, Hilary Stout argues that social media has a poor effect on kids’ fragile mind.

Smart phones and tablets easily keep children occupied, yet there are many disadvantages when using technology at a young age. Technology affects everyone, but the obsessive social media consumption from adolescents is affecting their overall

This article is about social media and kids using communication devices. The author Hilary Stout makes the argument that kids using social media are not going to be well suited for face to face conversations. She also claims that the kids miss out on experiences that will help them with their communication skills. Stout’s first argument is that kids using social media and texting are not going to have good face to face communication.

Some people think that social media is keeping the kids together. In the article “ Is Technology Ruining Our Friendships?” Katie Davis says “There’s definitely a positive impact. Kids can stay in constant contact, which means they can share more of their feelings with each other”(Tarshis, 18). But really it is keeping people away from each other, it is causing people to not have close relationships.

Access to technology over the last decade has been increasing, and even our children now have access to complex devices such as computers, smartphones and tablets. According to the 2012 Canadian Internet Use Survey: “In 2012, 83% of Canadian households had access to the Internet at home, compared with 79% in 2010” (Statistics Canada). This demonstrates that technology is a fundamental aspect of Canadian’s lives, with the majority of Canadians having access to internet at home. This is a privilege which previous generations did not have, and one has to wonder how this will impact future generations. Access to technology during ages of development must have some sort of effect on children, altering the ways in which they communicate, develop,

In her essay “Teenage Social Media Butterflies May Not Be Such A Bad Idea,” Melissa Healy argues that kids most likely to spend lots of time on social media sites are not the least well-adjusted, but the psychologically healthiest. I agree with most of the points Healy discusses in her article in the Los Angeles Times. The concept that teens use social media to keep in touch with friends is the first point I agree with. I think that the internet has proved to be an excellent source for adolescents to communicate with each other quickly as well as to develop important social skills. I think that the internet allows for teens to practice how to communicate with other people.

Today there are many different devices to use and within seconds today’s generation can figure out how to work the devices. As Mizuko says, “Teens then share their creations and receive feedback from others online. By its immediacy and breadth of information, the digital world lowers barriers to self-directed learning” (Source C). Today’s generation taking good advantage of the advanced technology. As a result, they have the opportunity to seek assist from people across the internet and start to network.

Social development is the way in which a child or young person learns to fit in to the world that they live in. Developing emotional resiliance, self reliance, principles, morals and learning to maintain friendships and relationships with others. In the first six months of life, babies will communicate through crying to express their needs, such as hunger, tiredness, warmth or emotional comfort. They will smile and form a close bond with their main caregivers.

Actually, one of the biggest problems and is not taken into account is the fact that as technology gets to cover a large part of the lives of all people making itself indispensable, but at the same time causing multiples problems by overuse.

References O'Keeffe, G.S., Clarke-Pearson, K. (2011). The Impact of Social Media on Children, Adolescents, and Families. The American Academy of Pediatrics. Retrieved October 16, 2015 from http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/127/4/800.short In this article, O'Keeffe, M.D. and Clarke-Pearson, M.D. weigh the positives and negatives of social media against each other.

Peggy Orenstein suggests in her article how social networking hurts young girls by discouraging empathy and promoting narcissism. She also contends that social media can distort personality development, encourage self-absorption, and performance of sexuality. With the fast advancement of technology, accessibility to the internet is also growing to young children. Children start on social media now as young as seven years old. Facebook allows people to befriend anyone you want and you can have 622 friends on FB, when your school only has 250 students.

People also stay connected and interact with one another, with their peers, people of similar interests, and even their family members. This helps strengthen their relationship even if they are busy with their daily routines. In addition, social media sites have become a platform for youth with similar interest or common discipline to get together, building connections and opportunities for their respective careers. Youth claims that social media not only makes their lives easier and efficient, it has become their lifestyle. While social media has seems to bring people together and help one another stay connected, it has created social isolation in regards to BBC News report.

Instead of wanting to open a new social media account children should do their homework, spend time with family, or go do outdoor activities with friends. If children have social media accounts they will “spend hours browsing and surfing the web”, they will only want to be using it all the time and they will leave all the priorities last (Keim). Now in this generation “our social interaction face to face is decreasing” because we now have advanced accounts that keeps us away from real life activities, and children are influenced by it (Smarty). Children’s time will be wasted in social media because it is not doing any good to them. That time that was wasted on social media could have been used for something way more productive out of the internet.