Negative Effects Of Technology On Child Development

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Negative Effects of Technology on Child Development
The world has seen an exponential increase in the rates at which children make use of interactive screen media provided by technological gadgets such as tablets and smartphones. According to Radesky, Schumacher, and Zuckerman (1), the increasing number of hours spent by children on smartphones and other screens both in their home and schooling environments has led to a commensurate increase in detrimental effects imposed by these devices on their cognitive, social and physical growths. Lauricella, Wartella, and Rideout (12) demystify that children in developing and developed economies are presented with the opportunities that increase their ease of access to devices that allow them to undertake activities such as chatting, surfing the internet and engaging in social media interactions. The increasing number of hours spent by these children on screens raises multiple questions on the detrimental effects of such passive behaviors in replacing other activities that may be helpful in fostering their physical, social and mental development. The current study seeks to undertake a critical analysis of the detrimental effects of technology in slowing down intellectual development, increasing the child’s risk of developing violent behaviors, increasing eyesight strains, and the development of loose social ties, depression, and radicalization.
Modern technologies such as smartphones, computers and television screens impose negative influences on the physical well-being of children and therefore their rates of brain development. Radesky, Schumacher, and Zuckerman (2) reveal that activities such as watching television and playing video games are sedentary. Over engagement in such passive activities plays a crucial role in limiting the physical wellbeing of children and may expose them to lifestyle conditions such as obesity. According to Chassiakos et al. (1), obesity in children is directly related to spending more than five hours a day in sedentary activities such as watching. On the other hand, Vigdor, Ladd, and Martinez, (1104) demystify that children who engage in an excessive playing of computer games face the risk of mental retardation since such pursuits are strongly associated with a form of tendinitis referred to as Nintendinitis. Nintendinitis is a neural injury that affects the extensor tendon of the thumb due to a repeated pressing of computer buttons. Similarly, Radesky, Schumacher, and Zuckerman (3) reveal that most of the smartphone and computer games are designed in such a way that they put much concentration on visual aspects and ignore other dimensions such as verbal processing of data, which are of great significance in fostering proper development of brain processes. The scholars reveal that such passive pursuits are highly associated with the tendencies that the partakers may become dyslexic.
Excessive use of modern technologies increases the risk of violent behaviors among children. According to Chassiakos et al. (2), most of the video games and favorite programs watched by children at home tend to include the themes of aggression and violence as part of their objectives. For instance, the scholars reveal that in 1998, about 75% of children that has access to computers in their rooms agreed that they were highly aware of Duke Nukem; one of the violent computer video games that were rated "mature." Therefore, children watching internet-based programs face greater risks of being exposed to media content that include a lot of gore, violent and sexual information that is above the prescribed standard. According to Vigdor, Ladd, and Martinez, (1107), children tend to develop higher degrees of hostility and aggression in instances where they are exposed to media content that depicts higher levels of violence. On the other hand, Radesky, Schumacher, and Zuckerman (1) reveal that overexposure to violent con...