Iliana Peralta 

Professor Pastor

Engl 11000

05 April 2022

What Are The Effects Of Technology At A Young Age? 

Nowadays, children are constantly surrounded by technology, parents tend to give their children ipads, and phones, or allow an excessive amount of tv time to keep them entertained. In the same way, technology has advanced, there has been more research on the negative effects of technology and how it can have a negative impact on any age group. Although there are many shows and apps that are educational and beneficial for children, how exactly can early access to the world of technology negatively impact developing children? It has been shown that early access to technology at a young age can cause long-term and even lifelong problems physically and mentally, so how exactly can the next generation of parents help fix this problem? 

IMPACT ON DEVELOPMENT AND HEALTH 

Like it or not, technology has become a part of everyone’s life in one way or another no matter the age. Some people use it for educational purposes like school or work (for example doctors) but others use it for their entertainment which can lead to inappropriate or unhealthy use of technology. The article The Effects of Digital Technology Usage on Children’s Development and Health by Ahmad Zaaza et al reviews how children’s inappropriate use of technology can lead to health problems, skeletal problems, and learning/behavioral disorders. In this section, I will discuss the effect early access to technology has on children mentally and physically and why these effects are considered negative impacts on childhood development. Before diving into the article, let me give you a brief definition of what EMF is. Electric and magnetic fields (EMF) are invisible areas of energy, often referred to as radiation, that are associated with the use of electrical power and various forms of natural and man-made lighting, now why is this bad for us? The article states that, 

“EMFs are generated from mobile phones, smart devices, WiFi, base stations, and                                                           

radars…The main effects of EMFs on the human body are stimulation, thermal, and 

non-thermal….Non-thermal effects result from recurrent long-term exposure and may be 

related to the so-called electromagnetic hypersensitivity syndrome or 

neurodevelopmental disorders (7).(ZaaZa et al, 55).”

According to the article, EMF that is generated through everyday devices like phones, 

laptops etc and even wifi can have long term effects like neurodevelopmental disorders which begin in early prenatal stages, which proves that it can have an effect later on in the childhood development stage.A website named, Commonwealth of Australia posted an article stating that the most reported symptoms related to EMF are, headaches, body pain, lethargy (a lack of energy and enthusiasm), and tinnitus (ringing in the ear), nausea, burning sensation, heart arrhythmia and anxiety. 

IMPACT ON ACADEMICS

Not only that, easy access to technology at a young age can even affect your performance 

in school due to the cognitive impairment that technology causes when a child is still developing. Xu, Zhenhua et al conducted a study to emphasize the critical interaction between a student’s psychological orientation and external digital surroundings of their academic performance. The article The role of math self-efficacy in the structural model of extracurricular technology-related activities and junior elementary school students’ mathematics ability by Xu Zhenhua et al found that correlation analyses showed that six items from the math self-efficiency construct were significantly but negatively associated with the amount of time spent on both  before and after school extracurricular TRAs (Xu et. al, 551). Obviously, the article is not saying that children should never use electronics in their free time and only study but the article does say that,

 “…if children spend a minimum of seven hours at school and six hours watching 

television each day, they have little time for doing homework at home. Research shows that heavy TV viewing displaces intellectually demanding activities (e.g., reading and homework), imaginary activities, physical activities, and social interaction…and risks children’s attention and behavioral problems (Xu, et. al, 548).” 

This shows that students with a lower math grade usually spend more time on TRAs. 

However, there was a positive relationship between students with good math grades and also played video games at home which could signify that, “…students with a higher level of math competence in math problem-solving tasks tended to spend more time on video games, and especially after school. (Xu, et al 551)” Xu et al explains that students who engaged in TRAs before school extended to have lower math skill scores compared to those who played after school. 

WAYS TECHNOLOGY CAN BE BENEFICIAL 

As we can see, technology can have a negative impact on those who don’t know when 

and when not to use it and how to use it for their benefit, so how can children use technology for their entertainment but also in an effective way? It has been proven that technology can be beneficial for those children who have certain disabilities like hearing loss or deafness. The article named Technology-assisted language intervention for children who are deaf or hard-of-hearing; a pilot study of augmentative and alternative communication for enhancing language development by Meinzen Jareen et al conducted a study to assess how augmentative and alternative communication technology can be used to enhance language development for children between the ages of five and ten who are deaf or hard of hearing and identified with language underperformance. They explain how, 

“Augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) is an evidence-based approach that targets core communication deficits in children with complex communication needs.[[26]] Aided technology AAC systems offer a support that is dynamic in nature. These systems simultaneously provide consistent visual support for abstract linguistic concepts and offer grammatically appropriate options to support utterance expansion (Meizen et al, 1).”

This form of learning can vary in many ways in order to accommodate the child’s needs.

This is important and very beneficial since in the classroom there’s a limited number of teachers per student which means they have to find a teaching style the majority of the group is able to understand. Using electronics allows all of the child’s needs to be met without slowing down another child’s learning. Study shows that, “The number of different vocabulary words and the total number of words spoken increased for all participants and significantly increased over time for the overall participant sample. At baseline, the mean number of different words spoken in the analysis-set sample was 96.6…and the number of total words spoken was 265.4…. Both factors significantly increased over time…(Meizen et al, 1).” I will provide a table from the article down below for those who would like to see the children’s progress over the 24-week study. 

(Meizen, et al 1) 

This study shows that although technology can have a negative effect on the development 

of children neurologically, academically and even physically they can still benefit from the modern world of technology if used correctly like the children who are deaf or have hearing loss. Nonetheless, we should still be wary of the issue technology has when children don’t have a restraint to it. 

WHY CHILDREN NEED RULES 

Although technology can be beneficial for children when used for education, parents aren’t able to supervise their children at all times when using their devices. Anybody can have electronics, this also includes bad people and those who feel joy out of harassing or scaring others. The WGU released an article named Impact of Technology on Kids Today (and tomorrow) by the Western Governors University recently in 2020 reviewing the negative effects of technology on children and even parents. They gave a list of reasons why too much access to technology can lead children to encounter criminals and hackers who can scare them into giving up their identities, harass them and even show things children aren’t supposed to see at such a young age. The article states that technology has created an increase of theft, privacy issues, harassment, and more (WGU, 1). Not only that, but as technology advances so do children’s bullying tactics and in recent years cyberbullying has been a bigger problem within the world of young people which can lead to depression. The article states that, “Depression is a key issue that is correlated with more media use. This has increased suicide rates and has lead to more youth needing mental health interventions like medicine and counseling. Experts believe time spent on social media or using technology can directly be tied to increased depression. (WGU, 1)”. All forms of bullying, online or in school, are bad to one’s mental health. Cyberbullying has the same effects as bullying, it can cause the victim to have low self esteem, feel humiliated, feel anger, experience isolation at school, become depressed and even develop social anxiety. 

Every parent wants to avoid their child being a victim of an online criminal or cyberbullying, so what are some ways we can avoid these things? The WGU gives a list of pros and cons of technology usage for children and tips for parents who want to help their children have a healthy use of technology. They say that, “ Parents should…work to set appropriate boundaries including time limits, and model good smartphone use. Cybersecurity software and systems can help ensure that kids stay safe while using technology. (WGU, 1)” By doing this parents are able to minimize the risks of a hacker or criminal to reach your child and cause them harm in many ways, could be by stealing their identity, scaring them into thinking that they need to listen to them because they have no other choice. As well as downloading apps that promote vocabulary, math, literacy, and science, the internet and TRAs have been shown to be beneficial when used properly. 

CONCLUSION 

In conclusion, technology is proven to be beneficial when used correctly, as we saw in previous articles, when technology is used beneficially it can help improve the learning of those who have any disability like hearing loss by using argumentative apps or help enhance either problem solving skills like the children who played TRAs after school time. But it doesn’t mean we should turn a blind eye to the negative effects it has on developing children. These effects can create life term damage to innocent children that can affect their adulthood. They can suffer from mental and physical problems and even struggle academically. The WGU discusses why parents should limit the access their children have to technology for their well being. The articles we analyzed show how technology can cause depression, affect their academics, put them at risk of encountering harmful people on the internet and also emitting radiation that can cause problems in the long run like anxiety, lethargy, and even tinnitus. It doesn’t mean to ban technology from your house but instead to create rules in the household where children can have a healthy amount of technology time without causing any damage.

 Researchers need to look more into how having technology at a young age can affect the structure of our brains, for example how new kids shows may act as a drug to children by releasing too much stimulation in the brain, and to help parents understand that being bored as a growing child is okay. Children don’t need to be entertained all the time, they’re in a period where they’re learning about the world around them and the smallest things fascinate them, technology isn’t necessary in order to have fun, in this paper we saw that technology should only be necessary if it’s benefiting your child, although a little screen time won’t hurt, but an excessive amount can cause more damage than we think in the long run for children. Parents should learn how to create an environment where children can have the benefits of technology but also know when it’s time to put the iPad down in order to protect their development. 

COLLECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY 

[Academic article 1]

Meisen-Derr, J. (2017, November). Technology-assisted language intervention for children who are deaf or hard-of-hearing:a riot study of augmentative and alternative communication for enhancing language development . Database menu. Retrieved March 22, 2022, from http://ccny-proxy1.libr.ccny.cuny.edu/login?url=https%3A%2F%2Fsearch.ebscohost.com%2Flogin.aspx%3Fdirect&db=a9h&AN=123927461&site=ehost-live 

[Academic article 2]

Zaaza, A. et. al (2021, April). The effects of Digital Technology Usage on Children’s Development and Health. Shibboleth authentication request. Retrieved March 22, 2022, from https://web-p-ebscohost-com.ccny-proxy1.libr.ccny.cuny.edu/ehost/detail/detail?vid=3&sid=d796e216-af9e-4572-ba63-c6a19e499f68%40redis&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3D%3D#AN=149769281&db=a9h. 

[Academic article 3]

Xu, Z. (2017, March). The role of math self-efficacy in the structural model of extracurricular technology-related activities and junior elementary school students’ mathematics ability. Shibboleth authentication request. Retrieved March 22, 2022, from https://web-p-ebscohost-com.ccny-proxy1.libr.ccny.cuny.edu/ehost/detail/detail?vid=8&sid=62b82e04-3608-46a2-91c0-19252ff47b96%40redis&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3D%3D#AN=120445640&db=a9h.

[Journal article]

Western Governors University, W. G. U. (2020, August 25). Impact of technology on kids today and tomorrow. Western Governors University. Retrieved March 22, 2022, from https://www.wgu.edu/blog/impact-technology-kids-today-tomorrow1910.html

[Website article]

Australia, C. of. (2020, January 16). Electromagnetic hypersensitivity. ARPANSA. Retrieved April 9, 2022, from https://www.arpansa.gov.au/understanding-radiation/radiation-sources/more-radiation-sources/electromagnetic-hypersensitivity