Children of the present day young generation have been reported to have an unprecedented amount of screen time, which is higher than any any other generation that uses smartphones. One possible reason for this could be due to a shift that education has seen from going digital. Nevertheless, I believe that this could ultimately have negative effects on the overall development of such children.
With smartphones and technology being a bigger than ever before part of our lives, it has also found its way into the lives of young ones. Starting at a very early age, many children get introduced to iPads and phones by their parents and caregivers. Exposure to screen at such an early stage of development can cause issues such as addiction, anxiety and delay in reaching developmetal milestones. Many healthcare professionals warn parents of the I’ll effects and negative consequences of letting their children spend more than necessary time in front of the screen.
It has been observed that children who developed the habit of using smart gadgets at a juvenile stage of childhood have trouble in controlling their emotions, develop maladies related to vision, have poorer grades compared to their peers and overall have a difficult time coping with off-screen time. Taking into consideration how important it is for a child to have a complete and overall healthy development, it can be said that childhood and iPads don’t go hand in hand.
However, some parents use such gadgets to play educational video and mind training games for their children, and believe that the technology is being used for a good cause. While the argument has some fair value and reasoning, it cannot be neglected that digital exposure to games can never be equal to real life scenarios where the children learn essential skills like hand eye coordination, balance and teamwork.
Therefore in nutshell, the negative effects and the long term consequences of screen exposure in young children is a serious issue that shouldn’t be ignored. Parents and teachers should take steps to make sure that learning takes place as close to the traditional methods as it can be.