Technology and Its Effects on Children

The use of technology has skyrocketed over the past few years, with a whopping ninetyfive percent of people utilizing the internet, constantly checking smartphones, and relying on other forms of media for entertainment, socializing, or work related instances. Compared with the digital satellites, MP3 players, and Palm Pilots of the 1990s, the technology today has truly advanced, causing many people to become dependent on media-related devices. More than fifty percent of today’s youth contribute to this dependency. What is not taken seriously enough is that this eagerness for technology is destroying the minds of young children by distracting them from important family values, causing various bullying issues, exposing them to violence, and inducing many health risks. Technology therefore should cease to exist in the lives of children, who should instead learn important life lessons from playing outside, utilizing talents, or spending time with the family. It is very important for a child to spend quality time with his or her family. Parents, grandparents, siblings, or extended family members help children develop positive self-esteem by communicating values, encouragement, and love. Today, children’s sense of those relationships is altered due to the fact that they are becoming less and less interested in family and instead more and more intrigued with media. The average kid ages eight to eighteen spends over seven and a half hours a day using technology, equaling seventy-five hours a week (Negative Effects Of). With all of that attention going to technology, children develop a loss of family interest. A group of four to six year olds said they would rather watch television than spend quality time with their fathers (Negative Effects Of). Story time with mother is rapidly being replaced with an old episode of Spongebob, thus creating disconnected children that do not find the value they should within their families. Every second a child is watching television or