Steven Spielberg once said, “Technology can be our best friend, and technology can also be the biggest party pooper of our lives. It interrupts our own story, interrupts our ability to have a thought or a daydream, to imagine something wonderful, because we're too busy bridging the walk from the cafeteria back to the office on the cell phone” ("Steven Spielberg"). This quote is a great summary of how people feel about technology because as early as the beginning of time, humans have been fascinated with improving technology. When referring to technology, I am referring to technology such as computer, phones, tvs, social media, or any electrical technology that have the ability to hurt children and teens. What started as simple electricity, rapidly transformed into an explosion of hand held smartphones and therefore social media emerged in the 21st century (Castells). Steven Spielberg acknowledges the positives of technology, but like many people, argues that technology is hurting people, especially children. Technology inhibits our ability to express creativity and our knowledge. Children often ask themselves “why do we need to learn this if we can simply google the answer?” This type of negative attitude is the reason why technology has harmful effects on children and teens’ cognitive skills. Advances in technology have negatively affected children and teens cognitively, physically, and emotionally. Although technology does have positives, such as improving the standards of living, when referring to children the negatives, such as delayed development, outweigh the positives effects of technology. 

Technology begins affecting children as soon as they are born and research shows that children who are exposed to technology at a younger age tend to develop developmental issues such as, aggression or mental disorders such as ADHD (Rowan). Children’s brains begin developing as early as seven months into the pregnancy. This development does not halt until as late as the age of twenty-one years old. During this period of development, it is important to limit the amount of technology children have access to and foster the brain, so that it is able to begin forming neural pathways (Rowan). These neural pathways, that are destroyed due to an excess use of screen time, are very crucial to the brain and without them people would not be able to function properly. The reason children are unable to perform these tasks such as remembering where to put the dishes, is because of the destruction of neural pathways which results in the lack of cognitive skills. These cognitive skills include “attention, perception, comprehension, memory, and problem solving” all of which are affected by excess use of technology (Gold and Burch 31).  According to author and scientist, Cris Rowan, between the ages of zero and two years, the child’s brain triples in size over these two years (Rowan). Allowing children access to technology during these first two years can detrimentally hurt the child’s brain growth and keep the brain from reaching its maximum size. This process of increasing brain activity and size is called cognitive development. The lack of cognitive development, or brain growth, resulting from the over exposure of technology has been shown to cause attention deficit, impaired learning, and increased impulsivity (Rowan). All of these cognitive disorders can be avoided if children are not exposed to technology at such an early age. 

Another problem that results from excessive use of technology is delayed cognitive development because, while using technology children remain still and do not move. The lack of movement hurts the brain cognitively because movement is what stimulates growth in children’s brains (Rowan). During the period of infancy parents and physicians are concerned with language development. According to the AAP, or the American Academy of Pediatrics, “early screen time could lead to language delay and attention problems” showing that early screen time can negatively affect a child’s development (Gold and Burch 42). If such an organization believes that technology is hurting our children shouldn’t we believe them? A statistic Rowan uses to demonstrate how big of a problem this delayed development is, “One in three children now enter school developmentally delayed, negatively impacting literacy and academic achievement” (Rowan).  That is over 30% of children that attend school are developmentally delayed due to technology. Technology has been linked as a common factor in rising rates of child depression, anxiety, attachment disorders, autism, bipolar disorder, etc. The list continues to grow each year but all of the disorders have at least one common cause and that is excessive use of technology. Technology is negatively affecting our children cognitively, but another way technology is affecting children is physically.

Although it is very easy to see how technology affects children cognitively, since technology is often a virtual concept it is harder to understand how technology affects children physically but it does so in different ways. There are two ways in which technology can affect humans; technology can promote harm but it can also cause harm, such as aggression, obesity and rarely, suicide. An example of how technology promotes physical harm to people is that technology allows for any and all information to be posted for public use (Rowan). This includes, but not limited to, your phone number, age, date of birth, and even your address. There are cyber predators lurking on the internet who use this information to abduct or stalk children. Children are naïve and do not know what to post or who has access to the information that they post. The excess information and accessibility that technology provides to these predators is a reason why children are physically affected by technology. Finally, the last way technology promotes physical harm is through allowing children to become disconnected from reality. After playing a video game, children often want to experience that type of game on their own. Author Jodi Gold and Tory Burch take their stance on video games by saying, “Excessively violent video games may desensitize the player to violence or lead to more aggressive behavior” (48). Although there has been a link between aggressive behavior and video games it only affects children to a certain extent. Different children will react differently to video games. While playing more and more aggressive video games, children begin to develop their own aggressive habits because many children wish to live the game through their life. Children lose their sense of reality while playing these video games and they believe the impossible. This type of mentality is hurting children and needs to be regulated in some way. Video games also affects children in another way by decreasing the amount of sleep that children receive as a result from playing video games. Sleep is affected negatively; Gold and Burch state that, “Playing violent video games increases the rate of arousal, decreasing time sleeping, and can lead to poor quality of sleep” (40). It is necessary for children, and even adults, to get a good night’s rest in order to recharge their body for the next day. If a proper amount of sleep, or a proper amount of good sleep, is not reached then children can suffer developmentally. Ultimately, technology and video games are negatively affecting children physically and depriving them of the proper sleep needed for development. 

Technology not only allows children to be physically harmed but it also directly affects children physically by causing children to suffer from obesity and metabolic abnormality (Gold and Burch 33). When children play video games they often sit for hours without moving. This lack of movement affects the relationship between “calorie intake and energy expanded” according to Jodi Gold and Tory Burch (35). Over time this lack of energy results in a lower metabolic rate causing children to gain weight (33). This process can take months or it can even take years. Obesity is not something that anyone would want to deal with. Obesity hurts people physically by damaging bodily organs and it hurts people emotionally by destroying their self-esteem. Aside from obesity, technology directly affect us physically through radiation exposure. “In March of 2011, the World Health Organization classified cell phones as a category 2B risk due to radiation emission” according to scientist and author Cris Rowan (Rowan). The World Health organization released the following statement later that same year, “Children are more sensitive to a variety of agents than adults as their brains and immune systems are still developing, so you can’t say the risk would be equal for a small adult as for a child” (Rowan). Every day we use cell phones around children, not knowing that using these cell phones are negatively affecting them. The radiation may be so small to affect an adult brain but for a child who has a brain that is still being developed the radiation can cause a lot of damage. The destruction of neural pathways and excess radiation can cause mental disorders, physical disorders, or even death if exposed enough. Technology does not only directly affect children and their physicality but it also promotes behavior that can lead to physical harm and that is why technology should be limited in order to limit the negative affects a child’s physicality (Rowan).

Even though technology is a virtual concept most of the time, there are still many physical negatives that stem from social media use such as cyber bullying and Facebook depression. Suren Ramasubbu discusses the negative effects of technology physically. She states that “39 percent of teens on social network have been cyberbullied in some way” (Ramasubbu “Influence of Social Media”). This means that thirty-nine percent of all teens worldwide have experienced cyber bullying. Cyber bullying may not be a physical negative of technology but what stems from the cyber bullying is a physical negative because sometimes, after being cyber bullied people become depressed and begin to hurt themselves. Ramasubbu states that over “13 percent of surveyed youngsters admitted to receiving threating or aggressive messages” (Ramasubbu “Influence of Social Media”). The low number can be attributed to the increase fear that they feel about the situation. This type of technology has impacted children negatively and has resulted in many deaths. Children feel the need to say whatever they feel over the internet because they think that there will be no repercussions for their actions. This type of thinking needs to stop.

Even though cyber bullying has a way of hurting children physically, it also is able to hurt children emotionally in more than one way. This emotional harm can last with children throughout their entire life and change who they are. Often times after being cyber bullied children feel sad or depressed. These children no longer feel as if they are good enough and always have a negative connotation of themselves in their head. Although technology can cause children to become emotionally upset, it can also cause children to become emotionally unstable. In a recent study published by the Huffington Post, author, Suren Ramasubbu discusses how technology can affect children emotionally. Technology causes children to have a decline in face to face interactions as stated by Daniel Goleman. “The expanding hours spent alone with gadgets and digital tools could lower El (Emotional Intelligence) due to shrinkages in the time young people spend in face to face interactions” (Ramasubbu “Does Technology Impact”). This quote demonstrates exactly how children are affected by technology because it shows that due to the increase use of technology, there is a decrease of face to face interaction among children, causing there to be an emotional disconnect. It is impossible for children to learn emotions without interacting with one another so when there is a decline in interaction, learning emotions becomes harder for children. One emotion that is harmed by technology is Empathy. Ramasubbu states that “Empathy is a trait normally thought of as requiring human touch, face-to-face interactions and communication through verbal as well as non-verbal cues” (Ramasubbu “Does Technology Impact”). Without the face to face interaction Empathy is lost. The increase of online messaging, such as Facebook, and texting has posed a challenge to children’s ability to develop empathy. Jennifer Aaker, author and scientist, performed a study over the course of thirty years that consisted of 14,000 college students and her studies “show a sharp decline in the empathy trait over the last 10 years” (Ramasubbu “Does Technology Impact”). This decline in empathy can be attributed to advancements in technology and shows that technology is negatively affecting our emotions by altering them. Although technology has a way of hurting children cognitively, physically, and emotionally, technology also provides many positives to children and adults. 

Although technology affects children in many ways, technology also has many positives associated with it. Jessie Nuez, mother and blogger, created a great blog to discuss all the positives technology has had on her and her children. A positive that technology has created is a way for easier conversation. Prior to all technology we used to have to write letters that would take days, to be delivered. But after many years of technological advancements, we have cellphones where we are able to communicate with anyone at any time and at any place. This has created a safe barrier for children because now if children ever become in danger they can contact for help. With the invention of cell phones came the inventions of apps, or applications. Authors Jodi Gold and Tory Burch believe that these applications are useful for children because “the apps that encourage interaction and imagination can promote social development” (127). These applications allow for children to be creative and they allow for children to always be learning. While a mother or father is shopping at the grocery store, the child is able to be using an app that teaches them new information. Another positive is that improvements in technology has taught children time and organizational skills. Nuez says “The internet is a great tool to use to teach the importance of organization. Less clutter provides kids more opportunity to not be bogged down by 'stuff.' Show them the importance of time-management by creating a family calendar and/or folder in the cloud for all their school drawings and paperwork” (Nuez). This organization has taught children the importance of keeping a “clean desk” or a “tighty room” (Nuez). One of the most beneficial results from technology is that children are allowed to learn from others mistakes. Before the invention of the internet or “YouTube” children would have to know someone, who made the mistake or make the mistake themselves. In today’s day parents, can simply show children videos of what happens when you do something wrong, such as stealing. Technology has also made improvements in teaching children. At home children, can have access to TV and watch shows such as “Sesame Street” or “Blue’s Clues.” Both shows teach children about colors, shapes, and moral habits (“Is Too Much ‘Screen Time’”). In the classroom technology improves learning through interactive games and online resources for researching information (Nuez). Without the improvements in technology, there would be no TV shows to watch and no improvements in the classroom. Learning would be the same as it was in the 17th century. Finally, the last positive Nuez discusses is how technology is a “Window to the world.” With the improvements of technology “the internet provides children with endless possibilities” of what they can be or what they can learn (Nuez). With the technological improvements children are able to learn about different cultures, countries, animals, or even planets with a touch of a finger. If they are ever curious about something they are able to find the answer right away.

Technology may be negatively affecting children but “More than half of young children (8 years and younger) have access to an IPad and 60% of babies (6 months to 2 years) play with laptops, computers, phones, and tablets around their home” Claims authors Gold and Burch (42). Technology is consuming our everyday lives and is negatively affecting us. Before all advancements in technology, such as cell phones or TVs, children used to enjoy playing outside and exercising. Technology is harming adolescents cognitively by causing delayed development and mental disorders, such as ADHD. Technology is also affecting children physically due to increase radiation and leading to obesity. These factors are hurting our children and causing for lives to be lost due to cyber bullying or due to organ failures from obesity. Technology is not only causing physical harm to our children but it is also causing physical harm to our planet through pollution (Ramey). Lastly, Technology is hurting children emotionally by increasing social problems and isolation among kids. Although technology does bring along many positives, I think it is important for parents and society to limit the amount of technology children have access to. We need our parents to take more control of children and their future by limiting the amount of technology they are have access to. It is necessary for parents to take action. If parents take the initiative, children will no longer suffer from delayed development, mental disorders, or emotional fluctuations as a result from technology. It is impossible for us to completely cut out all technology in children’s lives but I think it is necessary that we limit the amount children have access to base on age (“Is Too Much ‘Screen Time’”). Children zero to two should have little to no access to technology because this is a crucial time for brain development. Children three to five should be allowed an hour a day to technology for educational reasons. During this process authors Jodi Gold and Tory Burch suggests that “toddlers begin to play games on tablets rather than smartphones when possible. The tablets allow for larger screen and easier navigation” (122). Children five to ten should be allowed two hours of technological access. Children ten to fourteen should be allowed three to four hours of technology a day. Finally, children fifteen to eighteen should have access to technology for at most six hours a day and at different intervals. If children sit straight for six hours and do not take breaks they will still be negatively affected. Also, I believe the content should be censored as well. I think different government programs already do a good job at this by providing ratings for video games and movies but I feel parents need to be stricter about what their children have access to on the technological devices. It is time for parents to take a stance on an issue that is negatively affecting children. Ultimately, I believe with a few small improvements, and some limitations set in place humans and technology can coexist without many of the negative side effects.
