According to Psychology Today, fifty-eight percent of children ages two to five years old can play a computer game, while only forty-three percent can ride a bicycle. Ten percent know how to use a smartphone application, but only nine percent can tie their own tennis shoes. On average, children under the age of eight years old spend around three hours a day focusing their attention on a television, computer, tablet, or smartphone screen (Taylor). This reliance upon technology at such an early age poses serious threats for generations to come. Excessive use of technology has negative effects on the physical, mental, and social behaviors of young children. How can we expect these children to grow up to be curious, well-spoken leaders of society if we suppress their creativity with screen time instead of allowing more opportunities for them to express their imagination and interact with others?

As an Early Childhood Education major, I have a passion for working with young children, and I believe in the importance of establishing a foundation based on curiosity and imagination. As my passion for working with children has grown, I have become more aware of the growing reliance upon technology. For example, I have noticed my younger cousins have a difficult time waiting for their food to arrive in a restaurant without playing on their parents’ cell phone or going on road trips without watching their portable DVD players. Their wish lists include iPods and tablets rather than bicycles, baby dolls, and building blocks. Based upon my research, my younger cousins are not alone. The priority of young children has shifted from imaginative play to technological play. 

The use of technology has resulted in a decreased desire to participate in physical activity. According to the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, more than ten percent of preschool children and about twenty percent of children ages six to eleven are considered obese. Along with obesity, diabetes has also become a national epidemic in the United States. Lack of physical activity is arguably the largest factor involved in these growing issues. In fact, WebMD reports that “Seventy-four percent of children between the ages of five and ten do not get enough exercise on a daily basis” (Hendrick). If children spent time playing sports or participating in activities such as dance or gymnastics rather than watching television or playing on tablets or smartphones, this statistic would likely decrease significantly.

Along with child obesity and diabetes, sleep disorders are becoming increasingly popular in children. Health Central reports that “both television and games stimulate the mind and an active mind does not help a child sleep” (Cardinal). For children to receive an adequate amount of sleep to function and perform well in school and extracurricular activities, parents must realize that allowing their child to watch television before bed is harmful to their child’s health. Cardinal’s suggestion for parents is to “limit television and computer games to half an hour before bedtime” (Cardinal). Physically and mentally, young children will benefit from parents establishing limitations when it comes to technology.

Technology is also proven to have significant effects on the intellectual ability of young children. Reliance upon technology is proven to have impacted the attention spans of children in a negative way. Pew Internet surveyed nearly 2,500 teachers, and results were astounding. Eighty-seven percent of teachers believe that technology is creating an “easily distracted generation with short attention spans” and sixty-four percent say today’s digital technologies “do more to distract students than to help them academically” (Graber). According to the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association, forty-four percent of children under the age of eight would rather play a game on a tablet rather read a book or be read to. This statistic alone proves that technology has had a negative effect on the desire of children to immerse themselves in literature and challenge themselves intellectually. 

Physical and mental effects of technology on young children exist; but the social effects are arguably the most prominent of all. Many teenagers struggle communicating with both adults and their peers. They find it much less challenging to communicate through e-mail or text messages. This is largely because of their reliance upon technology at an early age. For young children, play time has been replaced by screen time. Instead of playing board games or sports, they watch television or play games on a tablet. These activities require little communication and interaction with others. At home, many families eat dinner on the couch while watching television. In fact, the latest Kaiser Foundation survey of technology use reported that sixty-four percent of families watched television during meals (Taylor). The act of sitting around a dining room table and having real conversations has practically become extinct. 

Patricia Greenfield, Professor of Psychology at University of California Los Angeles, studied two groups of students, one of which attended regular school while the other was sent to an outdoor camp where no electronic devices were allowed. Greenfield states: “We found that after five days at this nature camp, their social skills, their ability to read emotion, had improved” (Pros & Cons). This improvement can likely be accredited to the amount of face-to-face interaction these students experienced over the course of five days. Instead of playing on their devices, they were experiencing nature and friendships like never before. With little distractions, their interpersonal skills noticeably improved in just five short days.

Some forms of technology may also produce aggressive and violent behavior or cause a desensitization to violence in children. Some of the most popular video games and smartphone applications are extremely graphic. These violent scenes may cause children to misunderstand the seriousness of bombs and guns. Children who play these violent video games may associate shooting someone or something with gaining points or leveling up. This idea could result in variety of psychological problems for the young children. Some parents may argue that their child only uses his or her tablet for educational purposes or that their child only watches kid-friendly cartoons and shows on television. However, in a survey conducted on early childhood educators and caregivers of young children, both groups of people agree with the statement: “One of the most significant contributors to violent behavior in society is the increase in the amount of violent acts observed by children through media” (Sharkins). But downloading apps is extremely easy, and if parents become careless and do not monitor their child’s technology use frequently, their child could be playing games that are emotionally and psychologically harmful. Huffington Post surveyed parents of elementary aged children and reports that “seventy-five percent of these children have televisions in their bedrooms” (Rowan). With so many children having access to a television at all times, it is almost impossible for parents to monitor what is being watched. Even with parental controls, parents must be extremely diligent to protect their children and monitor their technology use.

Pediatric occupational therapist, Cris Rowan says the “four critical factors necessary to achieve healthy child development are movement, touch, human connection, and exposure to nature” (Rowan). Usually when young children are using technology, they are lying in bed or sitting on the couch watching television or playing games on a tablet or cell phone. The most common forms of technology require no movement at all. Rowan states that “tactile stimulation requires touching, hugging, and play” (Rowan). Touching a glass screen when choosing which application to play or pressing buttons on a television remote in no way fulfills the “touch” factor associated with healthy child development. No form of technology supports human connection. If anything, technology creates a divide between humans. Even the closest of family members or friends struggle to sit down and have meaningful conversations without glancing down to respond to incoming text messages or check social media. Very rarely do you see children sitting outside playing on their technological devices. Exposure to nature has become limited as children are now less amused by picking flowers and more amused by picking which cartoon to watch on television.

With more and more people becoming aware of the effects of technology on young children, Annals of Family Medicine conducted a qualitative study to better understand parent beliefs regarding technology. They recruited caregivers of young children to participate in a series of interviews. To eliminate bias, the study group included a mix of mothers, fathers, and grandmothers from a wide range of ethnicities and education levels. One of the caregivers made the following statement about technology and its effect on his or her daughter or granddaughter: “It’s good for her eye coordination, and it’s good for her voice, her language skills. And she’s very motivated and she’s content, and it keeps them content for a while...” (Radesky).  The coordination and the motivation that technology provides for children could affect the child in a positive way; however, allowing a child to use technology to keep them “content” is unhealthy. As previously noted, children struggle to ride several hours or wait on their food to arrive at a restaurant. Even as adults, we struggle to wait in a doctor’s office or wait in line to check out at the grocery store without checking social media. Technology has created a society that has forgotten how to be bored, and if parents continue to hand their children devices to entertain them or keep them “content,” no change will occur.

One of the most important factors to remember when considering technology use is the fact that young children have no means of seeking out technology on their own. They do not have tablets or televisions in their rooms unless someone purchased the device for them. Above all other factors, parent behavior has the largest effect on child behavior. Young children spend the first years of their lives observing and learning from those around them. For example, “children observe as their parents cook dinner, interact with one another, and use media” (Lauricella). Generally, children who see their parents on their phones or watching television excessively are going to use technology excessively as well. Unlike parents of teenagers and college students, parents of younger children have a great amount of control over what their children play and watch at home. Therefore, children are simply the culprit of their parents’ actions and decisions.

As mentioned previously, violence is easily attainable for young children through technology. Children are also inclined to spend an excess amount of time using technology if parents are not proactive when it comes to establishing boundaries. Kimberly Sharkins, University of Alabama-Birmingham researcher with emphasis on Educational Theory and Pre-School Education challenges parents by saying “the most appropriate and beneficial use of media, technology, and screen time encompasses the interactive engagement between a child and a caring adult” (Sharkins). Her statement challenges parents who choose to expose their young children to technology to actively engage in their child’s technological activities by establishing parental controls and setting limits for the amount of time the child will be allowed to use technology each day.

Many parents argue that technology is beneficial for their parenting style. Allowing their child to have their own tablet or television gives them something to “take away” when their child misbehaves. Parents rave over how taking away the child’s beloved technological device is more detrimental to the child than any other form of punishment. This alone proves that the child has become entirely too reliant upon technology. Many parents also claim that their child uses technology for educational purposes only. However, if the child only used the device for playing games that reinforced math and reading skills, the device being taken away would likely not even seem like punishment to the child. If the child is truly upset about their device being taken away, the device has likely become a means for entertainment, not education. 

Another common argument presented by parents who support the use of technology by young children is that they are learning while they are using the device. This may be true at times; however, physical therapist Shirael Pollack says, “when you are starting to use these things (technological devices) in place of other types of learning, it poses a problem” (How Media). For example, while technology may appeal to visual and auditory learners, hands on learning experiences provided in schools meet the needs of kinesthetic learners. Educators also have the ability to establish a personal relationship with students that can inspire the student like no touchscreen ever could. Parents also argue that technology keeps their child from misbehaving in public places. Referring back to children playing with tablets at restaurants while waiting for their food to arrive, Pollack mentions that giving children an iPad at the dinner table will cause them to associate eating out with playing on their iPad. “They will never be able to have a meal and talk to you about their day because they will automatically assume that when they are at a restaurant they will have their iPad” (Pollack). By allowing young children to use technology at the dinner table, parents are solidifying that the child will always be able to use their technology rather than carry on meaningful conversations with loved ones.

In the words of Paul Chaplin, Professor of Elementary Education at the University of South Carolina, “FaceTime is no replacement for playtime.” This statement was derived from a situation involving one of his former students and a child she was babysitting. The young boy was around the age of age two at the time of this incident. Since he had only been talking for a short amount of time, he was difficult to understand at times. The babysitter thought the child was saying he wanted “playtime” so she tried throwing a ball with him and pushing his trucks on the carpet. The boy was uninterested and continued to say what she thought was “playtime.” The babysitter was confused and did not understand what the young child could possibly be wanting to play. After about ten minutes, the little boy saw her phone and pointed to it still saying what she thought was “playtime.” At that moment, she finally realized that the two-year-old boy had been saying all along that he wanted to FaceTime. The fact that a child as young as two years old would even ask to FaceTime shows just how incredible of an impact technology is making on these young children. It is shaping the way we live, the way children are raised, and the way society will operate for years to come.

Teachers, parents, and anyone who comes in contact with young children must be aware of the immediate and long term effects of technology on young children. If they are knowledgeable about the subject, they can make informed decisions in the best interest of the children they love. Statistics have proven that technology has serious and life-changing effects on the minds, bodies, and personalities of young children, and educators and parents are positioned to make a difference in the lives of these children. We must decide if exposing children to technology is worth the risk of endangering their physical health, academic skills, and social skills. After all, the children of today are the future of tomorrow. 
