Why is technology bad for kids

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Is technology bad for my child? Show share menu. One is by scrutinizing what their kids do online. The company says it scans the phones of more than 3. If knowledge is power, then knowing what kids do and say on their phones is the key to modern parenting. And here again, experts disagree. Twenge is all for them when kids younger than 13 have a smartphone. Your child is a kind of extension of your property. Other parents turn to less controversial solutions. Some parents write phone contracts for their teens.

And at the end of the day, kids learn by example , so having a healthy relationship with technology is probably one of the best ways to raise kids who will model those behaviors. For the busy and worry-prone among us, severely limiting the time kids spend on their phones and on social media—or refusing to let them have either until a certain age—can seem like the safest option. Does your child want to play video games? Great, play with them! By providing your email, you agree to the Quartz Privacy Policy.

Skip to navigation Skip to content. Screens are distractions, not tools to soothe children. The American Academy of Pediatrics only recommends a maximum of two hours per day for teenagers and older children.

Texting looms as the next national epidemic, with half of teenagers sending 50 or more text messages a day and those aged 13 through 17 averaging 3, texts a month. Then there are things like violent video games, which can desensitize young children to violence and could lead to aggressive behavior, based on a study by the Journal of Youth and Adolescence. Aggression is only one side effect of prolonged digital media exposure. There are many consequences to extended electronics use.

Toddlers and young children may miss out on the vital experiences of observing the world around them, interacting with caregivers and developing curiosity, intelligence, empathy and listening skills, according to Catherine Steiner-Adair, a Harvard-affiliated clinical psychologist. Children who are heavy users of electronics may become adept at multitasking, but they can lose the ability to focus on what is most important, a trait critical to the deep thought and problem solving needed for many jobs and other endeavors later in life.

In a world where most correspondence is conducted electronically via text message, Facebook messenger, Twitter, Snapchat and other social media, children lose the ability to communicate face to face and can experience alienation, loneliness and depression, according to a University of Rhode Island honors thesis. If children are given games to play during car rides, those trips become silent as they focus in on the screen.

They need time to daydream, deal with anxieties, process their thoughts and share them with parents, who can provide reassurance.