Exposure to Too Much Technology Puts Children at Risk of Losing Interpersonal Relationships and Creativity

By Occupying Their Time With Entertainment Technology, Children Are Losing a Significant Amount of Interpersonal Interactions.

According to one study, more than 20% of children between the ages of 8 and 18 report having a computer in their bedroom. This early relationship between children and technology has raised many concerns. Many studies have shown that the result of children interacting with technology too frequently is children losing creativity, patience and the ability to determine the emotions of other people. 

It is during the childhood years that people start building the foundation of their social skills. Because personal interactions are crucial in gaining social competence, there have been many concerns about children forming  “electronic friendships” with computers and other entertainment technologies. Creating “electronic friendships” arguably rob “children of time for other social activities” and interfere “with the development and maintenance of friendships”. Under this subhead, I will further discuss different studies that have come to this conclusion and include their data/statistics. I will also include background information about why childhood years are critical to their development and long-term behavior. I learned about this information from my sociology class so I know I can find solid evidence to back up this idea.

Over The Past Decade, Researchers Have Found The Creativity of Children Decreased Significantly.

Researchers are finding that children’screativity have dropped significantly. Kyung Hee Kim, a creativity researcher at the College of William and Mary, believes that the drop in creativity is associated with kids being reliant on electronic entertainment. Kim’s study tested back to the 1970’s and up to 2010. He found that since 1990, children’s ability to create unique and unusual ideas has abated. He also found that children have been losing sense of humor, imagination, and ability to elaborate on ideas.

“Interview Video Here”

1. Studies have indicated that excessive use of technology has diminished the creativity in children. Why do you think this is so?

2. At what age do you believe exposure to entertainment technology is acceptable and why?

3. How do you think parents and teachers can separate children from technology when many parents and teachers themselves are consumed with technology?

Under this subhead, I will include more studies that show the correlation between diminishing creativity and excessive technology usage. I will also add more details about the statistics and data graphics.

With Knowledge That Too Much Screen-Time Affects the Social Skills of Children, Teachers and Parents Must Monitor Their Children’s Use of Technology

In this section, I will discuss how technology is not a completely negative item, but because excessive usage of media is correlated with obesity, lack of sleep, issues in school, aggression and other negative behavior issues, it is necessary to create a “media diet” for children. I will also discuss the necessary limitations needed to give children the right balance between personal interactions and technology use, according to some studies and pediatricians. The link I provided offers advice for both parents and pediatricians from the American Academy of Pediatrics.