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Technology Use and Children Development

Young children are increasingly using technology devices such as desktops, laptops,
tablets, and smartphones. The usage of these devices at such a young age has sparked debate
about whether the use is appropriate or not. In my view, the use of these technology devices
by children should be discouraged.
One of the reasons why the use of technology items by children should be discouraged
is because it encourages sedentary lifestyle as the children are left with little time to engage in
physical activities (Gulay et al., 2018). Children need physical activities not only for their
muscle development but also for better health outcomes. Children who spend most of their
time on laptops, tablets, and smartphones, and engage in very limited physical activities risk
developing various health problems such as obesity.
Extensive use of technology also has the potential of disrupting their sleep. For healthy
physical and mental development, children need to sleep more than twelve hours per day
(Gulay et al., 2018). By interfering with their sleep, technological devices negatively affect the
development of children.
In addition to impairing mental development of children by limiting their sleep,
extensive use of technological devices also has a negative effect on the development of social
and cognitive skills of the children. Children need to interact with their peers and adults,
particularly parents, in order to develop valuable social skills (Newsham, Drouin, &
McDaniel, 2018). Extensive use of technological devices limits these types of interactions thus
impairing their ability to develop such skills. When technology limits children’s interactions
with parents due to distraction of either of them, the effects on their development can be dire

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(Newsham et al., 2018). Problematic relationship between children and parents usually leads
to impaired development of the child.
Lastly, the technology use may cause children to develop undesirable behaviors. For
instance, children who spend a lot of their time playing violent video games may develop
aggressive behaviors (Gulay et al., 2018). Such behaviors may make it hard for them to
interact with their peers in a healthy manner.
In conclusion, there are many advantages associated with children not using various
technology devices. These benefits include better physical and mental development, and
development of social and cognitive skills. While there may be some benefits that children get
by using technology devices, the downsides of such use are too great to be ignored.

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References

Gülay Ogelman, H., Güngör, H., Körükçü, Ö., & Erten Sarkaya, H. (2018). Examination
of the relationship between technology use of 5–6 year-old children and their
social skills and social status. Early child development and care, 188(2), 168-
182.
Newsham, G., Drouin, M., & McDaniel, B. T. (2018). Problematic phone use,
depression, and technology interference among mothers. Psychology of Popular
Media Culture.