Children’s Technology Usage Essay

When was the last time you truly spent time with your child? When was the last time your child ACTUALLY talked to you? Most parents honestly can’t answer that question or have to really think about it. Children nowadays depend on technology to get them through their lives. Spending too much time glued to technology causes kids to have no human interaction skills, it exposes them to inappropriate content and most importantly it poses serious health risks. As parents it is their responsibility to put restrictions on the technology their children are using. Children who are constantly communicating via technology are losing vital human interaction skills. Vincent Nichols once stated; â€Å"We’re losing social skills, the human interaction skills, how to read a person’s mood, to read their body language, how to be patient until the moment is right to make or press a point. Too much exclusive use of electronic information dehumanizes what is a very, very important pa rt of community life and living together†. (Vincent Nichols. (n.d.). BrainyQuote.com). This quote is a great summary of the future of our children. Do they know how to hold an actual conversation, how to present themselves, how to read body language? When texting you can’t tell someone’s tone of voice and you don’t have to deal with confrontation. How will children attend job interviews if they don’t know how to interact with people in person? These are the fears that every parent should have for their child. Not to mention that there is a complete absence of family time. Families now are not nearly as close as they have been in past generations. Children will lose the ability to express their feelings, they will not be comfortable talking about problems with their parents and siblings will not be as close. Limiting the amount of time that children spend with technology and enforcing technology free times will help promote family time and interaction with people. To add to the lack of human interaction skills, the amount of inappropriate con tent that can be accessed by children is endless. Parents are aware of what images there are on the internet and how easy it is to access them. Children have rather curious minds and the information they could attempt to access is endless. Most times they don’t even have to search inappropriate content; it is right in front of them through  commercials, pop up ads and friends. Everything from sexual content, to body image, to drugs and alcohol, and even to violence is out there for them to access. Putting restricts on what children search, watch and download will help limit their exposure to such content. Having access to these types of content at such young ages will cause serious health risks now and later in life. Putting restrictions on what children can view is simple to do. Most cable companies, phone providers and internet providers have guidelines and support to help parents place restrictions on what their children can search and watch. Finally, excess time spent using technology can lead to serious health risks. Often obesity is the only risk that people associate with too much time spent on technology such as video games, TV, and cell phones. However, the health risks go far beyond obesity. While it is true that too much screen time is known to decrease the amount of physical activity a child partakes in it is not the only risk. Young girls who are already self conscious of their looks can find entire internet societies that brainwash them into thinking they need to be a picture perfect twig and teach them how to become one through anorexia and bulimia. Also, dependency on technology and always being in the now causes sleep disorders, stress and anxiety. Lack of sleep can cause mood disorders and the affects of stress and anxiety in young children can carry with them into their teenage and adult years making it more difficult to recover from. Drugs and alcohol and often glorified and young teens think that they need to do them to be cool causing addiction, overdose, and even death. Making sure that their children are healthy and safe should be a parent’s main concern. Placing restrictions on technology will help ensure that their children stay alive. As parents it is their responsibility to put restrictions on the technology their children are using. What kind of future do parents want for their children? Parents now are already at a disadvantage of raising their children in an era full of technology. They have their work cut out for them to make sure that their children are not dependent on technology and that they learn human interaction skills. Keeping their children protected from the inappropriate content and ensuring that their children do not suffer from mental and physical health problems as a result of technology should be every parent’s priority. Every parent should be placing restrictions on when and what their children are using technology for. References: Vincent Nichols. (n.d.). BrainyQuote.com. Retrieved September 22, 2014, from BrainyQuote.com Web site: http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/v/vincentnic532641.html