Multiple-Source Synthesis Essay on Impacts of Technology on Children

Introduction

Technology has overwhelmingly become popular among societies in the current time. Advancements in technology have made operations easier, hence saving resources that would have otherwise gone in various projects if one applied systems used in ancient times. Technology has costed societies a lot of benefits that they enjoyed before the advent of technological expertise (Chaudron et al., 2015). This essay focuses on the effects of technology, specifically on children, as various authors suggest. Just like other members of society, children too have their share of impacts, owing to technology.

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On one side, technology has its disadvantages on children. Even though technological advancement has boosted children's talents and skills in concurrently handling tasks, the revolution has deprived the children of their ability to effectively process information. The human brain gets attracted to visual information rather than written (Marsh, Hannon, Lewis, & Ritchie, 2017). Therefore, the human power behind technological advancement has directed more focus on computers, video games, and television. These three media have been successful in keeping children's attention, thereby making them slaves of the devices.

Video games have become common among children nowadays. Among the games available are videos of violent acts. Being young, children conceive the games different from the aim of their developers. Primarily, the games come with the primary goal of entertainment (Chaudron et al., 2015). However, the games adversely influence the children's attitude, behavior, and cognitive. Studies show that children who play video games become more violent, obese, and perform poorly in school. A comparison between boys and girls expresses that boys like the games more than their female counterparts. Also, the males spend more time on the games in comparison to girls.

Violence as a result of the video games is partly dependent on how long a child takes playing the games and the content of the games they play. Video game content affects the amount of aggression of the children towards both their peers and teachers, hence their performance in school. For instance, comparing two groups of children where one of the groups spend more time on the games, those who focus on studies instead of the games get enough time to grasp contents in their studies (Van Hoorn, Monighan-Nourot, Scales, & Alward, 2014). Children who play a lot also tend to build virtual walls between them and the people surrounding them. Technically, these children become loners in the long run from the fact that they live a life away from reality. Better, parents should take up the challenge and guide the amount of time their children spend on the games.

Exposure to violent videos makes children feel that society is quite a scary and mean place, that only the aggressive can survive. The notion, therefore, makes the children adopt behavior that makes them willing and ready to attack every situation they encounter more violently (Chaudron et al., 2015). Children dedicate a lot of time to video games also tend to develop fewer hobbies. Those who sit for long do develop weak eyesight, besides suffering back pain. Some even get obese from the fact that they consume food but take part in almost no physical or strenuous activities. Fortunately, the same technology has invented a solution to its problem of keeping children seated for long - it is now possible to play some games as one moves around just by connecting the video devices to wireless fidelity.

Technology has also had an adverse impact on children's writing skills. Children using electronic gadgets to communicate seldom care about sentence structures, punctuations, and spellings of their messages (Graff, Birkenstein, & Durst, 2006). Conversely, children who use written modes to communicate become more careful with their grammar. Relating the two clutches, children who use forms of written communication other than with the help of communication gadgets.

Children in their early stages of development have difficulties differentiating between realities and fantasies. Other than televisions preventing children from learning, exploring, and having interactive sessions with their parents and peers, some of the programs with scary scenes haunt the children, giving them hallucinations and bad dreams since they cannot tell if the actions are real (Hsin, Li, & Chin-Chung, 2014). Shows with sexual activities also induce children to practice sexual activates at pre-puberty. Ideally, this increases cases of sexual violence among children, and between them and their elders.

On the other hand, technology has impacted positively on children. For instance, educational video games improve children's intelligence. Such videos help children to develop their vocabularies as well as their reasoning capacity. Technology has provided e-books from which children can access and read stories. Picture dictionaries also enhance their photo-memory, thereby a better understanding of new or unfamiliar words. Technology has also improved hand-eye coordination among children. Usually, children who play online games tend to have better control of the motion of their hands and eyes so that they focus on a specific thing at a time as objects move on the screens of their gaming gadgets (Chaudron et al., 2015). The development in the coordination of these organs helps them handle objects better, both when they start school, and back at home while engaging in other activities.

Moreover, technology improves visual attention among children. Gaming applications demand that children give more attention to the movement of objects so that they finish the gaming activities. Concentration on the motion of objects also helps children become predictive to determine their next moves about the moving objects (Ernest et al., 2014). Technology also assists in manipulating children to complete their tasks on time. For instance, some games encourage children to finish one level so that the next level unlocks successfully. Elsewhere, parents could also assign children a task, and compel them to complete before they can get back to their games. With motivation, children work hard to clear their tasks so that they create time for other chores.

Conclusion

Technology exposes children to things they do not get to see, thereby expanding their horizons. For example, for children who live in cities, and possibly away from animal orphanages, would find it difficult seeing plants and animals of various ecosystems (Chaudron et al., 2015). Such children expand their view of issues - they get to understand that life continues beyond their home. Children can similarly develop skills and talents. For example, children who play music games may learn skills like those needed to play an instrument. Also, racing games may influence them to like racing sports, and even go ahead to participate in them.

References

Chaudron, S., Beutel, M. E., Donoso Navarrete, V., Dreier, M., Fletcher-Watson, B., Heikkila, A. S., & Mascheroni, G. (2015). Young Children (0-8) and Digital Technology: A Qualitative Exploratory Study across Seven Countries.

Ernest, J. M., Causey, C., Newton, A. B., Sharkins, K., Summerlin, J., & Albaiz, N. (2014). Extending the Global Dialogue about Media, Technology, Screen Time, and Young Children. Childhood Education, 90(3), 182-191.

Graff, G., Birkenstein, C., & Durst, R. (2006). They say, I say. The Moves That Matters in Academic Writing.

Hsin, C. T., Li, M. C., & Chin-Chung, T. (2014). The Influence of Young Children's Use of Technology on Their Learning: A Review. Journal of Educational Technology & Society, 17(4), 85.

Marsh, J., Hannon, P., Lewis, M., & Ritchie, L. (2017). Young Children's Initiation into Family Literacy Practices in the Digital Age. Journal of Early Childhood Research, 15(1), 47-60.

Van Hoorn, J. L., Monighan-Nourot, P., Scales, B., & Alward, K. R. (2014). Play at the Center of the Curriculum. Pearson.