Technology Overrun: Impact on Youth - Research Paper

Introduction

Technology has overrun the world. While it has helped the human race with many conveniences and advancements, technology has come along with unfavorable consequences to the young generation especially the youth. The young generation has been kept occupied while their parents and older generations tend to their daily tasks.

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The youth are entertained by using technological devices that include television, tablets, computers, and cellphones among others. However, various studies indicate that excessive use of technology may have detrimental effects on the youth. It is therefore vital to understand technology for what it really is and its associated negative effects in the youth's mental development, vision, physical health, and social life and ways in which parents can step in to control these effects on the younger generation.

Effects on the Brain

The two core functions of the brain are to develop a "sense" of things and to "respond" to them (Barmann). These functions are vital as they significantly contribute to one's cognitive development and control. Cognitive control contributes to creating meaning around us by enhancing our control of the working memory, focus and manages our abilities to set goals. All these roles are important as they determine how our brains work and how we basically function.

Technology is detrimental in developing attention spans. This is more prevalent in teens with addictions to technology. Attention is important to enhance learning and is inseparably tied to memory. Traditionally, the memory process involved sitting down with a book and studying the information without halting the concentration. The internet changed everything as the youth would not sit down and focus to get information when it can easily be obtained from the web. The continuous interaction and connection with televisions and smartphones avail an easily digestible stream that causes the youth to sacrifice their memory skills and ability to think creatively and solve problems. Technological tools are associated with hyperlinks, ads and social media temptations with reducing one's focus and ability to pay attention with time.

Technology contributes to addiction which originates from the instant gratification that it produces. It does this to the brain via the coping method. The young generation is always overwhelmed by the stressors and daily life expectations, causing them to turn to something that would give them pleasure. This causes them to use social media, television and video games. The use of technology to cope with life's realities results in addiction which makes one susceptible to depression and sadness.

Excessive use of technology negatively impacts the executive functions of the brain which include its ability to plan, organize, prioritize and control impulses. This is attributed to changes in the pre-frontal cortex and grey matter atrophy (Becker). The changes in the pre-frontal cortex result in poor controls of the brain's executive functioning and cognitive skills that include emotional regulation and judgment. Gray matter atrophy, which represents shrinkage or loss of tissue volume in the area where processing takes place negatively affects areas that include:

• The frontal lobe resulting in poor planning, organizing, prioritizing and control of impulses.
• Volume loss in the striatum that enhances the suppressed socially unacceptable impulses.

Damage to the insula, which involves one's capacity to develop compassion and empathy for others and the ability to intertwine emotions and physical signals (Becker).

Further studies show that addiction to technology and the internet is associated with functional and structural adjustments within the brain regions that contribute to executive attention, emotional processing, cognitive control and decision making (Becker). As a result, most of the youth suffer from sensory overload, hyper-aroused nervous system, and lack or restorative sleep in what is called electronic screen syndrome, causing them to be moody, impulsive and fail to pay attention (Becker).

Effects of Technology on Eye Health/Vision

The age of digital technology is associated with exposure to multiple digital screens and devices that include computers, cell phones, television screens, and tablets. Our dependence on digital technology results in addiction which is a real problem when it comes to separating people from their devices. More specifically, children and teenagers spend approximately 75% of their time connected to the screen of a technological device and this may have detrimental effects on their vision (Stetson). Some of them include:

Adoption of computer vision syndrome. Consistent exposure to screen time results in various problems, among them being digital eye strain. At one point in time, everyone must have likely experienced blurred vision as a result of looking at a screen for a long period of time. Other eye symptoms that result from a strain on the digital eye include runny eyes, dryness, headache, blurred vision, eye strain, light sensitivity and itchy or watery eyes ('American Optometric Association"). The symptoms may vary from mild to severe discomfort and result from extreme working of the eyes. These issues correct themselves in most cases but may result in more serious concerns if experienced more often or ignored.

Consistent exposure to blue light. Electronic devices emit blue light which has detrimental effects on eyes. This is visible blue light of a high wavelength that penetrates the back of the eye and bypasses the natural filters of the eyes ('American Optometric Association"). Exposure to blue light may result in permanent vision damage and lead to serious eye diseases and conditions. Blue light has a silent but dangerous impact on the long term vision.

While a bit of blue light may be fairly harmless, the digital infused lives of the youths and their consistent exposure to digital screens dramatically increases their exposure and risk. According to "American Optometric Association," the blue and violet light, which is of high energy and short wavelength, may affect vision and age the eyes prematurely. Overexposure to the light may contribute to eye strain which may result in serious conditions such as the age-related macular degeneration (AMD) that can result in blindness ('American Optometric Association").

Less blinking of the eyelids. The constant focus of the brain to the screen causes one to forget to blink. This reduces the number of blinks per minute to a smaller number. As a result, a thin layer of tears spreads over our eyes. Therefore, the lesser one blinks the less the lubrication of the eyes and this may result in dry or sore eyes.

Headaches and migraines are a common effect of technology on the eyes. Overexposure of the eyes to digital devices and screens results in headaches due to the connection that exists between the eyes and the brain (Stetson). When a user stares at a screen for a long period of time, eyestrain occurs and this results in a painful headache from the tension. The headaches and the strain in the eyes can be triggered by the contrast between the screen brightness and the darkness of the text. This arises because the eyes work tirelessly to focus, resulting in muscle spasms along the temples.

Some of the eye strain may also result in migraines which are very uncomfortable. In addition to the pulsing and throbbing pain, migraines come along with visual symptoms such as light sensitivity and flashing, nausea and sometimes temporary blindness (Stetson).

Effect on Physical Health

Technology has been proven to result in a significant impact on people's physical health, especially from their youthful days when they spend a lot of time in a day glued to the screen. This results in various physical health problems and with the increasing use of technology on a daily basis, the risks are likely to grow bigger. Some of the negative effects of technology on the youth's physical health include:

Poor physical activity. While technology may come along with greater benefits to the populations globally that increase worker productivity and reduce physical hardships, it also comes along with grave implications to the physical body. The lack of physical activity may cause the human body not to operate at its optimal level resulting in a myriad of health problems.

According to Antoine-Chagar, physical inactivity is the second highest cause of preventable deaths globally. There are various studies that link digital technology to physical inactivity with children and the youth being the most vulnerable ones spending excessive amounts of time on screens. A study of 2,200 children in Australia, between the ages of 9 and 16 found a positive correlation between the times spent in front of the screen and child being overweight (Antoine-Chagar).

Obesity resulting from little to no physical activity results in a poor quality of life. The children fail to get much exercise because technology, which involves continuous use of smartphones and television encourages them to live a sedentary lifestyle. According to Patel, the child obesity rate as of 2012 was at 18 percent, a value higher by 11 points compared to 1980.

Technology also has a negative implication on the bodies of the users in the form of physical strains. Various studies indicate that prolonged usage of mobile phones has negative impacts on the upper bodies of users, especially the back and neck. The constant stooping over the screens of tablets and smartphones lead to muscle pains in the shoulders and the necks of teens and adolescents resulting in 'text neck'.

Failure to experience the benefits of spending time on outdoor activities. This arises because most of the youth are more reliant on technology for purposes of entertainment while forgoing the various positive effects on the body associated with spending time outdoors such as exposure to sunlight that supplies the body with vitamin D which helps to fight infections and keep the skin healthy.

The screens from the smartphones and tablets also emit harmful blue light that results in eye strain, headaches, and irritation which are physical negative impacts on the body. Sleep is also negatively affected by the harmful blue light and exposure to screen time during the evenings. This occurs when the child/youth suppresses melatonin hormone which regulates the sleep-wake cycle. This makes it cumbersome for the youth's body to effectively prepare for a good sleep during the night (Patel).

Effects on Social Development

While some children may be quieter than others, it is evident that technology hurts our social skills. Screen-to-screen communication may not cater to all the complexities that take place in interpersonal relationships. Physical talking or interaction involves aspects of tonal variations, inflections and body languages that indicate sarcasm, emotions, and feelings. These aspects may not be learned via text-based communication systems.

Technology changes the manner in which the young generation interact and socialize with others, and this may negatively affect their emotional and mental well-being. High levels of usage of social media lower the self-esteem of the children and cause them to create negative moods (Flaherty & Moran). It reduces the frequency of interaction between the youth and their peers, making it cumbersome for them to pick up on the basic social cues and establish meaningful relationships with them (Patel). This is likely to result in negative consequences on them as they continue to grow and develop.

Emotional connection is also a vital part of establishing proper social relationships with peers. When the youth are ingrained in technology, they may have a difficult time to develop emotions the way other kids would if they spend...