Nowadays, we depend our lives with technology. The rampancy of it has already posed a big effect on everyone, specially the kids, but only few of us are aware of this. And we need to pay attention in this alarming change in their lifestyle. Being aware of the harmful effects of gadgets to children will guide us in moderating children’s use of it in a more controlled manner.
Because of ignorance, we tend to use our technology-run gadgets endlessly, disregarding the limits. We make texting our morning coffee and surfing the internet our daily dessert, we even prefer the radiation of our phone rather than the sun’s. What we should know is that using too much gadgets bring many bad effects especially to children. And five of those harmful effects are as follows:
5 Harmful Effects of Gadgets to Children that Parents Often Neglect
1.) It makes children lazy.
Through the internet, we can easily get the information or everything that we need with just one click. This may save effort, but it also makes children, especially the students, dependent with it. If we are going to dig deeper, we will be able to realize that even us adults have already relied too much with the internet.
2.) It makes children anti-social.
Looking back at the past, when technology is not yet rampant, we can conclude that life is actually better and more joyous. Meanwhile, children today are more focused on their phones or laptops, instead of paying attention to their surrounding. Admit it, children of today prefer playing online games rather than playing outside our houses with their friends.
Even adults are not exempted on the addicting effect of using gadgets. Ask yourself, how many of your Facebook friends have you had a real interaction with? This leads to the conclusion that our social life became at stake the more we engage ourselves with the online community.
3.) Children may have a sleeping disorder.
Based on studies, the radiation emitted by our gadgets reduce our feeling of sleepiness. This means that the more we use our phones, the less time we spend in sleeping. Children who use gadgets excessively tend to spend a lot of hours staring at their gadgets’ screen. Their sleeping routine is also affected as they tend to stay up late at night using gadgets especially if the parents do not pay enough attention to what their childrens are doing.
4.) Children’s communication with their parents may also be affected.
Just as stated, technology particularly the excessive use of gadget makes children anti-social. And that also applies with our parents. Yes, gadget-users may always be in their houses most of the time, but they still don’t have enough engagement to talk to their family. As seen in social media, children became already used to posting things on Facebook or Twitter whenever they encounter problems, instead of just telling their parents about it. The openness within the family declines as we spend more time with our gadgets. The lack of communication between parents and their children often leads to even more alarming circumstances.
5.) The chance of acquiring “Screen Dependency Disorder” may increase.
Screen Dependency Disorder is a disorder wherein the people who are experiencing it tend to always look for their gadgets. Upon waking up and even before sleeping, their phones should always be by their side. People who have this disorder cannot last an hour not using their gadgets.
Those are just five of the many drawbacks of the excessive use of gadgets for children. Equipped with this knowledge, we should already start limiting our use and monitor our children’s activities. We should know that the advantages of technology cannot outweigh its adverse effects on people who are into it.
