In recent years, people have observed the advancements in technology and both its positive and negative effects on its consumers, specifically children. For example, electronic devices such as smartphones and tablets have become indispensable for many children today. Although some programs, applications, and games installed in these electronic devices might bring educational value to kids and help them to open up their intelligence, parents should limit their children’s time on electronic devices because too much time on these devices could be detrimental to their children’s physical health, social skills, and the quality of school work.
To start with children’s physical health. Children are affected strongly by their health, which causes so many negative results for themselves. The more they use these devices, the less physical activities they do. Furthermore, the more sedentary some children are, the more likely they are to snack more. Over time, these habits can lead to significant weight gain and cause them to lose their desire to step away from the screen and do any sort of activity. As a typical example, according to Meegan (as cited in Ebbeck et al., 2015), eight-year-old children who are being treated for headaches, neck and shoulder pain, and poor posture spend too much time on screen time using mobile phones (p. 128). Having too much screen time can also make children’s eyes are easy to get strained, causing them to suffer from eye diseases such as blurred vision, eye fatigue, eye dryness, or discomfort. To illustrate an example, as stated a in study by Rechichi et al. (as cited in Lissack, 2018), “Children who were playing video games more than 30 min almost every day experienced headaches and dizziness and eye strain. Transient diplopia and refractive errors (e.g., short-sightedness) appeared mostly in the dominant eye, eventually resulting in loss of fusion” (p. 152). Moreover, as reported by French et al. (as cited in Lissak, 2018), “Children who spend less time outdoors are at a greater risk of becoming myopic. Furthermore, the effect of time outdoors can reduce and largely negate, the causes of myopia development, such as in extensive near-work, i.e., screen viewing” (p. 152). These are the results of glaring, using poor lighting, and especially improper viewing settings that children do. While children are in their developmental stage both physically and mentally, which is essential to ensure children develop good health habits. Furthermore, allowing children to use electronic devices too often can negatively affect their sleeping. Especially when they use them right before going to sleep, exposure to a bright screen still stay in children’s brain even after they have stopped using the devices. As evidence for this, according to Cheung et al., Figueiro and Overington, Falbe et al., and Cajochen et al. (as cited in Lissak, 2018), “Evening and nighttime exposure to bright light and blue light emitted by self-luminous devices may suppress melatonin production, affect the timing of melatonin production and, consequently, cause circadian disruption” (p. 150). To clarify how blue light affects children’s sleeping quality, Yeager (2017) stated, “The normal blue light emissions from the computer screen also affected how much of a sleep-related hormone each volunteer made. Called melatonin (Mel-ah-TOE-nin), it tends to make people feel sleepy. Our bodies usually secrete it into the blood around 9 p.m. When our bodies make less melatonin, we may still feel too alert at bedtime to fall asleep when the body is tired” (para. 2). It is important that children get a full night’s sleep, otherwise, it can have a negative impact on their mental and physical health. Therefore, limiting the time of usage of the phone, tablet, TV, or computer can help prevent health problems from arising now and in the future.
Save your time!
We can take care of your essay
In addition, using electronic devices too often can also cause a negative effect on their social skills. This can weaken the ability of children to operate their brains and result in behavioral issues in social settings. There are many symptoms such as “There are some hints for structural brain changes, which also may hurt one’s executive functions in planning and reasoning and increase risk for impulsivity leading to a person’s loss of control over Internet use” (Young & Abreu, 2017, para. 4). Children can become more and more passive in their classes and public in general, possibly even around people they should be comfortable with, such as family and friends. Accordingly, they find it difficult to get along with surrounding
Quality Work
Unlimited Revisions
Affordable Pricing
24/7 Support
Fast Delivery