Are toddlers really becoming addicted to technology? There’s certainly a lot of media hype to suggest that they are. And there’s no question the footage of
small children breaking down when their tablet is taken away is unsettling:
A montage of technology-induced tantrums.
Footage such as this is often aimed at showing the evils of technology and the myriad ways digital devices engender bad behaviour among children.
Viewers are often put in a position where they naturally try to apportion blame for such behaviour. In this case, the apparent targets are the technology and even the parents.
Scare tactics
As an expert in children, technology and learning, I question the purpose and proper interpretation of content such as this, regardless of whether it’s presented on prime time TV, headlining a newspaper or a new addition to a parenting blog.
In recent years society has been inundated with scare tactics around children’s increasing use of technology. To date, media articles have blamed technology for various ills in society such as obesity, insomnia, violence, aggression and language development issues.
Unfortunately, these scare tactics often succeed because they cause a sense of guilt among adults and perpetuate a sense of loss of control.
But this type of thinking doesn’t make sense. It suggests that by removing technology from their lives, children will be fitter rather than overweight, and mental health problems such as aggression and depression will diminish. Children’s health and happiness are essential goals, but magic wand thinking is not going to get us there.
The other obvious target of blame when watching the above footage are the parents themselves, and their seeming lack of ability to control their children’s use of technology.
But, as any parent knows, young children can have tantrums over many things. At this age they’re often not psychologically equipped to delay gratification, so we shouldn’t be surprised at their response to technology. In addition, just because they can’t delay gratification now doesn’t mean they won’t develop the capacity later in life.
Embracing technology
Blaming parents for indulging their children is easy, yet many parents correctly recognise that technology is an essential part of modern life. Many professions now require the use of multiple devices over the course of a working day.
In addition, much of our social lives have migrated online, requiring us to make use of technology to stay in touch with our friends and colleagues. Even government support agencies require individuals go online to make a claim or submit an enquiry.
Forbidding children to use electronic devices hampers their ability to engage with the modern world. Research shows that technology offers many educational benefits for children.
These include encouraging them to work with more complex ideas from an
. School curricula around the word rely on technology for this very reason.
Author:: Senior lecturer, Educational Technology at University of Western Sydney
Credit link: https://theconversation.com/i-want-my-ipad-are-our-kids-getting-addicted-to-technology-46325 <img alt="The Conversation" height="1"
The article was originally published on The Conversation (www.conversation.com) and is republished with permission granted to www.oasesnews.com
src="https://counter.theconversation.edu.au/content/46325/count.gif" width="1" />
