Not Just Child’s Play: Use and Overuse of Technology
Today’s children learn how to use an iPhone or iPad before they learn to read.
Take a moment when you are out and watch a 3- or 4-year-old on a device.They manipulate the apps, play games, close out ads and log in to watch movies with ease.
By the time kids reach high school, they are probably more tech savvy then their parents.
To gain some insight on the topic, children from age 5 to 18 were asked a series of questions such as: How did you learn to use technology? How many devices or apps do you currently have and use? How can the internet be useful to you and in school? What are some dangers associated with online activity and what should you do if you come across something you know is inappropriate?
With some of the teenagers, I also asked them about their use of social media, how they use it to communicate and if they believe that it can also be harmful.
Finally, a question was posed about the addictive qualities of phones and devices and how they would feel if they lost their online privileges for the entire summer.
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It appeared that every single child has a device and is connected daily.
Lainey Lutsko, age 7, stated, “I have an iPad and I have about 30 apps. I play with them all.”
Connor Roetz, age 12, “I have Instagram, Snapchat and Twitter. I also think phones can be a distraction, instead of actually going out and talking to friends, you text or message them. I think there should be times when you silence them or totally shut them off.”
When questioned about the dangers associated with online activity, even the youngest interviewee was aware of what to do when something inappropriate is shown to them or appears on their screen.
Lucas Reed, age 5, explained, “I saw a zombie ... and I passed it because I knew I wasn’t supposed to watch it.”
As parents, we can speculate about the impact of the internet on our youth, but what better way to get a real feel for that effect than to hear from kids themselves.
Check out the video on tnonline.com to see for yourself how our local youth responded to the questions above. It should shed some light on the topic, make you laugh, and also give you a refreshing consensus on the responsibility demonstrated by our young ones.
In my next column, the roles are reversed and parents are questioned regarding similar topics.
If you are a parent of a child aged 5 to 18 and would like to be a part of the next feature, please email tneditor@tnonline.com and we will pass it along to Jennifer.