Technology is one of the most life-changing advancements the world has received. Technology has made our ways of living easier in many circumstances. Unfortunately, with all the upsides we got from the technology we have also have many downsides. Technology can be very bad for people who aren’t aware of the dangerous things they can come upon. One age group that isn’t aware of the dangerous things that they can come upon is children. Children using technology can negatively affect their social skills, cause health issues, and expose them to dangerous things on the internet. 

The first effect that technology has on a child’s development is negatively affecting their social skills. The overuse of technology limits how much time a child is spending on real-world interactions with other people. A couple of things that are extremely important to learn by using real-world interactions are using verbal and nonverbal communication, developing empathy, and learning turn-taking. Some of these things that need to be learned can be learned through technology, but they can not be perfected without face-to-face practice. The childhood years are the most important time for people to learn and practice social skills. There has also been an increase in disruptive social behaviors in children who spend more time on technology such as being bossy and bullying. 

The second effect that technology has on a child’s development is that it can cause health problems. The biggest issue with too much screen time is that the children are lacking physical activity. This causes too much weight gain which is not healthy for children. Not only are the children sitting around while using technology, but they also are occasionally mindlessly eating while doing so. Spending time on physical activities helps the children burn more energy which allows them to sleep better. Children getting sleep is very important for their learning and their immune system. Sleep also affects the children’s mood. 

The third effect that technology has on a child is exposing them to harmful things. They can be exposed to things that they should not know at their age, dangerous people, and dangerous advertisements and viruses. The biggest danger is child predators. Child predators use the internet to find vulnerable people to be their victims. The children do not know better and can be easily tricked by child predators. The children can also be exposed to inappropriate content. The children can be led on the internet and not know what they are pressing on until it is too late. They can also be tricked into online scams, viruses, and they can also accidentally compromise their private information. 

The negative effects that technology can cause on children outweigh the positive ones. Children that use technology should be closely monitored by an adult, and also have limits on how long they are allowed to use the technology. Overall I believe technology should not be used until people are older and know the dangers of using the internet. This way we can avoid having technology negatively affect children’s social skills, avoid health issues, and keep the children away from being exposed to dangerous things on the internet. 

https://www.qustodio.com/en/blog/technology-child-social-development/

https://www.nu.edu/blog/negative-effects-of-technology-on-children-what-can-you-do/#:~:text=Childhood%20Obesity%20and%20Technology,TV%20or%20playing%20video%20games.

https://www.cerritos.edu/hr/_includes/docs/August_2021_The_Impact_of_Technology_on_Children_ua.pdf