Scrolling through posts on Instagram or Facebook, chatting with friends on WhatsApp are everyday activities that each of us performs before finally going to bed. Nevertheless, researchers argue that such types of entertainment disrupt healthy sleeping patterns, especially among children. A number of various works analyze this issue and determine whether or not these devices are harmful; the article by Gwen Dewar is one of them. This researcher is an anthropologist with a big experience in studying issues related to parenting, psychology, biology and many other topics. However, there are several features that distinguish this study from others. For instance, aside from presenting reasons as to why electronic media cause trouble, the author also provides tips to help children to improve their sleep. Dewar achieves the purpose of spreading awareness about this problem by conducting thorough literature research and introducing factual evidence.
The author begins by mentioning that even though electronic devices are essential for modern life, they also cause trouble. Dewar presents the issue and wonders how serious it is and how parents can help children to sleep better. After that, she talks about the reasons as to why media disrupts sleep patterns, which includes exposure to blue light, as well as questionable or violent content. Then, the author emphasizes the fact that “the vast majority of studies report a link between electronic media use and altered sleep patterns” (Dewar para. 43). Nevertheless, she points out that correlation does not mean causation and then presents tips to prevent sleep problems.
First of all, it should be pointed out that in this article, the author presents a number of proofs as to why researchers are worried about electronic media causing sleep problems. For instance, she submits accurate information from various sources, such as studies by Goh et al., Hysing et al., Higuchi et al., and many others. They argue that indoor lighting suppresses melatonin production, which disrupts normal sleeping patterns (Dewar para. 26). In addition, Dewar also talks about studies that proved how changing media content could help children to sleep better (Dewar para. 56). The author manages to use reliable sources and incorporates them well in her own research.
Most of the information Dewar collects from scholarly articles that were published in various periodicals, such as “The Journal of Pediatrics” or “Journal of Sleep Research.” These academic sources are international and publish expert reviews and ideas on several medical issues on a global level. Moreover, the author also includes data from different national surveys, which is a common method of collecting data. According to them, a significant number of children use electronics before bed and sleep less than those who do not have any devices in their rooms. There are no logical fallacies in the presented information as every article, trial and study indicates that media has a negative effect on sleep patterns. Since all data was gathered from different credible peer-reviewed sources, it can be assumed that the author conducted comprehensive literature research. It makes the article more believable, and the author’s arguments seem convincing.
Furthermore, after presenting proof, Dewar points out that even though there is compelling evidence, this issue is not researched well enough to make claims. For this reason, it would be wrong to jump to the conclusion that electronic devices are necessarily harmful. Since Dewar makes assumptions that, perhaps, some children use devices to help them fall asleep: such a position is not biased and allows room for discussion. Nevertheless, although Dewar accepts the fact that researchers still do not know everything about this topic, the power of electronic media cannot be underestimated. However, in this part of her research, Dewar does not present any evidence-based information or publications from other sources. Instead, she indicates the necessity of further research on this topic, and it is still early to blame electronic devices for everything.
Therefore, the author feels the need to provide tips for parents that can help to prevent sleep problems among children. This part of the article is especially helpful since it offers support and beneficial advice. Moreover, Dewar credits the guide, from which tips were collected, which means that the author of the article also thoroughly studied the topic instead of making up these tips.
As for my opinion on this article, I would say that the author manages to present convincing arguments with the help of a significant amount of data. For this reason, I could definitely use it in my own final paper. From this research, I discovered why electronic devices disrupt sleep among children and how it is possible to mitigate the negative effects. However, I would also like to get more information about the other side of the argument. In other words, it would be useful to implement citations from credible resources that doubt the connection between electronics and sleep problems. The paragraph about how correlation does not mean causation was relatively small compared to other parts of the article, where Dewar discussed the adverse outcomes.
In conclusion, it would appear that by writing this article, Dewar manages to not only educate the readers on the topic of disruptive electronic media but also to offer help. There is a significant amount of information that can be used in my final paper, as well as several thought-provoking questions for further studies. For instance, it would be interesting to discuss further if every individual is affected by electronic media. Through comprehensive research, the author provides reasonable arguments as to why exactly devices harm sleep patterns among children. Out of credible scholarly articles from international journals, she gathers a number of evidence about the adverse impact of electronics. However, through this study, Dewar’s position remains objective, and she does not preach on this subject. In addition, she also gives valuable advice which can be used by parents in order to help their children.
Work Cited
Dewar, Gwen. “Tech before bedtime: Do electronic media devices cause sleep problems in children?” Parenting Science, 2018, Web.