Introduction
The discussion explores the impacts of web tech on adolescents’ cognitive, psychological, physical, and socio-emotional development. Recently, advancements in technology, especially in social media, digital gaming sites, and smart televisions, have made teens the target group. It is significant to be aware of the effectiveness of the rapid net advancement in the 21st century (Galikyan & Admiraal, 2019). For a time, technological development and inventions have always captivated younger people. Access to digital services is less costly, making it simple for teens to get the services.
The literature for this section will discuss all the pressing issues on youth’s broad use of technology. Modern children and teenagers use technology almost every day to spend their leisure time. They quickly get used to the technology; they are well versed in how particular gadgets work. As for effects, due to the technology, children are often excited about the educational process at school; they prepare for adulthood and receive a variety of information (Straker et al., 2017). Children’s disadvantages of using technology are exposure to a sedentary lifestyle from childhood, susceptibility to stress, and eye diseases (Hardell, 2018). A significant drawback is a regression in the development of communication skills, the atrophy of creativity and fantasy.
Furthermore, data shows only a minor link between technology use and its effectiveness for children. It is unclear whether web tech causes these impacts, and the modest effect size raises questions about the validity of real-life claims against teenagers. Despite the problems, politicians in countries have enacted rules restricting young people’s access to technology (Kennedy et al., 2017). The extensive increase in web use among teens has given rise to awareness of the effects of utilisation of technology and how it influences the mental, cognitive, socio-emotional, and physical development of children.
Impact of Technology on Children’s Cognition and Well-Being
Today’s generation is more affiliated with the Internet than before. The concern is based on gaming, communication with friends on social media, chatting, and interacting. Research shows that teens retrieve unconventional materials in cyberspace and spend more than eight hours a day online. Regardless of a parent’s wish to expose their children to technology, they should be mindful of the psychological and socio-emotional problems that their children may develop. Upshots, such as backache, neck pain, carpal tunnel syndrome, and sight impairments, result from prolonged screen time and are health-hazard for the teens (Fowler & Noyes, 2017). As a result, parents must take the necessary precautions to protect their children from developing these conditions.
Brain plasticity is the ability of an individual’s mind to change because of exposure to various settings and experiences. It is recommendable to expose young people to divergent backgrounds to guarantee a solid foundation in their minds. It is advisable to tutor children at an early age as their minds are in the maturation stages; hence easy to capture knowledge (Hardell, 2018). When it comes to brain development, nature and nurture are extremely important because they serve to nurture a child’s cognitive abilities.
Impact of Television on Children’s Cognition and Well-Being
In the long run, youths spending time watching television have poor cognitive abilities, including memory, reading, and math skills. Furthermore, children’s exposure to television may affect their cognitive development, leading to problems such as inattention, immoral conduct, and aggressiveness (Lee et al., 2017). Creativity, language improvement, healthy emotion relief, and entrainment are the positive impacts of introducing children to watching television programs.
Video games are not only for entertainment but also to help cope with trauma. For example, bullying at school cause discomfort among children. Hence it is advisable to play video games to relieve their mental suffering. When a child is afraid and then plays video games, the fear dissipates due to the child’s focus on the game. Young people can use video games to eliminate all their negative emotions. These children become uneducated because of their extensive participation in the preceding activities, and they neglect their responsibilities, allowing their minds to develop unhealthy thoughts (Simion, 2021). Nonetheless, the games are not the cause of mental illness; instead, youngsters use them to distract from negative emotions such as dread and anxiety.
Impact of Social Media on Children’s Cognition and Well-Being
Social media has recently become one of the most addictive aspects of human life. The first thing that everyone does in the morning is to check their phones for updates or view statuses. Consequently, anxiety and sadness are born from excessive use of social media (Afifi et al., 2018). In addition, neglect and improbable behaviours are results of bullying on social. The desire to help people overcome social media intimidations has led to developing protocols that will enhance the security among web users. Teens should seek a face-to-face chat with their care when depressed. It is good to turn off the social media notification bar, and scheduling time to be online is a terrific way to help an individual overcome despair.
Summary
Despite all the detailed studies on the effects of technology on children, decision-makers still need the information to develop effective technology-use strategies. The shortage of competent personnel—individuals who choose to perform research but lack specific skills, resulting in delayed analysis—is one of the problems contributing to delayed progress in the research sector. Second, ineffective data gathering procedures — the employed personnel- get data in non-persuasive ways. It is a promising idea to persuade people of the importance of releasing information without any hesitation. Finally, a researcher’s lack of patience during data collecting — patience is one of the required values (Starcevic, 2017). Quality outcomes come from patience, and therefore an individual must display endurance attributes to get positive results.
Furthermore, these considerations imply the need for high-quality exploration results that promise outstanding results in huge quantities. Research shows that moderate screen time does not cause mental health problems among the youths (Ferguson, 2017). The guidelines to reduce time spent watching help curb health problems that may arise due to long hours on screens.
Implications of Screen Time on Children’s Cognition and Well-Being
The first section of the study will examine the health-related implications and habits, with sleep and posture being the key impacts. The second section discusses the dangers that may arise because of the usage of technology on evolving bodies. It is essential to understand that different social media have distinct effects on sleep. Sleep lights cause sight impairments in children, and it is prudent to adopt preventive precautions to prevent these problems. Supplying protective glasses to children is the most distinctive approach to avoiding infections. It is difficult for parents to provide protective glasses and hence the best precaution set is that parents should ensure that their children do not spend time watching television. It is also good to change the settings or update the lighting system on social media to a preferred warm glow that will not hurt their eyes. Furthermore, parents should ensure that their children get enough sleep by sticking to a regular sleeping schedule and avoiding noise pollution in rest areas.
When youngsters are stressed, their behaviour modifications become mood less, selfless, and angry. The behaviour change is noticeable, and therefore upon observing, parents spend time with them as a sign of comforting them. Introducing teens to video games is quite useful as they keep their minds busy, making it easy to deal with negative emotions. The ideal approach to protecting youngsters from stress is to play games with them and get physical participation.
Excessive computer uses by youngsters in schools and at home result in an issue with backache, neck pain, and carpal tunnel syndrome. Sitting for long hours affects back muscles, hence causing backache. Children who sit in front of a computer for more than an hour suffer sciatica and neck problems. Not only do computers and laptops cause ligament hitches, but so do phones, televisions, and tablets (Straker, 2017). Parents should ensure their children do not spend too much time on computers and show favoured postures for using these devices. Introducing device safety measures into the curriculum to address the importance of good posture is an effective way of maintaining safety precautions.
In recent years, the study has focused on finding the possible psychological impacts caused by using technology among the youths. Research has also narrowed down to exploring the potential implications of technology by exerting emphasis on the brain and body implications (Twenge et al., 2018). It is crucial to have a deep investigation of the topic since it will help uncover all the opportunities and guidelines for controlling the use of technology among children. Teachers, parents, and guardians lack the credentials to structure the screening time for their children.
It is vital to articulate good recommendations for this problem in this case. According to Twenge (2018), a child’s time on web access depends on distinct reasons. For instance, a child can spend time on a computer in school during classes, use the phone to communicate with their friends, and spend hours watching the news with their family. All these different actions account for long hours of internet access (Anderson & Subrahmanyam, 2017). It is wise to remain un-judgmental since we do not know why teens spend their time online. Consequently, it is vital to investigate the reasons before bringing guidelines that interfere with their meaningful schedules.
Different associations are concerned with the health of teens and belief a reduction of the time spent on web tech will help keep the health of teenagers. The American Association of Paediatrics (AAP) is an excellent example of an international organisation that advocates for children’s health by supplying guidelines on restricting time spent on internet access. Across the world, countries have stipulated their protocols concerning web access among youths (Sherman et al., 2017). The procedures are believed to help control the children’s behaviour as online is one of the known sources of bad conduct.
The French Academy released endorsements that were strict on time and the age of the children that should be allowed to access the web tech. The protocols restricted teenagers below twelve years of age from getting electronic services. According to the AAP and the French academy’s instructions, parents and guardians are encouraged to turn off their televisions when they are not in use and keep their phones out of reach of kids. In 2019, another children’s health organisation issued suggestions to parents and guardians on managing their children’s screen time (Sumonja & Jevtic, 2019). The measures prioritised events such as interaction and consciousness of parental media access as the effective strategy to reduce time spent online as toddlers usually learn from role models.
Summary
The health measures of children and technology use have been the subject of research. On the other hand, according to a study, screen time replaces parent-child connection and sleep activities. Media time is another area where parents, guardians, and health organisations should concentrate. Their participation will help lower the amount of time youngsters spend on computers, resulting in better sleep.
The Theory of Moral Panic
The increased attention of caring parents and some teachers are caused by the fact that children spend a lot of free time on computers. Their leisure, interests, priorities, and values are built around social networks, television, and computer games. Some of the children want to connect their future profession with technology. At times, a moral panic is generated in society in this regard, caused by fears for children’s physical and mental health. By this theory, the community draws a model of fears, consisting of the modern generation’s general emotional coldness. The use of machines and computers allegedly mechanizes the minds of young people, which has a terrible effect on society as a whole.
Spending time in front of a computer or TV, children lose social and communication skills. Social media and long screen time have a fundamental influence on the formation of social panic (Lind, 2021). Social networks create children and teenagers with the wrong system of expectations for themselves (for their appearance, body, productivity, academic success). Spending a lot of time on social networks and television, children build the life described there into the sphere of their priorities and values, striving for this.
However, there are different points of view when considering this issue. Some people sincerely believe that children’s use of social networks is detrimental to their emotional state; it leads to self-criticism, self-esteem issues, and depression. Another point of view is that it is helpful for children to learn about the world through social networks. This way, they can learn more about other cultures, countries, and languages. Children will be able to learn tolerance very early from childhood; they will have before their eyes many examples of how people develop in different conditions and what problems they face. It makes their world much larger and more diverse than children of previous generations.
Policy Implications and Parents’ Role
Technology is so pervasive in society in the 21st-century, and a rigorous effort must be taken to safeguard youths from the ramifications of technology usage. As a result of this dialogue, technology gives opportunities for kids to learn, entertain themselves, and socialise. The protocols for screen time may appear to fail for unknown reasons, such as why the children’s screen time is so high. Based on profound evidence, new quality sanctions have been implemented because of technological advancements and trends.
Children spend at least three hours online on ordinary weekday afternoons after school. A report from the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) shows a rise in the percentage of students who have access to the Internet (Aarseth et al., 2017). Young people have formed bonds with technology in their homes and other environments, such as schools. Children’s exposure to technology has been more valued than their introduction to books recently. International trends show that the Internet is becoming more accessible to young people (Graafland, 2018). As a result of the increased use of technology in recent years, potential links between psychological well-being and the emotional health of teens. The study was correlational, and it revealed only minor effects of technology use, leaving unanswered questions.
Despite these limitations, science is used to update public opinion and policy surrounding children’s digital exposure. It is critical to recognise the consequences of tech use on teenagers using the prevalence of technology use in today’s culture as a guide. It is concerned with finding the significant capabilities supplied to address the issue in terms of policy and practice. According to a study, parents are meant to be cautious; this will ensure close monitoring of children’s web tech access (Pal, 2019). The government and other private entities with program-making authority must use caution in using their power without thoroughly evaluating the frightening evidence. The goal of the debate is to investigate the studies on the effects of computer use and tactics and regulations for ensuring that children have internet services.
The main task of parents is to protect their children from bad influences and risks. Typically, parents protect their children from malicious or adult advertisement that they cannot yet understand (Graafland, 2018). Parental controls can be easily set up on any computer or phone to keep children safe from violent or pornographic content (Axford et al., 2018). The functionality can be changed over time, as the child grows up. Sometimes parents use software with voice control, which allows them to quickly adjust the content that the child will see.
A separate serious topic is the protection children from cruelty and aggression in computer games. Games for boys (most often) are replete with scenes of murder, fights, blood, and the use of edged weapons (Aarseth et al., 2017). It usually worries parents, especially those who belong to the older generation and have known the joy of parenthood at a very mature age. Parents begin to correlate the behavior shown in these games with the behavior of violent teenagers who are prone to fighting and bullying. They find a very depressing connection and tendency, and they want the children either to be interested in other games, or, in general, in other leisure activities. In turn, children often notice that games with violent scenes helps them express aggression and negative emotions. Quarrels with friends and failures at school with the help of such games can be forgotten, and internal aggression is vented into a socially acceptable field. Thus, a mechanism of sublimation is formed, in which children cannot harm each other physically and not harm themselves, but accumulate achievements in games where it is necessary to kill rivals.
Conclusion
The excessive use of social media among the youths has stipulated strengths, limitations, and future research/ recommendations. The postulated forces are: First, it is the advancement of the brain capacity of the youths at young ages. The use of technology by children has a significant impact on their lives and development. Strengths found included dexterity and speed of thought, a tendency to learn languages easily. Young people who get early exposure to the web are likely to have large brains in creativity, language, and emotional skills. It is advisable to let teens engage with web tech since it sharpens their thinking capacities.
The stipulation of rules to limit screen time among youths and protect their health is a significant focus of study. Despite this effort, other ineffective measures still require examination, leaving the door open for future research. Firstly, the implementation of glasses to reduce the effects of sleep lights coincides with healthy sleep, which is affected by extensive/ prolonged screening hence eye problems. Secondly, the moderate use of the Internet is believed to help children create time with friends and parents. Thirdly, close monitoring of children to help them capture computer content, making them feel accessible and increasing their chances of success due to close monitoring. Fourthly, they are introducing computer posture classes in the curriculum to enable children to get to the proper posture to use and avoid back and neck injuries.
Despite all the attention paid to the research on this topic, there are areas which demand clarity. These include, firstly, the inclusion of the patient-based study and not just the healthy-based analysis. It will consist of the possible cure to the neck problems resulting from excessive screening. Secondly, research on creating links on the excessive use of technology among the youths. The involvement of young people in technology has received far more attention than it deserves. Even though policies focus on the risks, more research and guidance must be offered on the potential dangers and advantages.
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