Published on September 1st, 2016 | by Guest

Technology and Kids: Stepping Away From Virtual Reality

What ever happened to the days when kids use to look forward to summer vacation so they could travel with family, play with friend’s, and get away from school? Lately, it seems like most children only care about summer break so they can play video games. With technology advancing at an alarming rate, kids, like most adults, feel obligated to keep up with it. In other words, they feel the need to stay up to date with the coolest new gadgets like Play station’s, iPhones, and other handheld devices.

Although these devices are a blessing in many ways, they can also be viewed as a curse as well, especially for children. The Huffington Post, for example, discovered that children who are constantly exposed to technology can suffer from attention deficit disorders. This is a disordered that not only affects a child’s learning ability, but it also leads to disruptive behavior that is not caused by any serious underlying physical or mental disorder. Children can also lose their ability to retain information (memory loss), and experience a decrease in concentration.

In addition to potentially causing attention span issues, there are other downsides to young people over indulging in video games and other technology.

For parents, this means being aware of the different ways technology can harm your child.

The Curse

Cyber Danger. Actions that are deliverable, repeated, and hostile, that’s intended to harm another. Although this doesn’t happen often, children are always at risk of encountering a cyber predator. Since applications are constantly updating, children are unwillingly letting other people know their exact location. Which isn’t always a good thing.

Graphic Violence. Is the depiction of especially vivid, brutal and realistic acts of violence. Watching and interacting with violent shows, or games aren’t good for a child’s developing mind. Furthermore, children who spend more than four hours a day watching television, or playing games are more likely to be overweight.

Isolation. The act of separating something from others. As connected as we are with the use of technology, we can often times find ourselves so wrapped up in the gaming world, we lose sight of the real one. For children in particular, this might result in them refusing to participate in outdoor activities with others and confined inside a room.

A Vital Tip For Parents

Generally speaking, since most parents work full time, it’s hard to keep an eye on your child throughout the course of the day. However, involving children in things like sports, camps, and other outdoor activities are all great ways to prevent them from being isolated. Camps, for example, find different ways to get children involved by using games, and activities such as horseback riding, ceramics, and theater as icebreakers. Sports, on the other hand, allow children to get involved in the active world, while spending less time in the gaming one.

The Balance

Get Involved. For parents, this means monitoring what your child watches not only on television, but on their devices as well. Remember, Netflix and YouTube are just a click away. So make sure they aren’t playing games that you feel encourages violent acts.

Cut Back On Screen Time. If you take into account the amount of screens we have access to (television, phones, tablets, and gaming devices), you just might lose count. Set aside some time for your child to interact with these devices and once time is up, power off the electronic device. This will also help prevent them from straining their eyes.

Photo credit: Futuristic Livingroom

No Television In The Bedroom. That’s right, removing the TV set from the bedrooms will help cut down the amount of screen time children are exposed to. It also helps to place the television in a communal location (such as the living room). That way the child will more than likely watch TV with other relatives, meaning the content they’re viewing will also be monitored by an adult, or an older family member.

About the author:

Cody Hill

Growing up Cody loved reading, and exploring the wilderness to get out the house. Throughout his childhood, Cody always managed to get his hands on books and loved playing with animals. Now, as an adult, books are still a part of Cody’s life and he loves reading them.

Cody is also a recent graduate from Boise State University, receiving a degree in English, Writing Emphasis. Today, if you can’t find Cody online reading articles, you can catch him watching football (go Seahawks!) or chasing his dog, Bruno out in the park.

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Thank you again for taking the time to read my article. I would like to know, what are some other ways you can get kids out of the house? Or how do you feel technology has influenced you? I will be checking for comments, so feel free to express your thoughts and opinions.

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