Kids, Computers, and Consequences

               I just want everyone to think about either your child, your (possible) future child, or a child that is very close to you.  Now think of all the things you have seen and heard of about being able to do on the computer.  Now think about that child being on a computer and being able to see and hear all of those things you just thought of.  Does that scare you, and should that scare you?  My name is Candace, and I have a lot of kids between the ages 3 and 14 that I am very close to and worry about as far as technology.  I’d like to address the issue of children and the effect media and technology have on them.  I’d also like to address the positive and negative sides of the issue. 

Children may be spending entirely too much time on the computer, video games, or watching tv and not participating in enough activities outside of these things.  How do you decide where to draw the line? 

Some may argue that technology helps children in their education, which can definitely be true, but have you ever heard of the University of Google?  I’m not saying this only applies to children, but it could definitely be seen as a hindrance to a child’s education if they are relying on and believing everything they find on Google.  As I said, technology can also have positive effects.  Here you can see some of the positive effects, such as better attitudes from the children toward education and faster learning with technology use, in addition to some of the negative effects.

Of course there are many studies that have been done that have highlighted negative effects that technology has on children, such as laziness and increase in violence.  Other examples and details can be found here.

Hopefully with this blog, I’ll be able to discover the serious negative issues and the best of the positive issues and how to help the children we are close to be affected as positively as possible.