A Wonderful, Misused Tool

Technology in and of itself is wonderful. It gives us access to an abundance of great information that we use every day, such as the internet. It contains programs that can help with brain development and all kinds of wonderful tools we can use to progress in life. However, it can also have an extremely negative impact on children and their parents. It can impact the way children think and develop, possibly dampening critical skills that people learn as children. It is very harshly affecting their self esteem with constant access to social media and the negative effects that come with that such as depression, anxiety and feelings of low self-worth. It is affecting the way kids are learning in schools as well by not teaching them valuable, creativity skills that we learn with art and writing. And lastly, it is also affecting parents. Parenting has become more stressful now that there are many games, shows, and images they need to filter to protect their children. They are also using technology as quick uses of bribery instead of discipline. As I mentioned, technology is not all bad; however, without a good balance, it can be very harmful to the future generations of society.

A Child 20 Years Ago

Picture a child 20 years ago. They are most likely running around, wanting to go outside, begging for a popsicle or a sailboat to play with in their bath. Precious. Now picture a child today. They are probably sitting down playing on a tablet or some touch screen device. And if they aren’t doing that, they are most definitely crying, chasing their caregivers around begging for one. This is a behavior I have been noticing a lot lately. It’s a problem I have seen consistently grow over the past few years, and it is very depressing. Children should be active and playful, playing tag with the neighborhood kids and exploring their imaginations; things that I remember doing as a kid. They should not be cooped up inside, staring at an illuminated screen until their eyes turn red, which is what I see most kids doing nowadays. My observations led me to wonder what has caused this change. And I believe it’s this growing age of technology that parents can’t seem to find a good balance in.

Americans Ignoring Facts

   This article is pretty interesting and opened my eyes a little bit, showing me just how corrupt everything has become that literally no one is trustworthy. I feel like everyone, whether it be government officials, politicians, news anchors or whomever it may be... it seems that they are all making up facts or getting information from untrustworthy sources. It's a shame because right now in the world, everyone is freaking about and wanting to look somewhere for truth... but there is no where to find it. People, now more than ever, need hope for a better government and better society but because of all the corruption, it seemingly impossible.
   I am glad, however, that crime is lower than it has been in the past - despite what the rest of the news has been saying. I am just as shocked as most people were when asked by Nyhan and Reifler about the fact corrections. This world is nuts.

My hoped for my research paper

   My hopes in doing this research is that I will gather sufficient, relevant information to help me. Meaning that I want to root within myself a non-technology-dependent foundation. If I don’t use it so much, I will be happier and less reliant on others to entertain me. I will also be lessening the amount of damage that too much technological exposure can cause to my brain and psychological development. In addition, when I come to a point in my life when I have a family, I will be able to teach my kids that technology can be useful but should not be their primary source of entertainment. The second reason is to help all my readers to do the same. The biggest problem we are seeing with this issue is obliviousness. Not many people are aware of the very real damages caused by the overexposure of technology. My hope is that reading this paper will cause readers to reflect on how they are using technology, and maybe change some things. Especially when it comes to their children. I want parents and those affiliated with education to be aware of the damages that can be caused by inappropriate use of technology and start now to limit the use so that their children can grow and develop free from the harmful effects of technology use.

The Challenges of Raising a Digital Native

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eRQdAOrqvGg
This was another great TEDTalk more focused on teens and parenting with technology. I completely agree that kids are losing social skills. I really liked where she was talking about how when parents enter a room all they see is their kids looking down at some device rather than socializing with each other. Social skills are one of the most important qualities one can have in life in my opinion. Especially when it comes to getting and thriving in a job. Social skills are everything!!

It's also really sad to me that anxiety becomes so real and damaging while still so young. Being young should constitute the least amount of worry in the lifetime... yet because of social media and technology, they are suffering from all these harsh effects that they can't hide from, because it is everywhere!

Children and Technology: Pros and Cons

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cYqPGqczdvo

This was a really great TEDTalk about how technology is affecting education. I couldn't believe that recess was being taken out of elementary schools! That's insane to me! Kids nowadays need to be more active than they are and the fact that the only active time they have access to during school is being eliminated is beyond aggravating.

"Girl" vs "Woman"

   I have honestly never been too bothered by the girl/woman interchange. I haven't thought about it too much. Either I'm just not too picky or I am still young and consider myself to be a girl in some cases. However I will say that I do my best not to call men, boys. I'm not sure why I have focused on that and noticed that difference and not for females... but I'm glad I saw this because, thinking about my own opinion on the subject, I do think it can be pretty offensive when "girl" is used inappropriately. The phrase "don't be such a girl" is really annoying. Or, "you're just a girl what do you know?"... that one sucks. I feel like females are generally more disrespected by men than women disrespecting men. As a female myself, there could be some major bias there! But who cares, this is my blog.