Today, we are aware that we live in a changing society. Technology advances every year, a fact that is difficult for the elderly to adapt, but, at the same time, a new digital era in which children grow up hand in hand with new technologies. With this change between generations, it is likely that older people ask ourselves what is good and what is bad in the new generations that grow up with the change. So, we invite you to read this article from Psychology-Online: how new technologies affect children.
Index
- Advantages and disadvantages of technology for children
- Negative effects of technology on children
- Advantages of new technologies for children
Advantages and disadvantages of technology for children.
New technologies have a controversial effect on people's everyday lives. Just as promote communication among people, they also promote a impoverishment of relationships social and personal. For this reason, below, we will comment on some of the negative consequences and advantages that new technologies have on the daily lives of children. Where the pros and cons of technology in children will be valued and also
Negative effects of technology on children.
How does technology affect children? Social isolation and the impoverishment of relationships are the main consequences of new technologies. However, we must also take into account everything that new technologies can generate. Next, we explain the consequences of technologies on children, as well as negative effects of new technologies on children:
- Social isolation: social isolation refers to the lack of personal contact, a fact that can be achieved with the abuse of new technologies. Due to the impact of new technologies on children, there is social fragmentation, which leads to more individualism. In this case, it is interesting to know How to improve social skills in children.
- Replacement: On many occasions, people replace human relationships with a cybernetic substitute, a fact that fosters social isolation.
- Lack of emotional contact: Due to individualism and social isolation, a lack of personal contact is generated that leads to a decrease in everything emotional.
- Information saturation: New technologies often contribute to facilitating information gathering, although instead of facilitate it, on many occasions a saturation is generated that hinders communicative interaction and produces confusion.
- Repetitive routines: more often, boys and girls get used to automated routines in the use of new technologies, a fact that promotes less spontaneity and creativity.
- Difficulties speaking and communicating: With the current trend that leads us to less social contact, it leads us, at the same time, to an increase in the difficulties to speak and to communicate.
- Absence or decrease in symbolic play: the fact of spending more time in new technologies than in strengthening social relationships encourages that children do not spend so much time playing symbolic games (playing firefighter, playing vet…). In the following article you will find the Game theory of Piaget, Vygotsky and Freud.
- Distraction: on many occasions, parents use new technologies to distract their children from situations in which they probably do not know manage your frustration, so that children are more likely to develop a great intolerance to frustration. In this way, children do not face situations as they should. This is one of the most worrying consequences of technologies for children.
- Absence of boredom: children should learn to entertain themselves, without having to resort to new technologies. However, today, it is common for children to be distracted by mobile or cell phone, tablet or tablet and other technological objects that encourage children to not tolerate the boredom. Attention! Using the mobile phone to avoid unpleasant emotions can end up developing Mobile phone addiction.
Advantages of new technologies for children.
The negative effects of new technologies usually appear due to the use and abuse of new technologies in children. However, if good use is made of new technologies, they can be very beneficial for the development of children. Taking advantage of the ease with which children are born to deal with new technologies, it can be put to use educational that allows to promote a better evolutionary development of children, both in the academic field and in the field Social. Thus, the benefits of new technologies in children. Let's look at some of these advantages:
- Skills development: Using new technologies allows children to develop certain skills, such as decision-making, skills technological (necessary to study and work in most cases), ability to analyze, solve problems, observation, among others.
- Encourage knowledge: allows children to easily access any type of information and for free. Regarding this ease of accessing all kinds of information, it is advisable to maintain parental control.
- Learn to learn: By providing information, children, surfing the Internet, learn how they can acquire new knowledge.
- Investigation: The fact of having a free hand to search for information on any topic of interest, promotes that the children have a greater interest in investigating and discovering new things and, thus, acquiring new knowledge. In addition, this stimulation for research, at the same time stimulates the desire to learn autonomously in children.
- School support: How does technology affect children's education? New technologies can be used as a school support resource, so that it can help improve academic results, above all, of those children with special educational needs (students who suffer from a disability or learning). In any case, students can access a wide variety of online games for educational purposes, such as games designed to improve attention.
- Academic results: According to various studies, the educational use of new technologies improves students' academic results. Thus, those students who use information and communication technologies (ICT) as a resource school and feed on its benefits, obtain better results than students who do not use these resources.
- Socialization: New technologies are a good tool to help children socialize, whether through chats, games, etc. In this way, children can maintain contact with children, both from their own city and from different cities and cultures.
This article is merely informative, in Psychology-Online we do not have the power to make a diagnosis or recommend a treatment. We invite you to go to a psychologist to treat your particular case.
If you want to read more articles similar to How new technologies affect children, we recommend that you enter our category of Socialization problems.
Bibliography
- Rodríguez, I. (2006). Childhood and new technologies: an analysis of the discourse on the information society and children. Politics and Society, 43(1), 139-157.
