The Rise of Technology & How it Affects our Children - Part One

Technology has become an influential force in our world, so much so that it has affected the speed at which we are able to communicate, access information, and quickly connect with other people on the other side of the globe.

Internet, social media, email, text messaging and socially interactive video games have made communication and entertainment, simpler, quicker and a whole lot better. However, what effect does this have on us as we become more and more accustomed to having everything so fast, and at the touch of a button?

In an already fast world I have started to notice that as it becomes easier to obtain the information we need so quickly, people are becoming less and less tolerant of waiting. This eventually translates into feelings of impatience, stress, frustration and even anger when people do not get what they want as quickly as they’d like to.

I have witnessed in store lines, airports, and in the bank, people literally flying into a states of rage, frustration and/or impatience, because they cannot simply walk in and have what they want, when they want it, and at the drop of a hat. People are becoming less and less tolerant of having to wait to be attended to, and to have things done. In my opinion this is because the rise of technology makes things so easy for us, that we expect the whole world to run faster all of the time.

Technology seems to have stepped in and is taking over our world so much so that relationships are being affected. People seem to spend less and less time actually sitting together, connecting as people in real life. The easy way to mingle these days is virtually on social media. The personal connection is fading out, and what kind of an example is this setting to our children about social interaction, and the value of relationships? How does technology actually affect our children, and how they relate to the world and people around them? This is an important question I have been thinking a lot about lately.

Children are already being exposed to cell phones, computerized devices, watches and games consoles from a very young age. On many occasions when we have went out to dinner, or out shopping for example, I have seen children set up with laptops, phones with video games and little hand held games consoles just to keep them entertained and quiet while out and about. While of course I understand why parents would do this to keep the child busy and to avoid distraction, I wonder why is it necessary to always choose a video game to entertain the child. What is wrong with a simple book, or some sort of art activity to stimulate the child’s mind and creativity.

It concerns me a great deal to see so many children these days already hooked on extremely stimulating video games. The effect these games have on children when they are over exposed to them cannot be positive. I know that there are arguments that yes, the games do help develop some positive traits in kids, such as cooperation, teamwork, thinking, intellectual abilities, and the strategic skills that are required to win the game. On the hand while these might seem like benefits, there are a great deal of negatives which far out weight the benefits of letting your child play with a video game. I know this because I have been through it with my own children.

The first thing i'd like to discuss, is that by allowing children to play video games too much we are conditioning them to become frustrated and bored with dealing with the real world, in real time. Kids are slowly becoming like many of the adults I mentioned earlier, frustrated, impatient and expect everything to happen right here, right now. Everything is slower and less stimulating in the real world, compared to the world in a video game, and because of this children begin to develop feelings of frustration and dissatisfaction with the pace of the real world. Everything is boring in comparison to the constant, and excessive visual and emotional stimulation, and reward of the video game.

When children play video games that involve shooting, killing and winning, what happens is that the reward centers in the brain are stimulated, and release the neurotransmitter dopamine. Dopamine is associated with the pleasure system of the brain, providing feelings of enjoyment and the motivation to do, or continue to do, certain activities which make you feel good. Dopamine is released by rewarding experiences such as eating and drinking, and for addictions, like drinking alcohol, smoking and gambling.

In children, dopamine is released during the times of heightened pleasure and stimulation of playing their video games, meaning that as more and more game playing produces more and more reward, the brain becomes accustomed to having such a high sense of reward from the game, that the child increasingly needs more and more stimulus. All other activities which do not produce the same level of stimuli or excitement are simply boring, to the point that many kids end up feeling depressed, and unhappy with life.

This really begins to affect the child on many levels from socially, to emotionally and psychologically, and even educationally. Obviously if the child is not receiving the same level of reward or stimulation as he is used to from the increased use of video games, he will become bored with friends, school, and any other activities that do not involve playing video games.

The aspect of the this which really concerns me is that in one hand we allow our children to have excessive exposure to technology, allowing them become accustomed to the heightened stimulation from the games, without really considering how it affects them. Then we send them off into the real world, to school for example, where they are forced to sit in a room all day, learning lessons at a desk, doing exercises and work that is nowhere near as exciting as the video game they played for hours the night before, and then expect them to adjust normally, then labelling them and diagnosing them when they cannot. Next thing you know, is that the teacher is calling home asking to meet with the parent due to concerns with the child's inability to focus, and is listening, constantly fidgeting, daydreaming, disruptive, not paying attention and is displaying behaviors associated with the ADHD diagnosis.

We are setting our children up for failure this way. We cannot expect them at such a young age to be able to adapt so readily to such a change in pace from a video game to a classroom.

We really need to limit the time children spend with technology and gaming devices. Instead of letting a TV or a computer entertain, or take care of your children when you are busy, or are out and about. Give them a book to read, or a drawing pad that will help stimulating their inspiration, creativity and imagination.

Don't be afraid to let your children get bored, there is nothing wrong with that. It is during periods of boredom that we become most innovative, as great ideas have the space to come to life. Boredom is not always a bad thing, it can be very inspiring. Let your child discover his own creative genius, and encourage him with offering the him the space to express it.

As a mother of two tweens, I know it is easy to sit your kid in front of a device when you are drained, exhausted and cannot summon up the energy to deal with anything else during your already chaotic day, however, it is unfair to children in the long run when we leave them to be minded by an electronic device. It is neglectful, even when the kid appears to be having fun.

I will write more about this subject later, highlighting a few experiences I have seen myself first hand. For now I just want to leave it at that, with a light mention of the subject. Give your child some of your time. Give them some of your attention, they need it. Take them for a walk, talk to them and get to know who they are. You might be pleasantly surprised! Let your kids be who they truly are, and remember, they cannot do that when their minds are numbed by technology. Believe me, try it. You will feel better as a parent, and even if it requires more of your time and energy, in the end you will not regret it. Until next time...

Be realistic, daydream often

Ashleigh XO