One of my favorite childhood memories is when my family would drop everything and go on a road trip. I loved the spontaneity of the adventure. I learned the roads after a few summer trips, how to have conversations with my family and how to occupy myself. Today, young children across the nation are not sure how to sit in a car and just look out the window.
Fifteen years ago, having a CD player was the trademark quality of luxury cars. Now, cars have been transformed into personal movie theaters. Why would children need to look out the window when they have LCD televisions with Dolby surround sound? The time of playing eye-spy and word games to entertain young kids is fading quickly.
When I was in elementary school, I loved reading books and playing outside. Today, children’s extracurricular activities are found on their cell phones and computers. According to a recent study by the Personal Finance Education Group, the average child gets a cell phone around 8 years old, the age of an average second-grader. When I was in the second grade, I loved playing with Barbie dolls, doing puzzles and reading the Magic Tree House books. A second grader is just beginning to learn advanced addition and subtraction. I never had the option of texting my friends in class or surfing Facebook at recess.
[quote] Our society needs to reduce the amount of time children have access to technology, and should instead be reintroducing American children to reading books, playing hide-and-go-seek outside with their friends and looking out the window during long road trips. [/quote]
The prevalence of technology in our society is expanding significantly every day. Some people argue that the younger generations are gaining the upper hand as they mature into adulthood, due to a familiarity with modern technology earlier in life. Others believe that it may lead to a serious developmental problem.
According to an article from USA Today, children that are exposed to 8.5 hours of television, video games, computers and other media every day may be losing the ability to concentrate. Similarly, a study conducted by the Kaiser Family Foundation found that heavy media use amongst pre-school, elementary and high school students is associated with several potential setbacks, including behavioral problems and lower grades.
These studies have also suggested that children are having a more difficult time focusing in class. The improvement in technology has not only hindered some children’s ability to focus, but has been linked to substantial increases in childhood obesity.
According to the United States Department of Heath, childhood obesity rates in America have tripled over the past 30 years. Today, nearly one in three children in America are considered overweight or obese, a percentage that should cause concern for most Americans. Unhealthy weight gain due to poor diet and lack of exercise is responsible for over 300,000 deaths each year.
Children growing up in America today have a much different childhood then I did. DVD movies, 3D televisions, motion video games and touch-screen cell phones are now considered the normal “toys” for American children. Two things that have not changed, though, are the availability of books and the great outdoors. Technological development does not need to be stopped, but children should be introduced to it gradually. Parents across the United States may enjoy the new technological gadgets for themselves, but need to remember that their children are still developing. Our society needs to reduce the amount of time children have access to technology, and should instead be reintroducing American children to reading books, playing hide-and-go-seek outside with their friends and looking out the window during long road trips.