As I sit here writing this blog, my middle child is begging me to play on the iPad. Oh the irony! I believe there is a balance between kids being kids, running, playing, using their imaginations, getting together with friends, etc. and kids sitting in front of the computer, iPad, television or gaming center. Just as anything in life, there should be a balance between the two. Keeping kids away from technology completely is not preparing them for the future and doesn’t give them the exposure they will need in the real world which is already technology ridden and only getting worse. On the contrary, allowing kids to play video games all day or sit on the iPad watching YouTube videos nonstop is not healthy and can actually be hurting your child in the long-run. Let’s dive into this subject a bit further…
“It is proven that a large percentage of young children now rely on technology for the majority of their play, grossly limiting challenges to their creativity and imaginations, as well as limiting necessary challenges to their bodies to achieve optimal sensory and motor development. Sedentary bodies bombarded with chaotic sensory stimulation are resulting in delays in attaining child developmental milestones, with a subsequent negative impact on basic foundation skills for achieving literacy. Hard-wired for high speed, today’s young are entering school struggling with self-regulation and attention skills necessary for learning, eventually becoming significant behavior management problems for teachers in the classroom.” (Chris Rowan, “The Impact of Technology on the Developing Child”)
Wow, that is a lot to digest! Let’s dive a bit further…
So what is the impact of technology on the developing child?
“Children’s developing sensory, motor, and attachment systems have biologically not evolved to accommodate this sedentary, yet frenzied and chaotic nature of today’s technology. The impact of rapidly advancing technology on the developing child has seen an increase of physical, psychological and behavioral disorders that the health and education systems are just beginning to detect, much less understand. Child obesity and diabetes are now national epidemics in both Canada and the U.S., causally related to technology overuse. Diagnoses of ADHD, autism, coordination disorder, developmental delays, unintelligible speech, learning difficulties, sensory processing disorder, anxiety, depression, and sleep disorders can be associated with technology overuse and are increasing at an alarming rate. An urgent closer look at the critical factors for meeting developmental milestones, and the subsequent impact of technology on those factors, would assist parents, teachers and health professionals to better understand the complexities of this issue, and help create effective strategies to reduce technology use.” (Chris Rowan, “The Impact of Technology on the Developing Child”)
I have researched four critical factors necessary to achieve healthy child development.
- Movement
- Touch
- Human Connection
- Exposure to nature.
These four types of sensory inputs ensure normal development of posture, bilateral coordination, optimal arousal states and self-regulation necessary for preparing children to enter school. It has been proven that young children require 2-3 hours per day of active rough and tumble play for proper sensory stimulation to their vestibular, proprioceptive and tactile systems. Tactile stimulation received through touching, hugging and play is critical for the development of praxis (planned movement patterns). Touch also activates the parasympathetic system lowering cortisol, adrenalin, and anxiety. Nature and “green space” not only calms children but also helps with attention and learning.
So now what? You are dead set on getting your child more active but also know that limiting their technology will be hard or almost impossible. They spend hours on the iPad, computer or gaming system and give “push back” when asked to turn devices off. Here are some tips to make this transition a bit easier.
- Use technology as a reward system
- Limit technology to just 30 minutes a day
- Use technology with your child, monitoring what they are doing and how they are using it
- Use it as a teaching avenue for homeschooling
- Use technology for doing at-home science experiments, recipes, crafts, etc.
I believe it’s important to come together as parents and teachers to help children find the balance between technology and play. While we can’t avoid technology in our children’s lives completely due to the continuously growing technological world we live in, we can protect them from the dangers of too much exposure. Encouraging play throughout the day and keeping kids active and using technology as a reward system can be an option for families looking to raise their kids in a balanced state.
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