Final Post - Relationship with Technology

 Our Relationship with Technology

When I reflect on technology and its relationship with our world today, my biggest concern is children. 

As someone who loves kids and hopes to have a family one day, the relationship children have with technology raises many red flags for me. As time passes, kids become increasingly dependent on technology because of their exposure to it and their relationship with it. The world is completely changing because of technology. 

Because this topic is interesting to me, I conducted further research about the role technology has in child development and found three points that should raise concern for everyone. 

1. Technology puts children at risk for addiction and overuse. 

Technology addiction is a type of behavioral addiction that occurs because of dopamine releases. When people watch video games, scroll endlessly through videos, or receive likes on a post dopamine is released in their brain. This is concerning, because the more this happens, the more a person wants to experience that feeling again. Dopamine levels decline with age, which means children have much higher levels of dopamine,  Children should get bursts of dopamine from using their imaginations when playing with friends, or learning how to ride a bike! Not playing dangerous video games with friends for hours. Technology is created to be addictive, and if we're not careful, it will become the next harmful drug. 

2. Technology is a simple way to ruin a child's innocence. 

Technology allows kids to have internet access, and with internet access comes harmful content access. The online world is a terrifying place full of inappropriate content and online predators, and it's not anywhere a child should be spending their time. Not only are they at risk to finding out Santa isn't real because a Mommy influencer posts "Elf on the Shelf ideas" on TikTok, they also can view pornography and sex trafficking content. Children deserve a childhood full of imagination, creativity, and innocence, however, technology and online media makes it almost impossible. 

3. Technology limits a child's opportunity for interaction. 

As children develop, they need to interact with people of all ages. This helps with social and communication skills, among other things. If a child is sitting in front of a screen for the majority of the day, they're missing out on important interactions. A prime example of this is a child playing on a tablet at the dinner table instead of talking to their family. Or a class of first graders learning on Chromebooks instead of listening to their teacher. Slowly but surely, their interactions are becoming a small tablet instead of the people around them. 

Watching Are You Lost In The World Like Me in class provided me with a different perspective on how kids are experiencing the world today. Our relationship with technology becomes their relationship with technology. We are obligated to give children the childhood they deserve, and being glued to phones 24/7 is the exact opposite of what we should be doing. 

Personally, I feel like I am somewhat addicted to technology. I am constantly checking my phone, scrolling through social media, and texting my friends. I sometimes think about how much of the world I must be missing because my face is in my phone. It is really sad to think about all that I've missed so far. This class has definitely helped me identify where my relationship with technology stands, and where I need to make improvements. As I continue to age and mature, I hope I can work towards separating technology from my life and using it only for things like communication and documenting moments. For my future kids, I hope I'll be able to confidently teach them that there's more to the world than what you see through a screen.