Freelance journalist, Amy Williams, asks how addicted are our young children to electronic devices, and how does this addiction affect their ability to learn? Some of this research may shock you.
By Amy Williams
We all know that older children love electronic devices, but we’ve only just begun to realize how addicted many elementary-age children are becoming.
When Are Children Being Exposed To Smartphones?
According to a survey done by Child Guide Magazine and VoucherCloud.net, the average child will have their first cell phone when they’re six years old, towards the end of kindergarten. In many cases, there’s a good chance they’ll receive the device before they start first grade, at which point it can be expected to become a significant part of their life.
Of course, different children receive different devices - many children are still given basic phones to start out with, but smartphones are increasingly becoming the first device they get.
How Addicted Are Children?
In one word? Extremely.
As reported by The Health Site, the American Academy of Pediatrics has found that the average 3rd-to-5th grader will spend eight hours a day with different forms of media - four times the amount believed to be healthy.
This is especially true when children are allowed access to media (smartphones, televisions, etc.) within their bedroom - chances are they won’t want to leave it very often.
How Is This Affecting Their Ability To Learn?
Children love using technology, even for learning. In fact, nearly three-quarters of children want to use mobile devices in the classroom more frequently - and 44% of them have their own personal smartphone by the time they’re in elementary school.
Most importantly, however, children are often correct about the ability of smartphones and other technology to help them learn. We’ve known for many years that interaction is one of the keys to brain growth and development - that’s why teachers try to provide as much hands-on time as possible.
However, problems still arise when children start becoming addicted to smartphones - given the choice between playing games on a colorful, friendly device and using a boring pencil to write on paper, which do you think most children would rather be doing?
Worse, internet addiction (which is usually what happens with smartphones) tends to affect the brain in the same way drug addiction does - so parents need to be careful and understand the consequences of un-monitored technology time on their children.
How Can Parents Monitor Their Child’s Internet Usage?
Start by taking all of the technology out of the child’s bedroom - including their smartphone. Science is backing this up - we know exactly how light and technology affect the sleep cycle. Putting every device in a family area (and requiring kids to use the devices there) makes it much easier to see how long they’re spending on a given piece of electronics.
It’s important to begin this as early as you can - kids tend to get rebellious if they have a device taken further away, while simultaneously being more accepting if it was never that close to begin with.
You should consider using parental monitoring software to see how often your child is using their device and keep tabs on what they’re doing. It’s easy for children to accidentally get involved with things they shouldn’t.
What Are Good Apps For Kids?
New apps are being developed all the time, and there’s a good chance any specific recommendations will soon be out of date. Instead, we’re going to teach you how to find good apps regardless of when you begin looking.
Start by going to your search engine of choice - we used Google - and typing in ‘Best Apps for Kids’ (or a similar phrase). Next, click the ‘Search Tools’ button, then use the menus that appear to select a date range for your query. Anything within the last year should still be relevant. This will adjust your results to focus on new guides, and from there you can collect a list of names, then check the reviews for each app on the device itself.
Elementary school kids should be limited to educational apps - nothing that allows them to chat with friends should be permitted.
About Amy
Amy Williams is a freelance journalist based in Southern California and mother of two. As a parent, she enjoys spreading the word on positive parenting techniques in the digital age and raising awareness on issues like cyberbullying and online safety.
