Technology And Its Impact On Children’s Social And Emotional Development

Introduction

Today, children as young as one years old are frequently using technology. However, the use of technology at such a young age can impact a child’s social and emotional development. Children under the age of eight using technology have almost become universal, engaging with devices such as television, computers, tablets, iPads and phones. This contemporary issue is affecting many young children because their personality and behaviour can be affected by using technology. Socially and emotionally children can also be impacted negatively.

Scope of the Study

Before beginning research on the impacts of technology in children, many other topics had considered and explored but this topic was chosen due to it becoming a major concern in society and it is a contemporary issue. The target group for this investigation is children under the age of eight. By conducting primary and evaluating secondary research, it will be possible to reach a conclusion as to whether technology impacts a child’s social and emotional development.

The three focus questions that will be used to help reach a conclusion are:

1. In what ways are children accessing technology at a young age?
2. How does technology psychologically affect children’s social and emotional behaviour?
3. How can parents and schools address this issue?

Methodology

The resources that will be used to reach a conclusion are secondary sources such as websites, articles and blogs. Primary sources such as government websites like the Australian Bureau of Statistics will be used as well as an interview with a clinical psychologist. One of the professionals that were interviewed was Stephanie De Garis, a registered Clinical Psychologist and a board-approved supervisor with the Australian Health Practitioner’s Regulation Agency. She conducts her profession at OK Psychology which is a private clinical psychology practice located in South Australia. The second professional who was interviewed is Jade Wallace. She is an early childhood educator in a South Australian based childcare centre.

In What Ways Are Children Accessing Technology at a Young Age

Children are accessing technology in several different ways, as it is accessible in their households as well as schools, childcare centres and their friends. Most children start adapting to technology because their parents are regularly using it such as their phones, computers and television. Furthermore, parents often use technology as a form of discipline. If a parent needs to do chores around the house, they may leave their child in front of a television screen or give them a handheld device to keep them quiet for a few hours. This action is also demonstrated in public places by parents. Once their child starts to be fussy and screams in a restaurant or a supermarket, they may pass them a technology device to calm them down. Often, it works, and the child stops whatever they are doing.

Children and parents may eventually get into bad habits. A child will consciously know that if they have an ‘outburst’, they will get technology so they will demonstrate that to get whatever they want, and parents often use technology as an easy way out of dealing with their child’s bad behaviours.

An article written by Josie Gurney-Read from The Telegraph has revealed that a survey found that 70% of children are exposed to technology devices before they start school because their parents want them to be confident with using the devices once they start school. Jade Wallace, an early childhood educator said that they mostly use “big screens” such as televisions and IPads in her childcare centre. This means from the age of one, children are already using technology devices. Furthermore, by the time, children start their schooling years, they know more about technology then their parents. Louise, from My Three and Me revealed the statistics that “almost 60% of primary school children know more about technology than their mothers.”

Additionally, the survey conducted from The Telegraph also revealed that 17% of those children owned a smartphone and/or tablet under the age of three years old.[footnoteRef:6] Stephanie De Garis, a clinical psychologist who was interviewed said that 'Some parents have no boundaries and children can choose what and how long they use devices for. There are parents that are the complete opposite and attempt to eliminate the use of all technology.” Children are accessing technology devices mostly from their parents and schools.

How Does Technology Psychologically Affect Children’s Social and Emotional Behaviour

Children’s social and emotional development is psychologically affected by the use of technology according to Dr. Charles J. Sophy, an adolescent medicine specialist from Sharecare. Therefore, children will begin to demonstrate negative characteristics when starting to use technology. As De Garis said, “some negative characteristics include distractibility, poor attention, poor emotional regulation, poor concentration, poor social skills and low self-esteem.” When children use technology, they tend to shut themselves off to their surroundings. They will use all concentration and put all of their attention to what they are doing on the device. By doing this, it affects their social life and social development. “Technology can have both a positive and negative impact on a child’s social life” said De Garis. In a positive aspect, “technology has made it easier for children to connect with their friends and have more social engagement” also according to De Garis. Self-regulation, empathy and self-awareness are the traits that are most impacted by the excessive use of technology in young children. They lose the ability to stay alert and focused, they lack in having face to face human interaction and emotion toward things along with losing the ability to recognise their surroundings such as other people and the environment. Wallace said that the children in her childcare suffer from fatigue and poor eyesight as well as, “Never wanting to interact with other children or their surroundings, as they would rather spend time on the technology device.”

Equally important, there are also negative aspects such as an, “Increase in connection has also increased incidents of bullying and social comparison which can lead to low self-esteem”, De Garis said. Emotionally, children are also impacted. Emotional development is essential for a child because they need to develop emotional skills and behaviours for their future. Using technology quite early on can stunt their development and decrease their emotional traits when they get older. Technology can change the way children think. J, Taylor who wrote an article for Psychology Today said that when children are reading books or doing other educational activities, their thinking and attention span changes. Reading books can be quiet, visually restricted, in a slow-paced setting with few distractions and because of that they can focus and think deeply. When using technology, it is high speed paced, very broad and full of many distractions which results in them not being focused on one thing at a time.

De Garis explained, “A child’s emotional development can be impacted by technology because if children spend a significant amount of time on technology, they limit their exposure to other life experiences. This can include playing with other children which is important for conflict resolution, sharing and self- regulation. This can also include activities like playing outside (e.g. climbing trees) which is important for assessing risks, physical development and again emotional regulation.” She also explains, “When children don’t meet this developmental milestone at a younger age, it can lead to ongoing emotional and behavioural difficulties in future.” W, Cummings from Psych Central, explains that, “Children used to work hard to earn the privilege of playing with their toys or playing outdoors, but now they’re working to earn the privilege of using their electronics.” Using technology does psychologically affect children’s social and emotional behaviour in several ways.

How Can Parents and Schools Address This Issue

There are multiple ways that parents and schools can address this issue. Establishing boundaries is the best way to encourage children to enjoy childhood without technology. According to De Garis, “Parents are very different when it comes to approaching their child’s screen time. I would say most parents attempt to have some boundaries (i.e. only 30 minutes of TV on the weekend), but parents often admit to allowing children to use technology longer than they would like because the children behaviour appears more settled when they are engaged with technology. They also don’t like to deal with the ‘outburst’ from the child when a parent turns the device off.” Writer K, DeName from an article in Psych Central explains that children feel a sense of neglect from their parents when they are using technology themselves. DeName is a mental health counsellor and a child at the age of six approached her in a counselling session saying, 'When my mom and dad are on their phones, they act like I don’t exist. It makes me sad. I call and call their names and sometimes they don’t even look up or act like they hear me.” DeName further explains that this child was a sensitive soul and felt abandoned by their parents. Parents doing this to their children, demonstrates to the child that technology devices are more important than communicating and connecting with their surroundings. Furthermore, it teaches a child to just ignore their surroundings and only focus on what they are doing with the digital devices. Boundaries should be placed for parents with technology usage before there are strict boundaries put on children for their technology usage.

Children also access technology in schools. The strategies that schools are using to address the excessive use of technology are non-existent. Most schools across Australia are filled with technology devices from computers and laptops to handheld devices. The younger generation aren't using as much of the technology for subjects as such but as soon as young children are given free choice playtime, oftentimes, boys and girls will choose a technological device for entertainment. Monitoring children while using technology in schools could be a preventive measure to ensure that the devices are being used safely and efficiently. Another option could be having technology use and internet use in a ‘Code of Conduct’ so parents have a choice to sign whether to reduce the use of technology.

In playgroups, childcare centres, preschools and early years of primary schools, children are introduced to technology. The devices mostly used are televisions and handheld devices such as IPads and tablets. In Australian schools, they implement educational applications on these handheld devices for children to use, for example, literacy applications like learning the alphabet and spelling. Furthermore, numeracy is also used for learning numbers and addition, subtraction, multiplication and division. Wallace explained that her childcare centre limits the amount of screen time. She says, 'we limit our time on the big screen. For example, 2-3-minute videos or something that's beneficial for their education. Parents have also started to bring this effect in, so they are less likely to become grumpy or annoyed at work if we don’t do long videos.” Rules regarding technology could be brought into schools to benefit children’s social and emotional development as well as parents establishing boundaries in their households.

Conclusion

From the evidence presented, it is clear that technology does impact children’s social and emotional development. Digital devices in households and schools need to become less accessible to young children since they negatively impact them psychologically by stunting their social and emotional growth. There are different ways that schools and parents can limit the use of technology and they need to be wary of the emotional and social effects that technology has on young children. Children need to enjoy the real world and environment around them, not the artificial world that’s inside technology devices and social media.

There are both positive and negative aspects to children using technology, but technology mostly negatively impacts children, especially their social and emotional development. Technology use at a young age is becoming more of an issue as years go on. Schools and parents need to acknowledge that technology isn’t necessarily benefiting children and boundaries should be put in place at both schools and households. It is important that the impacts of technology on children is recognised and excessive technology use is prevented at a young age.

Bibliography

1. Technology and Young Children 2016, Erikson Institute, pdf, viewed 18 July 2019, https://www.erikson.edu/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/Erikson-Institute-Technology-and-Young-Children-Survey.pdf
2. Interview conducted with Stephanie De Garis (Clinical Psychologist) from OK Psychology located in Adelaide.
3. Interview conducted with Jade Wallace who is an early childhood educator in a South Australian based childcare centre.
4. Kids & Tech: Tips for Parents in the Digital Age 2018, Healthychildren.org, viewed 12 August 2019, https://www.healthychildren.org/English/family-life/Media/Pages/Tips-for-Parents-Digital-Age.aspx
5. Louise 2012, Do your Children Know More About Technology Than You?, My Three and Me, viewed 6 August 2019, https://www.mythreeandme.co.uk/do-your-children-know-more-abou/
6. Teoh, J 2017, Dear Parents, Maybe Using Tech To Keep Your Babies Entertained Isn't The Best Idea?, Vulcan Post, viewed 6 August 2019, https://vulcanpost.com/601307/parents-children-smartphone-techology-dependent/
7. Gurney-Read, J 2013, ‘How young is too young for technology?’, The Telegraph, 2 December, viewed 20 July 2019, https://org.slasa.asn.au/s/XPh8KUGGT6E5ocpocktX8L/harvard/
8. Worrying rise of the iPad childminder: more and more parents admit using tablets to keep their children quiet n.d., Daily Mail, Australia, viewed 12 August 2019, https://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2901261/Worrying-rise-iPad-childminder-parents-admit-using-tablets-children-quiet.html