Question: Digital technology may impact the brain development of youth ranging from all ages. Particularly for the point of discussion, I have chosen to focus on digital technology and the younger aged groups. Infancy and toddler groups. I think it is safe to say that the way digital technology has grown over the years is almost uncontrollable at this point. We see technology everywhere and it is being manufactured for children as young as zero. It is crazy to think about.
New technological devices, particularly those with touch screens, have become virtually omnipresent over the last decade. Weigelt, S. (2016).
The article that I wanted to bring attention to focused on whether or not tablets specfically were useful and usbale for children regardless of how young they were. It broke down how children from two and above are able to fully grasp the concept of what they were engaging in as far as the use of a table.
They were able to are able to understand the respective tasks and are able to use tablets to register their answers accordingly. Weigelt, S. (2016).
This sparked the question on whether it is healthy for someone of that ages brain to be stimulated by an electronic. After reading into it, it may not be too good for children to be engaged with digital techonolgy so soon. The study showed that 68% of surveyed parents of 2-year-olds use tablets. Meanwhile, 59% use smartphones, and 44% use video game consoles. Using these devices could actually jumpstart the the delay of regular communication with other people.
It also speaks that of course the technology can aid the skills in talking, listen and/or learning but it definitely cannot replace the quality of learning things naturally through experience. Also, the hearing of the child can be impacted negatively because if they are consistently engaged on the tablet or phone, the loud noises coming from those devices can lead to hearing loss, up to 72%.
I believe there are pluses to being able to allow children to use technology on an occasion but it is stil crucial to allow them to experience things such as playing, being outside or reading old school books.
Anything that can be a potential hazard to children should be limited even if it means pulling them away from the beloved digital technology of their choice.
References: Semmelmann, K., Nordt, M., Sommer, K., Röhnke, R., Mount, L., Prüfer, H., & .Weigelt, S. (2016). U can touch this: How tablets can be used to study cognitive development. Frontiers In Psychology, 7
New Asha Survey of U.S. Parents: significant percentages report that very young children are using technology usage is occurring when human interaction is key to developing strong communication skills. (2015, may 8). States news service.