March 29, 2024

Memories of the good old days when we were growing up – a comic book, which is worth to understand the problems of today’s children. Just 20 years ago, children played all day in the street, rode a bicycle, played sports and built fortresses. Masters of imaginary games, children of the past have created their own form of play, which does not require expensive equipment or parental control. Children of the past … moved a lot, and their sensual world was simple and natural. In the past, the family was often devoted to household chores and the children had daily expectations. The dining table was the centerpiece of families gathering to eat and talk about their day, and after lunch it became a center of baking, crafts and homework.

Today’s families are different. The influence of technology on the family in the 21st century undermines its foundations and causes the collapse of the core values that have long united families. Interacting between work, home and social life, parents now rely heavily on communication, information and transport technologies to make their lives faster and more efficient. Entertainment technologies (television, Internet, video games, iPod) have evolved so quickly that families have hardly noticed the impact and significant changes in their family structure and lifestyle. A 2010 study by the Kaiser Foundation found that elementary school children use entertainment technology for an average of 8 hours a day, 75% of these children have a TV in their bedroom, and 50% of families in North America have a TV. . Add email, mobile phones, the Internet and chat lines, and we’ll start to see the ubiquitous aspects of technology in our home life and in our home environment. Gone are the conversations at the dinner table, they were replaced by the “big screen” and takeaway food. Currently, children rely on technology in most of their games, which greatly limits their creativity and imagination, as well as the tasks required by their body to achieve optimal sensory and motor development.

So how does technology affect a developing child? The development of children’s sensory and motor systems has not evolved biologically to adapt to this sedentary but frantic and chaotic nature of modern technology. The impact of rapid advances in technology on a developing child has led to an increase in physical, psychological and behavioural disorders that health and education systems are just beginning to identify, let alone understand. Childhood obesity and diabetes have become national epidemics in Canada and the United States. Diagnosis of ADHD, autism, coordination disorders, sensory processing disorders, anxiety, depression and sleep disorders can be causally linked to overuse of technology and is increasing at an alarming rate. A deeper and urgent study of the critical factors critical to achieving developmental advances and the subsequent impact of technology on these factors will help parents, teachers and health professionals better understand the complexity of the process. Use. Technology. Three critical factors for a child’s healthy physical and psychological development are movement, touch and communication with other people. Movement, touch and communication are important sensory inputs that are an integral part of the final development of motor skills and child attachment systems. When movement, touch and communication are forbidden, there are devastating consequences.

Young children need an active, restless game of 3-4 hours a day to achieve adequate sensory stimulation of their vestibular, proprioceptive and tactile systems for normal development. The critical period for attachment development is 0-7 months, and communication between the child and the parent is best possible through close contact with the primary parent and abundant visual contact. This type of sensory information provides normal posture development, bilateral coordination, optimal arousal status and self-regulation necessary to acquire basic skills for possible school entry.

As children become more involved in technology, society sees a gap between themselves, others and nature. As young children develop and shape their identity, they often cannot understand whether they are a ‘killing machine’ that is shown on television and in video games, or simply a shy and lonely little child who needs a friend. Addiction to television and video games is causing an irreversible global epidemic of mental and physical health problems, but we all find excuses to continue. Where we had to move 100 years ago to survive, we now assume that we need technology to survive. The catch is that technology is killing what we love most… communicating with others. The critical period of adhesing is between 0 and 7 months. Attachment or bonding is the formation of a primary relationship between a developing child and a parent, which is an integral part of the sense of safety and security of this developing child. As a result of the formation of a healthy attachment, the child becomes happy and calm. Violation of primary attachment or neglect of it leads to the appearance of an anxious and restless child. The use of technology in the family not only strongly affects the early formation of attachment, but also negatively affects the psychological and behavioral health of the child.

Further analysis of the effects of technology on a developing child shows that if the vestibular, proprioceptive, tactile and attachment system is not sufficiently stimulated, the visual and auditory sensory systems are “overloaded”. This sensory imbalance causes huge problems in general neural development, as the anatomy, chemistry and conductive pathways of the brain are constantly changing and being disrupted. Young children who are abused through television and video games are in a state of high levels of adrenaline and stress because the body does not know that what they are watching is not real. Children who abuse this technology report persistent physical sensations in the form of general “shaking”, rapid breathing and heartbeat, as well as the general state of “discomfort”. Best of all, it’s described as a constantly hypervigulence sensory system, always “vigilant” to the impending onslaught of video game characters.

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