# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Kids and Technology: It's all about balance

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Pros and cons of using technology in the classroom

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Technology has radically changed our everyday lives. No matter whether you're a technophile or a technophobe, you probably can't avoid using tech in your daily life. In fact, if you're reading this article (and I'm thinking you are), you're using tech.

While we may contemplate how tech has changed our daily lives, we should also consider the impact of technology on kids. The next generation hasn't known life without the Internet, cell phones or computers.

How are kids using tech in their daily lives? This infographic displays how kids are using tech, for the good and the bad. While some sites have restrictions against children under 13 joining, those restrictions don't seem to be effective in banning tweens from joining.

Infographic by FashionPlaytes

Your Thoughts

Will the next generation be the most tech-savvy, taking society to a higher level? Or will the next generation be addicted to tech and unprepared for the real world?

"I think the impact of technology on children right now and different aspects of our lives is sometimes fabulous and sometimes terrible," Larry Ellison, Founder of Oracle Corporation.

Will children's use of social media lead to a greater understanding and acceptance of differences between people? Or will their use of social media make them unable to form and maintain real world relationships?

* See, Articles of the Heart's article discussing the pros and cons of children using social media: Children and Media Technology.

Are parents providing their children with tech to prepare them for the world or are they using it as a substitute babysitter to entertain the kids?

* See, education.com's Technology and Kids: 7 Ways to Unplug for ideas to pull your kids away from the lure of technology.

Let us know your thoughts on how kids are using technology in the Comments section below.
______________________
* Girl and iPad image courtesy of Mike Licht (edited)

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Technology has radically changed our everyday lives. No matter whether you're a technophile or a technophobe, you probably can't avoid using tech in your daily life. In fact, if you're reading this article (and I'm thinking you are), you're using tech.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
A question for the students who were born in the 1990s: What was your age when you started using a mobile phone? I guess 70% of the students' answers are above 10 years. Recently, we are all using mobile devices not only for communication and entertainment

but also for learning.

The interesting thing about 21 st Century's technology is that it is attracting kids too. Everyday Family has published an infographic on this concept. Let's have a quick view of it.

54% of 21 st Century Kids start using Mobile Devices when they are 5-8 years old.

30% of the apps on parents' mobile are downloaded specially for their children's usage.

77% of the parents accept that usage of tablet increases children's learning & creativity.

72% of iTunes top selling apps are designed for pre-schoolers and elementary students.

Let's see the infographic for a detailed view which shows the data and stats on how young kids start using mobile devices, what their parents think about it and what are these mobile apps good for.

Devotee of Dr. Abdul Kalam. Following his path of Creating Creative Education in India. Contributing my works in "India Vision 2020". Former EdTech Blogger/Researcher at ETR India

Like what we do?

The Latest EdTech News To Your Inbox Follow us:

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
[Infographic] Kids & The Mobile Technology

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
A question for the students who were born in the 1990s: What was your age when you started using a mobile phone? I guess 70% of the students' answers are above 10 years. Recently, we are all using mobile devices not only for communication and entertainment but also for learning.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Genevieve Van Wyden

Genevieve Van Wyden began writing in 2007. She has written for "Tu Revista Latina" and owns three blogs. She has worked as a CPS social worker, gaining experience in the mental-health system. Van Wyden earned her Bachelor of Arts in journalism from New Mexico State University in 2006.

In many families today, both parents and their children--sometimes even young children--have their own cell phone. Children are texting their friends outside the classroom and sometimes even during class, making this one reason parents need to track their children's cell phone use. Parents have opened their monthly cell phone bills to discover unpleasant surprises when they see hefty service fees for over limit texts and phone calls or music, wallpaper and ringtone downloads. Safety is another reason to monitor children's cell phone uses-sexual predators have tricked children into sending inappropriate photos via their cell phones.

Video of the Day

Talk to your cell phone provider and find out if it has a monitoring service you can use to monitor your child's use of her phone. Many providers offer monitoring services that you can add to your plan for a monthly fee.

Subscribe to an online monitoring service by creating an account and entering payment information. Enter your child's friends and family call list online from his phone book. The site then monitors voice and text activity for each child you enter. You have the ability to log in and monitor phone use online or you may receive monthly activity reports.The service will begin tracking text messages and incoming phone calls, including their duration.

Ask your cell phone service provider about parental control services. Parental controls allow you to set days and times when your child is allowed to use her phone, for instance, after school and on weekends. Limit your child's access to music and game downloads, suggests Symantec.

Limit your child's ability to send or receive photo texts by asking your cell phone provider to block your child's ability to send or receive photo messages. This protects your child from adult predators who might try to get your child to send sexually explicit pictures of himself or his friends, writes Symantec.

Read your monthly cell phone bill to see how many minutes your child has used for voice service and text messaging. Make note of when calls or texts are sent and received. If your bill shows late night activity on your child's number, this is an indication you need to talk to her and find out if she is involved in a situation you should know about, says Symantec.

Monitor and limit your child's access to new ringtones and wallpaper for his phone. You are charged for them at the time of download and you pay every month for him to have them on his phone.

A variety of problems can arise from irresponsible cell phone use. The law can get involved when children participate in "sexting" -- sending or receiving sexually explicit picture texts. Children can become victims of sexual solicitation or cyberbullying. While these issues commonly arise from computer use, with Internet access on cell phones, it is an equal problem with many cell phones.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
How to Monitor Your Child's Cell Phone Use

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
In many families today, both parents and their children--sometimes even young children--have their own cell phone. Children are texting their friends outside the classroom and sometimes even during class, making this one reason parents need to track their children's cell phone use. Parents have opened their monthly cell phone bills to...

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
What is the right age for children to be introduced to technology? Is it healthy or good for children to be too reliant on technology? Surely, there are pros and cons of children using technology and it is difficult to take a certain stand without delving into the details and fairly assessing the consequences of the advantages and the negative impacts.

Children must use technology. That isn't the debate. The questions are how much, how often and to what extent. Technology is not just confined to computer or the old mobile phone that hardly had any games. Technology includes smart phones, state of the art video games, different kinds of gadgets and certainly the laptops, tablets and a whole gamut of gizmos that kids are surrounded with today.

Almost every child born today or since the millennial generation is and will be tech savvy. They will get accustomed and be quite deft with computers. Parents don't need to try hard or even make an attempt to get their kids accustomed with computers or mobile phones. It is amazing to watch a toddler smartly handle a mobile phone or a four year old conveniently playing a game on a tablet.

The older generations would feel that the human species has evolved and that kids today are preprogrammed to manage such technological wonders. It is indeed fascinating to watch. There are many elders from the baby boomer generation and before who are yet to get accustomed with texting or emailing and here we have kids not even close to their teens who can write a code or two. Let us talk about the wonderful perks of technology and the adverse impacts of the same. Here are the pros and cons of children using technology.

List of Pros of Children Using Technology

1. Children Have Better Motor Skills.
We are not talking about teens here but toddlers. Regardless of the weight of a baby at the time of birth, most toddlers will have chubby hands. It is natural. Those cute chubby hands get an effective workout when kids play around with computers, keyboards, mouse or touch-pads. Even if they are playing videos games or a game on a tablet, their fingers and hands get a workout. Such exercise is very healthy. The buttons on modern keyboards or keypads, the touchscreen functions and the mice of the day are very convenient to handle. Gone are the days when such keys or clicks of a mouse would require a hard press and thus have the possibility of causing injury to the tiny bones and their joints. Kids have absolutely no risk or threat when they use such gizmos. In effect, toddlers get better control of their fine motor skills. They can use their fingers and hands more deftly.

2. Improved Cognitive Functions.
For a long time, parents had been worried that watching cartoons would have a very adverse impact on the child's brain. Scores of studies have proved that it is quite to the contrary. Cartoons don't make a child dull. Likewise, many parents thought that playing video games or being with gizmos may make their kids a little dull or would impair their cognitive development. Quite to the contrary, technology helps in faster and better development of cognitive skills. Imagine all those toys that kids of the baby boomer generation and since have grown up with. Whether it is a puzzle or scribbling on a drawing book, everything can be attended to using technology and the latter does much more. There are interactive apps, video games, different kinds of challenges and educative programs available on various kinds of devices. Such products would always improve a kid's cognitive skills.

3. Preoccupies Children.
Leave kids with a smart phone or tablet, a handheld video game console or possibly a PlayStation, Xbox or Nintendo and you don't have to be worried about the child for hours. Kids can spend hours, days and weeks when they have such devices. There is nothing unsafe, the kids are not at any risk of getting injured or harmed and they would even keep silent and calm. No crying, no major mess of paints on the walls or any such conventional chaos that parents have to deal with when they have young kids. Technology has changed all that.

4. More Fun for Kids.
Children have a great deal of fun when they are amidst technological perks. They also enjoy the cause and effect that such devices make them aware of. Whether it is a simple puzzle game or a race, something like Angry Birds or a simple first person shooter game, children have fun and they understand simple aspects of cause and effect, action and reaction.

5. Technology Exists Everywhere.
Now, moving away from fun, games and frolic, technology is used in every facet of a child's development. Children using technology at school, home and everywhere they go would learn much more. A kid with access to internet can learn more than what ten years in school would be able to teach them. That doesn't do away with the need for schooling but technology does make things better. Audio visual presentations, interactive educational programs, 3D presentations, audio books and a whole gamut of technological perks has revolutionized education, and for the better. Kids when taught using technology and state of the art tools or methods are likely to learn more. Also, they are likely to remember such experiences as they are interesting. A boring paragraph reading or lecture on some subject seldom entices young kids.

List of Cons of Children Using Technology

1. Sedentary Lifestyle.
Technological wonders would stimulate a child's brain and would certainly help in cognitive development but what about the rest of the body. Kids who are too engrossed and busy with technology will stay away from the playgrounds, parks and from outdoor activities in general. Such kids may never develop a penchant for sports or athletics. They may eventually be unfit, unhealthy and their normal physical development may also be affected. A child needs to run, fall, jump, race, play something and do all kinds of exercises that outdoor activities and sports bring about. Increasingly, children are being swayed away from such natural joys and exercises of life and that is one reason why obesity is at an all time high. Other than poor diets, technology is to blame for this undesirable reality. The way out or solution to this problem is very simple. Limit the time when kids are allowed to use technology or even limit the kinds of technological wonders they get their hands on. This will compel them to go out and do things that kids have done for centuries.

2. Simulated Satisfaction.
Another very significant impact of children using technology is simulated satisfaction. The virtual world of technology, whether it is a video game or a tablet, is all about simulation. So the achievements and skills are also within the realm of simulation. Everything is intangible. A kid who excels at virtual archery is not actually a great archer. This sense of virtual accomplishment or simulated expertise is going to satiate a kid and he or she may not want to venture out and accomplish something. This creates another problem. Whenever kids would have some problems in real life, some failures or some challenges, they would seek refuge in their own simulated world facilitated by technology. They would look for solace, comfort or even accomplishments and sense of satiation in that virtual simulated world. The fallout of this can be far-reaching and life altering, certainly in a negative sense.

3. Less Socialable.
They would have less family time. Interpersonal relationships will be difficult to develop and they may not even have many friends. Even if they do socialize, they may struggle to mingle with kids. The anonymity and the sense of empowerment that technology provides actually don't help a child to become expressive, an articulate communicator or an empathetic person. To the contrary, a child may be a little cold to emotions, she or he may have a completely different range of reactions to real life situations and might not even feel the need to do certain things that kids should do, for instance chores or participating in something as a family.

4. Developmental Disabilities.
Let us now talk about some inferences from a wide range of studies and researches that have been conducted over the past years trying to understand the fallout of excessive use of technology among kids. Today, more kids have development disability. More kids are obese than ever before. More kids are being diagnosed with psychiatric disorders. ADHD, coordination disorder, anxiety, sensory processing disorder and depression among kids are on the rise. Also, let us not forget the premise of cyber bullying.

5. Not The Most Cost Efficient.
Technology isn't cheap. When children using technology start demanding more, it can become quite taxing and often unbearable for parents. Ten year olds and twelve year olds demand a new mobile phone every year. Teens and younger kids expect fancy gadgets and technological devices on their birthdays and being compelled to spend on such gadgets, even if they are for educational purposes, can be very inconvenient for parents.

6. Less Connected.
The world has become a smaller place. In an increasingly globalized world, people are becoming increasingly nuclear. That has lead to most people living alone or lonely lives. Solitude may be desirable but isolation is not. Technology can easily make a child isolated. At the early stages or during the formative years, the child would enjoy this isolation but sooner or later, this affinity for technology and the resulting isolation will become the source of agony.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
11 Pros and Cons of Children Using Technology - HRFnd

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
What is the right age for children to be introduced to technology? Is it healthy or good for children to be too reliant on technology? Surely, there are pros and cons of children using technology and it is difficult to take a certain stand without delving into the details and fairly assessing the consequences of ...

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Newsela | Opinion: Kids don't need a cellphone; they need a digital diet

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
More parents want their children to have less access to electronic media, which has been associated with obesity, shorter attention spans and depression.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Newsela | How young is too young for cellphones in school?

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Debate continues about the use of cellphones in elementary and middle schools.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Newsela | Not just for fun: Action video game may help people with ADHD

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Akili Interactive Labs seeks FDA approval of video game as medical device to treat ADHD

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Newsela | Facebook launches parent-controlled Messenger app for kids

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Facebook is launching a messenger app for kids under age 13 to chat with their parents and friends.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Newsela | School principal's experiment got some kids to turn off their phones

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
School principal challenges kids to put down phones, other devices for 11 Tuesdays of summer

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Newsela | Coding clubs give Texas students a head start on technology, life skills

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Dallas after-school coding program for future programmers.