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Eric Turatsinze

Professor Dunham

ENG 1201

Mar 28, 2022

How is Digital Technology endangering today's young generation?

Digital Technology is endangering today's young generation and we have to take

considerable action before it gets any further. In recent years Digital Technology has

changed the way humans live which has had a big impact on people, especially the

young generation. Not only has Digital Technology caused so much damage to young

people's mental and physical health but also disturbed their child development process

which is a very important part of children’s growth. Because of all the cutout that Digital

Technology is having on young people, it has many people concerned about where it is

taking us. It is the parent's responsibility to make sure that their kids are safe in this

technologically advanced world.

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Looking at our day-to-day life, There is no doubt that Digital Technology has not

made any adjustments to human lives. In just a little over 20 years, many new

life-defining inventions Like Smartphones, Smart TVs, more advanced computers, etc,

were introduced to us. Now, almost everything that we need is done technologically.

From the moment we get up in the morning till the moment we go back to sleep, almost

everything that we do is done technologically. Digital Technology has come so far to the

point where we rely on it to do everything for us. Yes, Digital technology has done a lot

of good for humans but it has also taken a lot from them. There are a lot of pros and

cons to digital technology but I believe that the cons outweigh the pros. Many people

are blinded by the pros of digital technology and seem to ignore the cons. As all these

technological devices may be fun to use, they are hurting our children in the long run.

Today’s young generation referred to as “the indoor generation” faces great

health risks from not going outside, especially after the pandemic. Although Digital

Technology has positively impacted adults, we can not say the same thing for young

people. We have built our homes for our children in such a way that they never want to

leave them and go outside. We try as hard as we can to make our homes as fun as

possible by buying all these different technological devices like gaming consoles, Ipads,

phones, TVs, etc, without looking at the potential outcomes that they’ll have on our kids.

Today the Average kid in America only spends about 4-7 minutes a day outdoors. So

with them being inside every day, Did you know that the air inside our homes is 5 times

more polluted than the air outside? Did you know that in most homes, Kids' rooms tend
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to have the highest concentration of toxicants in the whole house? At least the adults

have a life outside of their homes. at least they go out and buy groceries the day they

are off work. What about the kids? What do they do after they get home from school

which happens to be indoors?. Yes, Digital Technology might bring some good to our

lives but are we sure that this is the road that we want our kids to take?

Enough exploration around life is needed for kids to truly understand the world as

it is in order to be successful in this thing we call life. Dr. Jennifer F. Cross wrote an

article explaining why kids' screen time needs to be limited, in that article she said that

“screens could inhibit certain aspects of a child’s development by narrowing their focus

of interest and limiting their other means of exploration and learning.” Before Digital

Technology burst and got out of hand, kids had a chance to go explore the world and

socialize with others which is how they were able to learn how life works. Now kids'

focus has shifted to things like games and movies that they are no longer interested in

being present in the real world. Kids learn by example. Kids learn by looking at what the

adults in their lives are doing. By being present in the real world, they grow up with an

idea of what life is like and know how to deal with it. So overall, Digital Technology has

gone so far to the point where it does not allow kids to learn life-important skills that

they'll need later on in the future. It is everybody’s responsibility to make sure that this

young generation gets their proper human development as everyone else did because

they are going to be the ones we depend on when we get old.

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Fig. 1. Why the amount of time that kids spend on the screen should be limited.

Socialization is a very important skill in kids' lives but it seems not to exist in this

generation. It is an important factor in the children's developmental process to save

some time for going out and socializing with others. Back then children would spend

most of their day outside with friends and later come home to talk and share dinner with

family which is how they learned how to socialize. today kids go a whole day without

getting to talk to one person, not even their parents because of how busy kids are in

their technological world. According to Pressbooks “Socialization is just as essential to

us as individuals. Social interaction provides the means via which we gradually become

able to see ourselves through the eyes of others, and how we learn who we are and

how we fit into the world around us.” If kids do not understand the value of socialization
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then they won't be able to fit in with each other which is very dangerous for humanity

because us relying on each other and working with each other is how we have been

able to accomplish everything we have today. As people say, Teamwork makes the

dream work, well teamwork can not work without the skill of socialization. Without the

skill of socialization, kids are going to face many difficulties with each other. We have to

show kids the value of socialization because they are going to need to work with each

other in the future and that can't happen without the skill of socialization.

What is all this screen time doing to these kids' mental health? Not only is Digital

Technology negatively impacting the child's developmental process, but it is also

causing many mental health problems. Most technological devices are built to have

everyone hooked on them because that's how they make their money. Things like social

media and video games have done a great job of keeping people hooked on their

devices. It has gotten to the point where kids have developed an addiction to their

technological devices. If we look at the amount of time that kids spend on their

technological devices, we can conclude that they have developed an addiction. Today

the average kid in America spends about 7 hours of their day on a screen which results

in a lot of mental health problems. Researchers have discovered that the more social

media sites you use and the longer you’re on, the more likely you are going to be

addicted, depressed, stressed, have anxiety, have low self-esteem, and be sleep

deprived. Because of all of the pressure going on social media on how you should live

your life and what you are doing wrong, the young generation tends to have more
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anxiety, be depressed, be stressed, and have low self-esteem. Sleep deprivation is

more real in the young generation nowadays than ever in human existence because of

all of the time that is spent on screen they barely save any for sleep. This is a big

problem because your body needs more sleep when you are younger as that's when

your body and mind are growing the most. All of these mental health problems that this

young generation face needs to be fixed before it gets way out of control. . If we do not

take care of these issues now they are going to have to live with these problems for the

rest of their lives.

Fig. 2. How much screen time the average kid gets a day.

Social media and video games can cause a lot of trauma to the kid's brain. As we

know, in the Digital Technology world, nothing is monitored or censored, which is a big

problem for kids. There are a lot of negative images and films in video games and on

social media that are too cruel for kids to see. As we all know kids are very naive and

with social media and video games not being censored, it is very easy for kids to come

across things like pornography or dead bodies which can result in them being

traumatized. Since social media does not care about what they are showing to kids,
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parents need to be more cautious about what their kids are watching or playing and the

kind of apps that their kids have on their technological devices.

Have you wondered what the future of these kids is going to be like if we do not

stop this problem? Well, I Have. First, If we stay like this there are going to be a lot of

kids that struggle with obesity because they do not get to exercise. Second, there are

going to be more mental health problems causing higher rates of suicide and homicide.

Third, human productivity is going to go down because kids did not get the proper

training on how to be productive. Fourth, Humans are not going to be able to work with

each other as they never learned the skill of socialization. I could go on and on talking

about the things that I think our kids are going to face in the future, but all I can say is

that it's for us to decide where and how we move on from here. Knowing these things

that our kids are facing in the future, How Do we prepare them for what is coming?

Taking away all technological devices in kids' lives would not be smart as they

also do a lot of good in kids' lives, but there are better ways that we can approach this

problem. One way is Educating kids on how to carefully use it would be a better

approach to fixing this problem. Also, Instead of parents feeding their kids more and

more technological devices, they need to introduce to kids more and more outdoor

activities like sports and clubs so kids can develop important life skills and avoid the

health risks that they get from being inside. Parents need to acknowledge the causes of
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mental and physical health problems in this young generation so they know how to deal

with their children and how they can help overcome those problems. Kids need a fair

shot at life as we did when we were growing up. We need our kids to be their potential

best.
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Works Cited

Cross, Jennifer. Children's Health. “What Does Too Much Screen Time Do to Kids'

Brains?” NewYork-Presbyterian, 3 Nov. 2021,

healthmatters.nyp.org/what-does-too-much-screen-time-do-to-childrens-brains/.

Gordon, Sherri. “How Social Media Negatively Affects the Teen Brain.” Verywell Family,

Verywell Family, 7 Nov. 2021,

www.verywellfamily.com/how-will-future-well-being-be-impacted-by-technology-41

76165.

Rowan, Cris. “The Impact of Technology on the Developing Child.” HuffPost, HuffPost, 7

Dec. 2017,

www.huffpost.com/entry/technology-children-negative-impact_b_3343245.

“Screen Time Management Strategy Guide for Parents.” Circle,

meetcircle.com/pages/screen-time.

VELUX Group. Futunhngre Generations Face Health Risks from Life Indoors, VELUX

Group, 14 Aug. 20 f18,

press.velux.com/future-generation-of-brits-faces-health-risks-from-life-indoors/.

“Why Kids Need to Spend Time in Nature.” Child Mind Institute, 21 Sept. 2021,

childmind.org/article/why-kids-need-to-spend-time-in-nature/#:~:text=The average

American child spends, just enjoyable — it's also necessary.

[Author removed at request of original publisher]. “The Importance of Socialization.”

Introduction to Sociology Understanding and Changing the Social World,

University of Minnesota Libraries Publishing Edition, 2016. This Edition Adapted

from a Work Originally Produced in 2010 by a Publisher Who Has Requested That
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It Not Receive Attribution., 8 Apr. 2016,

pressbooks.howardcc.edu/soci101/chapter/4-1-the-importance-of-socialization/#:~

:text=Socialization is just as essential,into the world around us.