Nguyen 1 DINH PHUOC NGUYEN Professor Stephen Mills ENGL 1101 November 18, 2019 Dangerous for Children Because of factors such as the rise of technology and the Internet, the ease of having several smartphones or tablets, and many jobs incorporating the use of technology, people are spending the majority of their time in front of a screen more than ever before. They use technology to keep in touch with their family, to finish their work, or to simply surf the Internet without a goal. Due to these various reasons, the role of technology, especially smartphones, grows day by day, to the point of creating an appeal that is hard to resist. However, like most things in the world, technology, especially smartphones, are like a double-edged sword. Children now increasingly rely on smartphones or tablets. Many parents are blind to the risks and continue to allow their children to use it because they do not know that smartphones can be more harmful to young children as they can seriously affect them in a silent way. For instance, electronic devices can affect a child’s physical health very seriously. Smartphones allow children to access a lot of websites that often do not censor inappropriate information. In addition, even though they were trying to access a meaningful website to watch or learn something, an inappropriate advertisement could appear and children could accidentally touch it and be redirected to another site. According to Lisa Shaw and Rebecca Terrell, "Young people are inundated with sexual images and sexual conversation that allow them to very freely participate in those types of conversations and activities" (11). Moreover, an article in The New Nguyen 2 American states that, "Pornography consumption is associated with decreased brain volume in the right striatum, decreased left striatum activation, and lower functional connectivity to the prefrontal cortex" (12), and " As hours of reported pornography use increase, the amount of gray matter in the brain decreases" (12). Imagine that your child is developing brain and they were exposed to technology and the content on it has affected their brain development make it stop or getting worse. Should you allow your children to use it or not? Furthermore, when children use technology devices excessively at a young age, it will be very harmful to their eyes. According to an article in Gale, "According to a research by the University of Toledo in the U.S., exposure to blue light continuously might cause poisonous molecules to be generated in the eye's light-sensitive cells and lead to macular degeneration" (para. 2). Due to children abusing technology, especially smartphones, at an early age, their physical health is increasingly being affected negatively. The most evident manifestation is that more and more children are being nearsighted from an early age. What is more, electronic devices also cause mental health problems for children. The number of deaths related to mental illness such as stress and depression is increasing rapidly. And the main cause of these illnesses is pressures from work, school, and social media - the most important reason. According to Jean M. Twenge and many professors found that, "Adolescents using electronic devices 3 or more hours a day were 34% more likely to have at least one suicide-related outcome than those using devices 2 or fewer hours a day, and adolescents using social media sites every day were 13% more likely to report high levels of depressive symptoms than those using social media less often" (para. 41). Many young people are obsessed that they have messages or comments from social networks to answer. Folks nowadays firmly believe that mobile devices are the only way for them to keep in touch; separating from it, they cut their Nguyen 3 contact to the world, including friends and family. If they hear the ping sound from their smartphone or screen light up, they feel like they have to check it; otherwise, they will miss something. Jouwstra calls this phenomenon as "a disconnect" (para. 16). Most ominous is the impact of the mobile phone on sleep. Most young people often put their cell phones by their beds every night. This makes sleep more easily interrupted because they often wake up at night to check their phones. It is a serious problem because not getting enough sleep will affect their ability to remember and many other consequences. Especially after a stressful day at work, the brain needs time to rest. Moreover, because of electronic devices, especially smartphones, cyberbullying is increasingly common. In the past, bullying used to happen only in a specific place such as at school, but now bullying can happen anywhere. Bullied children used to be able to feel safe at home but now they feel like they can never really avoid potential harm from the bullying and live in constant fear of attack. It has caused a lot of mental health problems. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), "About 19 percent reported that bullying had somewhat or a lot of negative effect on how they felt about themselves, 14 percent each reported that bullying had somewhat or a lot of negative effect on their relationships with friends or family and on their school work, and 9 percent reported that bullying had somewhat or a lot of negative effects on their physical health" (vii). Similarly, another article by CDC states, "Bullying can result in physical injury, social and emotional distress, self-harm, and even death. It also increases the risk of depression, anxiety, sleep difficulties, lower academic achievement, and dropping out of school" (para. 5). Cyberbullying affects almost every aspect of children's lives, and technological equipment is a bridge, a tool for others to do the above. So we need to consider whether to allow children to use technology devices or not. Nguyen 4 Although electronic devices have a lot of harmful effects, some may argue that electronic devices are necessary for children to learn something new that is not taught in school. We could not buy for our children, but we could not ban them to use it, which was impractical and unrealistic. The important thing is when your children come back home and begging to have one, just like their friends. Furthermore, if our children could not use electronic devices, we will feel like our children will not keep up with other children. Yes, it is true, but that is the result of completely banning. We must teach our children that technology devices are tools, not toys, and certainly not best friends. Parents can limit how many hours children can use technology devices, what websites or programs they watch or learn from it. Parents should regularly let children go out to play, be active, and communicate with other children. It helps children grow better and contributes to helping other children get off the screens. Most children in the world have grown accustomed to having technology devices by their side and treating them as an indispensable thing no matter where they are. No one can deny its features and usability. But be wise, don't let the screens control and manipulate us, especially children. "Within the child lies the fate of the future" (Maria Montessori). Children are the community's future, the world's future. If we ignore all the harm of technology devices, then what will the world become? In other words, children are like a blank sheet of paper and can be influenced very easily. We can succeed in preventing the misuse of technology devices easily and preserve our world's future. Nguyen 5 Works Cited “Blue Light from Smartphones Could Accelerate Blindness.” Xinhua News Agency, 2018. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&AuthType=ip,shib&db=edsgwh&AN=eds gcl.549973135&site=eds-live&scope=site. Shaw, Lisa, and Rebecca Terrell. “What SCREENS ARE DOING TO OUR KIDS.” The New American, no. 12, 2019, p. 10. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&AuthType=ip,shib&db=edsgov&AN=edsg cl.593148768&site=eds-live&scope=site. "Smartphones, other distractions can be more deadly than impaired driving, data suggests." The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, 29 Oct. 2019, p. NA. Gale In Context: Opposing Viewpoints, https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A604121500/OVIC?u=cht2&sid=OVIC&xid=26dd1171. Accessed 20 Nov. 2019. Twenge, Jean M., et al. “Increases in Depressive Symptoms, Suicide-Related Outcomes, and Suicide Rates Among U.S. Adolescents After 2010 and Links to Increased New Media Screen Time.” Clinical Psychological Science, vol. 6, no. 1, Jan. 2018, pp. 3–17, doi:10.1177/2167702617723376. "Preventing Bullying." Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/pdf/bullying-factsheet508.pdf. "Indicators of School Crime and Safety: 2016." National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) Home Page, a Part of the U.S. Department of Education, nces.ed.gov/pubs2017/2017064.pdf. Nguyen 6 ""Within the Child Lies the Fate of the Future." -Maria Montessori." Rochester Montessori School, rmschool.org/content/within-child-lies-fate-future-maria-montessori.
