Hello Everyone
Introduction
Technology has become a tool that today cannot be separated from human life, both parents and children consider technology to be closely attached to being a tool to support activities or just entertainment on the sidelines.
I remember in the 2000s (I was 7 years old) for the first time seeing a technology called the "handphone", at that time where I lived far from urban areas that made technology or electronic devices were late to enter because access was difficult and also very expensive, not suitable for the lower middle-class economy.
When I was a child, especially those born in the 90s, I felt that technology was still a taboo thing to use in everyday life, especially for children, because playing outside the house was more exciting and fun than sitting staring at gadgets as most people do and Gen Z today.
How does Technology impact the world as a whole?
In the last 10 years, almost all activities carried out by humans use technology as the main tool as well as a tool to support work, learning, games, and other contexts. In my opinion, it is undeniable that technology makes it easier for us in every way, in 2020 when the Covid 19 pandemic was come throughout the world making all human activities outside the home required to work online from home to avoid the deadly virus.
Technology has a positive impact when the pandemic occurs, and so many people have to lose their jobs and look for other jobs that can be done only by using technology such as smartphones or other gadgets to survive the pandemic. However, this does not make the technology only have a positive impact, so many people are tormented during the pandemic because they do not have technological equipment which requires them to work outside the home and expose them to Covid 19.
On the other side, technology also makes humans lazy and doesn't want to move more which ultimately makes us susceptible to disease because of reduced physical activity due to technology addiction such as playing games for hours, watching movies, forgetting to sleep, and other bad effects.
The impact given by technology can be used by humans to get positive things from it because it can make work easier and make time more efficient, but the negative impact also comes as we are made dependent on technology.
What are the positive and negative impacts of technology on children?
As I discussed earlier that technology has a positive and negative impact on human life depending on how we use it, in the following I will give positive and negative impacts of using technology for Kids.
Positive impact
1). Technology can be used by children to learn new knowledge quickly and efficiently in a way that is not boring, learning by utilizing gadgets and the Internet can make children catch lessons quickly because it uses interesting methods unlike in school which usually makes children not enthusiastic because of flat learning method.
2). Technology provides a lot of information from around the world that can be used by parents to teach their children according to the abilities needed for the development of the child's left and right brain, which can later be used to determine the dominant skills in children according to their interests.
3). By utilizing Technology like gadgets, parents can monitor children's activities while playing only by using applications that are connected so that children do not use technology for negative activities and parents can prevent them from doing things that are not appropriate.
4). Teach how to use technology from an early age to children can make it easier in the future because they have learned and can immediately practice it easily because they have been accustomed to using it since childhood, because nowadays being able to operate a computer is an obligation for all of us, especially for children so as not to be left behind.
Negative impact
1). Technology like TV or Youtube contains a lot of content that is not suitable for children, if it is not limited by parents it will make children watch content that is not suitable for them, and children can imitate what the content does and then bad things can not be avoided.
2). Technology can make children access information that is inappropriate for them, it will be very detrimental if it is not limited by parents and bad things cannot be avoided if it is too late to prevent them.
3). Technology can make children lazy to do physical activities such as sports, and gadget addiction as most experienced by children in this generation makes them lazy to exercise which is not very good for children's growth and development.
4). Technology can make children feel addicted by spending a lot of time such as playing online games can make them forget the time and neglect, if not controlled by parents on an ongoing basis it can interfere mentally and physically.
How would you rate the impact of Technology in Kids life? Highly positive or negative?
If we discuss more the positive or negative impact of technology on kids, I think it depends on us or the parents who use the technology, kids only do interesting things for themselves regardless of the impact that will be experienced, limits or prohibitions from using technology can only be done by parents.
In my opinion, the negative impact will be more dominantly experienced by children, it cannot be denied that it is so difficult for parents to limit the use of technology for kids in this day and age where almost everything is work using technology.
Parents must fully supervise their kids when using technology and most parents cannot control it because they are busy with their work, as a result, children are difficult to control and the negative effects of technology such as addiction to playing online games cannot be avoided.
There is a lot of news circulating about the negative impact on kids that are addicted to technology, physical, and mental disorders, and even death are unstoppable if parents don't supervise their children when using technology from an early age.
Can you have control over the exposure of kids to certain technological product? How?
As parents, we must be careful and thorough in our behavior because children will imitate everything we show them, both positive and negative. As with the use of technology, parents can show the use of technology as a means to learn new things or for self-development, from an early age try not to introduce games using technology to children.
Give examples of games that require the body to move, like walking, jogging in the morning, cycling, swimming, playing ball, and all activities that make the body move, parents must get used to it from an early age so that children do not remember to play with gadgets. The mindset to increase activities that move the body must be instilled in children so that they think that games that use physical are more useful and also fun than playing online games, although for the current generation of children it is very difficult to practice as long as we try it will not be in vain.
If children are already using technology such as gadgets to play, parents can still control it by applying discipline such as:
- Can play with gadgets after studying or finishing homework.
- Playing with gadgets is only allowed during a weekend or school holidays.
- Make an agreement with the child before using technology.
- Give sanctions if the child does not obey the agreed rules without scolding or hitting.
The reality is that the current generation can no longer be disciplined using violence like what parents in the 90s did to their children, parents need to rack their brains to educate their children firmly without using violence because today's children are so difficult to be reminded not to be addicted to technology that does not provide good benefits.
Conclusion
Educating children in the era of technology as it is today requires energy and broad insight for parents so that their children can grow well and not be dependent on technology that can snatch their future.
Technology is a tool that can have many positive impacts on children if used properly, and parents control all activities of children who use technology. On the other hand, if parents are negligent in controlling negative impacts cannot be avoided.