Sandra Smith, journalist and mother of three warns that the increasing development of modern technology is rapidly replacing the written word as the main source of information and argues that this will adversely affect the foundational aspects of a child’s essential development.
My third and youngest son is about to go into Year One, and so the most stressful time of the year is upon us, it’s back to school season. It’s that time of year when parents everywhere rush and hurry to the newsagents to fill the year’s quota. Having two children about to graduate from high school, I still find this no easy feat. I begin this endeavour as I read the familiar stationery list. I am baffled …show more content…
The effects of technology on a child’s thinking is drastic. According to psychologist Doctor Jim Taylor, there is a growing body of research that technology can be both beneficial and harmful to different ways in which children think; the key is the effect of technology use on our attention span. A highly malleable quality, attention influences a child’s perception, memory, language, learning, creativity, reasoning, problem-solving, focus and decision making, often in a very detrimental manner. The advent of television has altered the attention of a child by offering attractive visual stimuli that leaves no need for imagination and creativity. Social media has hijacked the minds of the child, effectively manipulating their every decision in the real world, reducing interactions with nature and people. Our children need to be exciting their natural senses, seeing the beautiful world as it is and exploring its hidden treasures. When was the last time you saw children playing down by a creek and collecting tadpoles? Or building a cubby from salvaged materials around the home? The early stages of life lays the foundation for almost all aspects of their growth and is fundamental to their development into successful and happy