Young Parents Embrace Technology, But is it Safe for Your Child's Development?

Technology is the way of the future, and this means starting from birth, children get a chance to experience it's power first hand. Whether it's through television screens, video games or a cellular phone, technology provides an infinite source of information for users on the go that can be helpful and convenient, yet also, distracting and possibly dangerous to your health. Yet, for young parents, they're letting their kids embrace new gizmos and gadgets with open arms.

According to a nationwide survey led by Ellen Wartella, a researcher from Northwestern University, researchers discovered that around eight out of 10 parents reported that time spent with media was not a source of conflict within the family. And out of the 2,326 parent participants surveyed, 55 percent said they were really not worried about how much time their child spent in front of a television screen. The survey shows that only 30 percent of the parents expressed concerns over the level of this exposure, and in general, most of the parents had a positive perspective when it came to media usage.

A problem for most parents seemed to be that too much media screen exposure possibly prevented kids from being more physically active. However, the majority of parents still reported that they used technological devices, along with other activies, as a reward for children or to divert certain behavior. On top of these overall findings, the researchers pinpointed three specific patterns. 

The survey shows that media-centric families, or families where adults watch television or use other devices for an average of 11 hours a day and children use the same devices for an average of 4.5 hours a day, were more likely to leave the television on. This group made up 39 percent of the sample and also tended to put television screen's in their children's rooms. Media-moderate families had an average of five hours a day with technological devices for adults and three hours for children. This was 45 percent of the sample. Lastly, media-light families used a screen time for an average of two hours per day and one and a half for children, making up 16 percent of the sample. 

Behavior patterns based on television and other technology exposure was not examined in the survey, according to researchers. 

"What's compelling is we certainly have a generation of parents now who grew up with technology, and it's very much a part of everyday life for these families," Wartella said, according to U.S News and World Report. "There are different styles of use, and parenting styles set the agenda and help influence children's styles."

The findings for this study will be presented at the Pew Charitable Trusts Conference Center in Washington, D.C.  

However, many health professionals caution that too much technology can be especially dangerous to a child's development. For instance, computer screens, television screens and other gadgets can cause eyestrain, headaches and similar discomforts if looked at over a long period of time.

According to Dr. Blakeney, via Psychology Today, an optometric adviser to the College of Optometrists, computers will not permanently damage your eyes, but they can exacerbate existing eye conditions. Developmental problems regarding attention span can also result from too much technology use, according to researchers.