Liz Martinez
Professor Rowley
English 1
7 June 2015
Kids with Cell phone Brains
Professor Rowley
English 1
7 June 2015
Kids with Cell phone Brains
Nowadays,
we have been surrounding ourselves with all forms of technologies: laptops,
iPad, cellphones and other kinds of gadgets and devices. Who uses them? We do.
We human beings do. According to Huffington
Post writer Britney Fitzgerald, 58
percent of U.S. Smartphones owners check their phones at least every hour. It
is because we are so tempted to peek on our phones whenever we receive a message or notification of some
sort. The curiosity starts to get to us and we end up being on our phones no
matter where or what time it is. That means people would take their phones
wherever they go and would always have them at all times. People from the ages
of 8 and up will more likely have access to a cell phone. The thing is that
children ages 8-12 are considered to be little kids, just young little beings
when you think about it. Children don’t really have a need to have a phone in
their possession. Although kids might need a cell phone to use for an
emergency, it doesn’t mean they need the latest kind of phone either. They
shouldn’t be allowed to have an advanced kind of phone because it can be a huge
distraction for them. If we let children have the latest phone, they could have
several problems in their growing development, such as lack of communication
skills, obesity, and even being inexperienced in life. They are not growing up
to be healthy, productive, and independent adults. Cell phone addiction can
make children become very dependable on those devices and can make them afraid
or even panic and have anxiety if they ever lose it. They would grow up
depending on it and may not be able to live without it. This is a concern
because this dependency is unhealthy and makes it so children don’t know how to
be or act independent from technology.
Children with the latest phone
wouldn’t be so great with face-to-face communication, not even with their own
parents. According to Psychology Today writer Jim Taylor Ph.D.
“One study found that when the working parent arrived home after work, his or
her children were so immersed in technology that the parent was greeted only 30
percent of the time and was totally ignored 50 percent of the time.” That shows
the lack of communication they have with their own family. This is a concern
because it is very important to speak with one another; if not that is where
issues starts to form such as a family bond collapsing. Also, in the family, I
believe that’s where children would express themselves better. Communication
skills have to start at home first in order to build character and to be able
to use it outside of home, like school. According to another Huffington Post writer Katherine Bindley
she mentions Melissa Ortega, a child psychologist at New York's Child Mind
Institute claiming, “They don't know how to handle conflict face to face
because so many things happen through some sort of technology. Clinically, I'm
seeing it in the office. The high school kids who I do see will be checking
their phones constantly. They'll use it as an avoidance strategy. They'll see
if they got a text message in the two minutes they were talking to me." So
if this is high school students responding this way, how would children be like
when they get to this age? Right now they are barely being taught how to
communicate with one another. If these high school students were only recently
introduced to technology like cell phones, and are now like this, so imagine
what the future generations are going to be like if parents give their kids
them the newest technology at a young age.
Phones can cause children to
become obese. According to Taylor, “The Journal of Public Health published a
study on 1,803 adolescents aged 12-19 years and found a positive correlation
between screen time and likelihood of metabolic syndrome, independent of the
amount of physical activity reported.
These children showed higher levels of triglycerides, fasting blood
glucose, blood pressure, and larger waist circumference the more hours of
screen time per day they reported.” As you can see, these adolescents are not
getting enough physical activity these days. They spend the day mostly focused
on what the little screen displays for them. If adolescents are not getting
enough physical fitness to their daily routine, now imagine the little ones.
How much physical fitness are they getting? According to NY Times writer Gina Kolata, "She is recommending that
children and adolescents get 60 minutes of moderate to vigorous physical
activity every day.” Kids need at least 60 minutes of exercise a day, which
would make their body stronger and healthier. Having a screen all up in their
faces isn’t much of a workout in my opinion.
Parents may say
that having a phone is an important necessity. Thy may say, what if the child
needs to contact their parents or what if a safety hazard came across a child’s
path and they needed to call someone for help. What about a life and death
situation, would the child need the phone for answers? First of all, children
don’t need to worry about anything like that. If it comes down to it, they
should just call 911. If a safety issue or other danger is around them and they
need to call someone, again its only three digits away. To have the latest
phone is not a necessity for children. A simple old kind of a phone would be good
enough for them to use in an emergency for just calling. I know parents would
want their children to be safe, but there are other ways to do that. However children
may not learn independence if they call their parents every time the slightest
problem arises. The latest phone for children should be out of the question. It
will not benefit them much and will affect them negatively.
Kids may grow up
to be obese and with health problems in their future. Also, not being able to
communicate well with other human beings could be a huge issue for them too,
for the kids and for their parents. This is a concern because this dependency
is unhealthy and makes it so children don’t know how to be or act independent
from technology. It could even affect how close they are to family, as well.
