Gadgets for Kids | Understanding the Pros and Cons

Gadgets for Kids: Pros and Cons

Gadget for Kids | It’s Pros and Cons

The age of technology has long been with us for a very long time. But if there is any generation who are more exposed to the advancement of technology, it has to be Generation Z or the Generation Alpha. Born from the mid-1990s to around the early 2000s; the Gen Z’ers have a good affinity to technology as among their strongest suit, probably next to the Millennials who were exposed to the same technology at their maturity.

But is exposure to technology really such a good thing for kids of recent years and not a bad thing that possibly ruins their normal lives as our ancestors and we defined and knew it?

Here are the pros and cons of letting children be exposed to technology at a young age:

Gadgets for Kids: Pros and Cons

Pros of Gadgets for Kids

Early exposure to technology has its perks and is exhibited as early as a child.

• They tend to have better motor skills.

Toddlers, in their very early years of life, typically do not possess good motor skills as they are still learning and adapting to how their body works.

But if there is one thing which a kid of the same age and exposed to technology during that time of his life versus another child of the same age but sans the exposure to technology has any difference, it is that the former has better motor skills than the latter. This is thanks to modern technology’s appeal to entertain people of all ages, which stimulates mental and body coordination.

• They’re smarter

There was once a strongly-held belief that watching cartoons make children dull, given the visual’s effectivity to alter the brain’s development. A number of scientific studies, however, proved otherwise—it makes the child’s cognitive function better.

Not just watching cartoons. Even other technology-based activities that seem engaging for children have proven to be as effective in sharpening the child’s mental capabilities versus those children who are not as exposed to the same experience.

• They’re more preoccupied when faced with engaging technology.

While this is not to say that kids who are exposed to technology during childhood make for a more independent person than those who are not, but kids who are engaged with their electronic toys tend to be more preoccupied than those who play with traditional toys. In a way, however, this kind of experience promotes independence to the child, making separation anxiety less of a problem in certain conditions.

Gadgets for Kids: Pros and Cons

• They learn more about cause and effect earlier in life

Many entertainment games are designed with attaining a certain goal in mind. While real-life has its own rendition of this notion, no other experience provides a learning experience about winning and losing than playing video games. Consequently, winning gives the child an introductory idea about reward, while losing gives him a feeling of frustration and the resilience to win.

• They get introduced to the fundamental concepts of technology at a young age.

In as much the same way we go through the more advanced and more complex of knowledge from starting in the basics, children who dabble with technology learn the rudimentary concepts early in life, which they could subsequently use as a foundation for learning higher forms of technological concepts.

• Some of the most successful people in the tech industry are tech savvies

The love for technology is sometimes realized as early as a child. Yet, there’re no other people best exemplifying this fact than the geeks and nerds who are now icons in the tech industry.

For instance, Linus Torvalds—the creator of the Linux operating system—was himself a geek as a child who finds interest in technology than with people but is now a prominent figure due to the relevance of his creation to the world.

Gadgets for Kids: Pros and Cons

Cons of Gadgets for Kids

But while childhood exposure to technology may have its ups, it also has its downs.

• They’re less active.

As a child myself once who was more exposed to physical activities rather than technology, it is easy to separate how my childhood was vis-à-vis today’s generation who are getting more confined to their own space doing little activity. This might imply that, with a sedentary lifestyle, children of today might be feebler than the generations before them.

• They’re less sociable.

Children who play video games have little interest in mingling with other kids their age. While their technology-inclined lifestyle may not altogether remove their social life, they are not as eager about making friends as the kids from prior generations. This is partly reasoned out by the fact that kids who are entertained with their technology are less likely to find similar enjoyment with people.

• They’re sickly

The repercussions of an inactive lifestyle can manifest early in a person’s life. For kids who have adopted a sedentary lifestyle partly due to their subjection to technology are more likely to acquire metabolic problems like diabetes, being overweight, or, worst, obesity.

Science has always known the interrelationship of a person’s level of activity and the occurrence of certain diseases. Children who fall under the category of inactive and are sick only add to the overall statistics.

Gadgets for Kids: Pros and Cons

• They’ve got a costly lifestyle

Gadgets and gizmos are not cheap. If a child has developed a habit of becoming up-to-date with the latest trend, the parent’s finances quickly take a toll. Although this is not to say that parents should just give in to their kid’s demand for new toys, those who could afford it may unwittingly promote a culture that is expensive to maintain for most households.

• They’re more detached. 

There is an irony that the more the world becomes more connected, thanks to the internet, the more it separates people emotionally. For instance, due to the advent of the fast internet and social media, children have become less transparent to their parents but have become more wide open to people from outside the home.

While there is a widespread presumption that this may not necessarily apply to kids, there is a sad reality that the more the child gets more accustomed to his isolation early in life, it gradually progresses until later on in his growth.

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