Positive and Negative Effects of Technology on Children

Positive and Negative Effects of Technology on Child Development

If an adult uses technology in a harmful way, we can call it a “choice” instead of “unconsciousness”. But it’s different for children. They are generally not aware of the possible bad sides of technology.

Questions like these, “How does the technology work for kids, is technology good or bad for kids, how to stay safe on the internet for kids?” preoccupy parents’ minds.

Let's look into the positive effects of technology on child development that you can benefit from and the negative effects of technology on children's health and development that you should avoid.

10 Positive Effects of Technology

1. Mental Skill Development with Educational Contents

The positive effects of the internet on early childhood education can be very beneficial. Educational and instructional practices, such as apps that offer brain games for kids improve cognitive skills, are among these benefits.

There are several educational games for kids like memory games, attention games, and math games at their fingertips today. Therefore, safe internet use for children can be useful with the right apps, such as MentalUP, allowing them to enjoy while supporting their development and academic success.

Here are some of the best examples of how beneficial technology can be joyful:

2. Increase in IQ

American Cornell University Tomoe Kanaya conducted scientific research in nine schools among members of different races and social groups. According to this study, conducted on approximately 9,000 students, the IQ scores of the current generation are higher than the previous generation.

Taking into account the Flynn effect, the results do not change, although every new IQ test is more difficult compared to the previous ones.

Experts link this effect directly to technology. The increase in the number of technological products in children's lives and, consequently, the increased stimuli serve as exercises to enable children to solve more complex problems.

The positive effects of technology on child development, such as increased IQ scores from the Stanford Binet Test are some of the positive impacts of the internet with the correct use of technology.

“The more subjects a child in a fast learning process gets interested in or has experience with, the more his/her IQ level increases”

- Psychologist Ferahim Yeşilyurt

Of course, all these benefits are possible with the conscious use of technology. On the other hand, it should be kept in mind that an excess of stimuli leads to distraction. The duty of ensuring internet safety for kids is mainly on the parents.

3. Learning Enhancement

Effects of gadgets and the internet on learning are great examples of positive effects of the internet on students.

“Learning how to learn” is a very important skill. Thanks to the Internet, there is a library with an infinite number of books in every house. Children can do extensive research on the subjects they wonder about.

In this way, they are learning to access information, do research, and learn, and safe internet use for children comes with many benefits.

4. Problem-Solving Skills

Is technology good or bad for kids? Visual design programs, technical drawing programs, coding programs, and similar design tools improve children's creativity. So it's not a matter of good or bad - it’s all about how, when, and what you use.

Creative children are successful in adapting to the changing world. Likewise, they are successful in creating new solutions to new emerging problems. Enhancing problem-solving skills in childhood will allow them to overcome obstacles easier in the future.

5. Parental Control in Emergency Situations

The positive impact of technology on kids can sometimes be a lifesaver for your child and society.

Your children should be able to reach you in case of an emergency, even if they are not old enough to use a mobile phone. Simple mobile devices like smartwatches are produced to meet this need in a healthy way.

Smartwatches have various features, and they are cool gifts for holidays. For example, you can set the numbers that your child can call. Likewise, you can determine which numbers your child can receive calls from. In this way, you can eliminate the risk of your kid communicating with people he/she does not know.

In schools, children are taught the numbers they should call in emergency situations. You can add the numbers of the ambulance and the fire services to their contact list.

6. Easy Access to Information

All the children are curious at an early age and they always want to be acquainted with the outer world. In this sense, the world wide web can help them to understand what they want to learn.

Because the parents can’t answer all the questions their kids ask, children can search for all the things they are curious about and expand their perspectives. One of the most important positive effects of the internet on a child is access to information easily.

You can guide your children to discover their object of interest and provide them with a healthy environment to spend time efficiently.

7. Foreign Language Learning

As far as the children are concerned, lots of parents want them to learn a foreign language that helps kids to fit in the modern world. Thanks to technological improvements, today it is easier to access resources.

Kids can learn a foreign language quickly by using online tools, fun games, and exercises without being bored. You can provide them with the right sources and develop their language skills.

Some of the positive points of the internet are that children can start learning a foreign language online with just a little cost. Apps that are tailored for this purpose are one of the best examples of it.

8. Critical Thinking Development

Thanks to online interactive games and mental exercises, modern children start to develop critical thinking skills earlier. These educational games and exercises help kids to grow intellectually by boosting their strategic thinking skills.

Because these online games and exercises appeal to all the kids who have different interests, they can have fun while improving at the same time. This is one of the most crucial positive effects of the internet due to the fact that it helps kids’ grades at school.

9. More Active Life

Modern world and city life don’t provide children with spacious environments for them to be active. They often can’t run and move around as they want to. At this point, technology rushes to help us.

Because most of the time, kids are in the house, they stay still and don’t satisfy their need to move.But if they start to use the appropriate apps, like fitness apps for kids, they can have a more active life regardless of the space they have.

10. Entertainment

Technology is a huge entertainment universe for both children and adults. When it is used as a safe tool, your kids can benefit from fun video games, puzzles, riddles, and other things to spend their leisure time.

You don’t need to be afraid that your children are harmed because of the internet. You should just be careful about which websites your kids enter. So you can protect them from the negative effects of computers on child development.

Now let’s look at these negative effects that you need to be aware of.

10 Negative Effects of Technology

We’ve talked about the wonders technology can provide, so now it’s time to discuss the negative effects of internet on child caused by misuse. The overuse of technology and unsupervised access to the Internet may cause many negative effects on children's social skills, as well as their mental and physical development.

1. Lower Attention Span

Spending too much time using the most common technological devices such as computers, smartphones, and tablets can cause distraction and concentration difficulties.

One of the negative effects of technology on children is that it may affect their academic success. As we mentioned at the very beginning, the reason for such problems is the extreme (unconscious) use of technology, not the technology itself.

It should not be forgotten that technological developments primarily aim to provide benefits for us. Using the right technology in the right amount is not harmful to anyone.

1. Minimized Social Interaction

Negative effects of the internet on a child's social skills usually appear when the child plays too many games on a computer because they become disconnected from real life.

The child, who doesn’t communicate, interact and share with his/her environment, will try to meet all these needs in a virtual environment.

For example, children can see the level they have achieved in a game as a respectability element. These titles, which have no importance in real life, should be replaced by skills such as respect, love, sharing, and communication.

2. Increased Aggression

We all know that children have a wider imagination than adults. Therefore, they are more vulnerable to the content they come across.

Children can be exposed to frightening elements in videos, cartoons, or games they watch and play.

Children who are not capable of perceiving the difference between the real and the imaginary can experience unfavorable situations such as fear of being alone, nightmares, and not being able to go to the toilet alone.

Similarly, when they consume videos or games containing elements of violence, they can turn into angry children. Internet safety for kids should be provided to prevent unhealthy emotions from building up.

3. Health Problems

The negative impacts of technology on children are not only limited to emotional and mental disorders. The subject also has a physical dimension.

The following disadvantages of technology in child development may occur due to watching TV for a long time, using a computer or a tablet in the wrong sitting position, etc.:

• Vision problems
• Neck pain
• Distortion of the skeletal structure of the body
• Arm, hand, finger numbness
• Overstrain

We can also say that the physical development of a child who is immobilized through the use of technological devices, reduces the time that should be allocated to activities that support muscle development, such as walking, running, jumping, and playing physical games.

4. Reduced Sleep Quality

The harmful effects of technology on children's health are not limited to the above-mentioned effects. Children, as well as adults, can suffer from sleeping disorders.

Technology for kids should not only be supervised in terms of what they’re doing and where, but also in terms of for how long and when.

The risk of developing an addiction is especially common among children and adults. How many times do you have to tell your child that it is bedtime before they actually go to their bed? 🤔

Having the right measures of Internet safety for kids will prevent both lack of sleep (which has a tremendous negative effect on school, work, and all kinds of daily life routines), and developing a gaming addiction disorder.

5. Cyberbullying, Abuse and Security Risks

We have often talked about “overuse“. There are some hidden threats among the negative effects of technology on children that are not related to overuse.

For example, Cyberbullying! Considering that the technologies that children are interested in can usually be linked to the Internet, we need to be aware of the external threats.

In games and apps with online communication preferences, children can be exposed to bullying. They can be abused by malicious adults. Again, malicious adults can obtain personal information about the child or his family. That’s why being aware of “cybersecurity for kids” is a must.

6. Depression Risk

We know that there are bad aspects of the internet other than the positive effects of technology on teenagers and children. One of the most common is depression risk. Because of technological improvements, unfortunately, children start to be less social and use social media more.

If the necessary precautions aren’t taken, they can easily feel depressed and alone. The more they turn in on themselves, the more depression risk is surfaced. When you see the signs of anxiety in your kids, you need to help by having a connection or receiving support from experts.

7. Obesity

Unless your children use online sources in an appropriate way, they tend to be less active. When the time of staying still is increased, they come up against the obesity problem that lots of kids get into trouble with.

Because the obesity problem doesn’t show up in a short while, the parents can have a problem seeing this. Obesity risk is one of the most important negative effects of internet on a child. Don’t forget the obesity problem is defined as a modern world disorder.

8. Lower Grades

We are all aware of the positive effects of internet on students but technological tools such as computers, tablets, or smartphones are used in an effective way, they can cause children to have lower grades in school.

As we’ve mentioned before, when kids start to spend more time on screens, their attention span is decreased, they can feel depressed; hence, their success can be declined. Remember that increasing technology usage means the time spent on homework is diminished.

9. Emotional Problems

There are positive and negative effects of internet on our daily life but if we want to guide our children to have good sides, we need to be careful about their excess usage. When the kids start to spend more time online, they are at risk of having emotional and behavioral problems.

The overuse of technology can cause a delay in the emotional skills of your children. When you see it, even if you want to interfere, they can be aggressive or in a total shut-down. In these kinds of situations, you should get help from professionals.

Negative Aspects of the Internet and How to Prevent Them

The positive points of the internet are hard to dismiss; however, it is important to take the necessary Internet safety measures to be able to benefit from the positive effects of technology without facing the negative impacts of technology.

1. What Kind of Harmful Content are Our Children Exposed to?

The first step in protecting children from harmful Internet content is knowing what kind of content they are exposed to.

We can predict and prevent risk situations effectively when we have information on the content. Just like the warning on airplanes, we should first put the oxygen mask on ourselves and then help our child.

One of the most favorite content among children is games. It is possible to access games on websites and App Stores. When we leave children alone, they can consume the content they want without filtering.

The negative effects of technology on youth are usually caused by content we are not aware of. Naturally, they apply to free services. Parents also make the same mistake from time to time!

We just said, "Prohibition isn't the solution." Now we're talking about a significant risk! It means it’s the right time to meet your child's need for playing games by offering them games that provide the following specifications.

2. Which Specifications Do Reliable Online Games Have?

• No Ads
• No items of violence and fear
• No non-exemplary behavior
• No online communication with other players
• Licensed if possible
• Trustworthy in the public sphere
• Presented by a known (trusted) publisher

Allow your child to play games with these and similar features for a specific period of time depending on the age.

3. Attention to Video Content

YouTube has beneficial content for children. However, there is also some content that children should never watch.

It's only a matter of time for children to get exposed to content such as MOMO and the Blue Whale or cartoon characters that cut each other up.

Let's say - you have protected your child from dangerous games such as the Blue Whale. In the same way, do you protect your child also from opportunists who want to gain an audience by using popular topics on YouTube?

The matter of safety on the Internet for kids it’s not a one-time thing - it requires constant supervision.

For example:

We've looked at the video of a young YouTuber investigating internet content that could be harmful to children. In the video, the horrible MOMO was claimed to be a real character that lives and threatens people. We complained about this content, but there are thousands more like this and every day new ones are added.

The claim that MOMO is a living character is quite illogical for adults, but children can believe it. Then mental problems begin to develop, along with symptoms such as fear of darkness, not being able to go to the toilet alone, etc.

We know that it is easy to say “Prevent your child from watching videos on the Internet!” But we also know that it is difficult to apply this. In the same way, we think of those parents who do not want to entirely ban the use of the Internet.

If you want to allow your child to watch videos in a controlled way, here are some tricks you can follow:

For example, you can try “YouTube Kids” instead of YouTube. The content published in YouTube Kids is checked for children before publication. But don't forget to check what your child is watching.

At the same time, don't forget to inform them about imaginary characters and tell them that these characters are not real. Teaching them what technology and the internet are will help protect them from the negative effects on child development.

You can also check out the child videos app called “Jellies”. According to our research, there are no ads in this app. They only provide content that can be useful for children, which provides a better environment for safe Internet surfing for kids.

IMPORTANT REMINDER: While the YouTube Kids and Jellies applications seem to be reliable channels, after thorough research, we want to remind you that every parent should do this research himself/herself and that the responsibility lies with them.

To sum up, you can offer your child reliable video channels instead of prohibiting video viewing. Of course, age-appropriate daily use must be taken into account.

4. Apps with Online Communication Is a Real Danger

In some online games, there is the possibility of correspondence with other players. It is equally dangerous for your child to talk to a stranger outside, in the real world, and online, in the virtual world.

The real danger here is that the child is not communicating with another child! The hidden danger we cannot ignore is that there might be a malicious adult on the other side.

Children's emotions and thoughts can be easily manipulated. A malicious adult can mislead your child by giving him various instructions.

Applications with online correspondence have many threats from the seizure of your personal information and - much worse - to child abuse! Sharing some of the tips on how children can stay safe on the Internet with your child will help them protect themselves from these vulnerabilities.

5. Age Limit for Social Networks

We have talked about the risks of apps with online communication. The same risks and even more are present on social networks.

Therefore, it is necessary to pay attention to the age when a child can start using social media as prescribed by ICTA. According to ICTA, children should not create a social media profile before the age of 13. Internet safety for kids and young adults starts with adhering to these limitations.

6. Always Communicate with Your Child

If you are not an authoritarian parent who shakes their finger all the time and if you do not suppress the child, he/she will be more open with you.

If your child is comfortable enough to consult you when they feel something suspicious, you will be aware of the potential dangers. Internet safety for kids means kids should feel safe to share their problems and insecurities with you.

7. Tell Your Child the Difference Between Imagining and the Truth

Explain that he/she should not be afraid of the scary/ugly characters that may appear on the Internet and should close the content that he/she does not like. Raising awareness in this matter will reduce the negative emotional impact of technology on children.

8. Explain to Your Child That Some Applications are Not Suitable for Them

In normal life, they know that they should not talk to people that they do not know on the street, so explain that the internet is not different and that the apps that can be used to communicate with others in oral or written form are not suitable for them.

If they do get contacted by someone online, remind them that they should share this with you without giving any response to the message. Sharing the information on how to stay safe on the Internet with your kids will prevent your child from forming unwanted contacts.

9. Use Family Filters and Security Software

Configure your browser's sensitive security settings. Filter fear-inciting, violent, obscene content. Taking these measures will reduce the negative effects of technology on children.

10. Do Not Ignore the Wishes and Needs of Your Child

Determine daily use time instead of banning and provide reliable content for your children. Consider each new game you want to download. Select which application to follow when you want to watch a video. Provide the necessary research and reliable content.

Frequently Asked Questions About About Children and Technology