Technology has become a very active part of our everyday life. It has become nearly impossible not to check your phone for notifications first thing in the morning. And this need is ever-increasing with FOMO (Fear of missing out) in motion. Since technology has become so inexorable in our life, it is only normal for our children and the next generation to pick our habits. Technology, over the years, has raised concern due to its impact on children and their overall development. From psychological development to the social development of their children, parents have raised various concerns and doubts regarding the continuous use of technology. This distress among parents has led to many discussions, research, and murmurs in the highest of social orders.
How Technology Influences Our Daily Life?
These days, children encounter technology not only at home but also in school. And all these technologies account for some major part in child learning and overall development. It can have some surprising positive as well as negative effects on children.
For example, the video games that the kids play these days are usually considered as a mindless form of entertainment. However, research has proven that these games have enhanced, and cultivate basic visual and motor skills in children.
Through this article, we have tried to answer questions on how can technology affect children’s social development? And how to observe social and emotional development lacking in kids?
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That being said, here are some major advantages and disadvantages of using technology:
Pros:
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Way of Connecting:
Technology is known to bring people together. It has allowed interaction and communication between peers and a group of peers positively. One can connect and form friendships/bonds with other peers who share the same interests.
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Like-minded Peers:
It is also proven to be successful in becoming a safe space for children and teens to share their experiences and expectations, which may not have been accepted eagerly by traditional peer groups. In other words, technology has very easily provided children with a support group with like-minded people that can help the children to become more social as well as interactive.
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Medium of Expression:
Technology has also proved to be a boon for socially awkward children who usually found interacting with their peers, or people in general, difficult. This had a very negative impact on their social development, which was quite evident in their later part of lives; through technology, they gained the confidence to put forth their opinions and experiences, which is accepted by similar and like-minded people.
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Learning with Fun:
Content also has a big say in this. The content that the child is exposed to has an impact on their overall well-being. Shows like ‘Mickey Mouse Clubhouse’ or ‘Dora the explorer’ encourages thinking and improves vocabulary among small kids.
This will later lead to better communication skills and having a common-sense approach to everyday life situations. The child will feel confident to put forth these thoughts and opinions, and also communicate with peers. This will help them to develop social skills.
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Aids in Studies:
Technology, combined with teaching, is considered the next big thing. I mean, who wouldn’t like to have access to all their class time-tables, class notes, video recording of missed lectures, and so much more in just one click. The time spent in finding the right book for a project in the library can be diverted to improving the quality of content used in the same project.
Cons:
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Lack of Face-to-Face Interaction:
Overuse of technology can have a grave impact on face-to-face interactions. Real-life social interactions are very important in developing a child’s communication skills, both verbal and non-verbal, cognitive and social skills, a sense of empathy, and a lot more.
Due to the reduction in these real interactions, children are bound to grow up with a lack of these skills, which might also affect their social life at a later stage. It is also found that disruptive behaviours (social) like bullying emerges from the lack of social skills.
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Loneliness
Another problem that arises from the increased use of technology is loneliness and depression. Children and teens who are often stuck to their technological devices feel the lack of ‘real’ friends and peers. After knowing this, they try to communicate and form bonds outside, however, the lack of social skills makes it difficult for such children and teens to interact resulting in loneliness. This may eventually lead to depression.
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Hinders Relationships:
Parents have also complained about reduced family quality time. Teens and children have reduced, or completely disregard, their interaction time with family members. Such teens often disregard their parent’s opinions on matters which lead to parent and child conflicts.
This goes the other way around as well. If the parents indulge in too much technological use and neglect their interaction time with their children, that may also lead to disruptive social development and lack of bonding.
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Violent Content:
A lot of content supported by technological devices endorses violence. Be it video games, movies, or TV shows, children are majorly exposed to violence, which gets reflected in their social development. Young kids may accept it as a way of life and may try to exhibit similar actions affecting their social interactions as well.
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Also Read: Social Development Activities for Kids: How To Raise a Happy Child?
Ways to Improve Social Development in Children
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Talk to Them
Talk to your children about their relationships and interactions with their classmates and other people around them. This will help your child identify various concerns and anomalies that come with a lack of real-life social interactions, and also the overuse of technology. This can also help you identify any sort of disruptive behaviour your child is exposed to online – cyberbullying or inappropriate content.
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Enforce Time Limits
It is very important on your part to enforce time limits when it comes to the usage of technological devices and encourage the non-screen healthy development of your children.
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Become Their Role Model
Show your children the benefits of being themselves by increasing your interaction and quality time with them. Encourage and help them to try out different activities for their socio-emotional development in kids.
In Conclusion
As discussed above, technology comes with its fair share of pros and cons. However, it’s on parents and how they find and use creative ways to encourage children to interact positively and gain only the pros of these technological devices. One needs to understand various social development activities for kids and take proper steps to enrol their children in the same.
We, at The Real School Of Montessori,care about your little one’s well-being just as much as you do, and love to work on the very foundation of what they learn, how they learn, and why they learn. You can access the unlimited online video content which is cardinal for a child’s creative development.
Stay tuned to get hold of more such informative content so that you can ensure your child’s comprehensive development and promote both dexterity and ingenuity.
