I love technology. I wouldn’t have a job if I didn’t have a computer and internet service. I wouldn’t be able to do my job while traveling if I didn’t have a cell phone, access to wi-fi, and a laptop or tablet. I also wouldn’t get regular texts from my teenagers letting me know where they are, who they’re with, and what they’re doing. And 14 hours in a car with 4 kids and no Kindles, iPods, or a DVD player? That’s a nightmare I hope to never live through!
For all these reasons, I’m an unlikely advocate for taking a break from technology. The unfortunate reality is that too much technology has several negative effects on our children and our family life.
Negative Effects of Technology on Children
Obesity – Childhood obesity has doubled in children aged 6-11 and tripled in adolescents aged 12-19 over the past 30 years. More than one third of children and adolescents are overweight or obese. This puts them at an increased risk of cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and bone and joint problems. The shift from outdoor activities such as riding bikes and playing sports to indoor activities like playing video games and watching television has played a major role in the childhood obesity trend. At the very least, parents should require kids to turn off the technology for at least one hour each day to play outside or go for a walk, the minimum amount of physical activity prescribed by the CDC for children and adolescents.
Poor Academic Performance – Too much screen time (e.g. watching TV, playing video games, and surfing the internet) causes kids to perform poorly in school since it deteriorates their ability to focus. In addition, when kids aren’t forced to turn off the tech, they choose screen time over reading and writing, thereby diminishing those skills over time.
Violence – According to a survey conducted by A.C. Neilson Company, children will witness 8,000 murders (courtesy of TV and video games) by the time they finish elementary school. The amount of time spent watching television during adolescence has been shown to increase antisocial behavior such as aggression, assault, and robbery.
Impaired Face-to-Face Social Skills – The more time children spend on electronic devices, the less time they spend interacting face-to-face with others. They don’t learn to read non-verbal cues like tone and body language.
Negative Effects of Technology on Families
Fractured Relationships – The A.C. Nielson Company survey revealed that on average, parents spend less than four minutes PER WEEK in meaningful conversations with their children. How can parents possibly convey their values, expectations, and beliefs to their kids in 30 seconds a day? Likewise, they can’t possibly have a clear insight into what their children are thinking, wondering, and worrying about when everyone is spending more time watching TV, checking e-mails, texting, and playing games than talking to one another.
No Down Time – Now that almost everyone has a cell phone and an e-mail address, few of us ever get to enjoy a separation between our roles. You get texts from family members during a work meeting or calls from the office while you’re on vacation. The technological advances that have allowed us to communicate more efficiently have almost become a burden since it’s hard to force yourself to ignore text messages, phone calls, e-mails, etc. By unplugging for just one hour each day, you can make your family your priority and give yourself a mental break from the never-ending flow of information.
Final Thoughts
I’m not saying you should cancel your cable and cell phone subscription or donate all of your computers and video games. I do hope that I’ve helped you identify some of the dangers of relying too much on technology for your family’s main source of entertainment and social interaction. If you can manage to unplug from technology for just one hour a day, you can gain huge benefits to your family’s health and happiness.
If you’d like more information on why you should turn off technology or want some tips on how to do it, check out Tech Timeout, an initiative to encourage families to take a daily break from technology.
Corinne Schmitt
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I couldn’t agree with this more, we do our best to “break it up” with our son. Luckily football season just started so he will be super busy at practice and games too!
My Granddaughters can’t get off their phone for a second… When we go to a restaurant, I make them put their phones away and talk to me. They aren’t happy about it but they do it.
I have no children but agree totally with all of the above. I myself rarely use my cell phone, watch TV maybe once a week–but I am on the computer almost constantly. But then–when you notice me MIA-I’m probably reading a book-yup a real book unless the only way I could get it was electronically–there is no getting away from this technology!!
this is so true and I feel like a hypocrite when I am on mine andI ask mykids to get off theirs
I absolutely agree! We have special times for xBox and TV in our house, it’s about 2-3 hours at nighttime. But during the day the TV is turned off.
It is so annoying!
I can almost smell my children’s brains rotting when they are in front of the TV or on the computer all day. Thanks for the tips, I’ll be sure to try them out!
No down time is the truth and I am as guilty as most. We are trying to do the “device free” thing at our home when we have family get togethers. It is hard to get people to cooperate, though.
We use a lot of technology as a family. We use it as a bonding time as well. But we still do the technology free time every day! We try to do a balance of both 🙂
My son is allowed to play on his nabi for an hour a day. And the only things he has on there is educational games. Otherwise we are playing outside as a family or working on the garden, etc.
I don’t have kids but I think even as adults we need to step away from all our devices. Tues and Wed nights are my reading nights and I turn off all my devices and enjoy tech free nights. Great post!
I totally agree with this I spend most of the day on the computer (one everything else is done of course) but once my OH is home at night I like to come off and spend time with him 🙂 x
I know we spend a lot of time in front of screens but I have to set a good example and free myself first–and if I’ve given the kids a time limit….I’ll pull the plug or take the phone–they do belong to me anyway.
When our kids were growing up there was no cell phones until a few years ago. There was no texting or talking at the table, no hand held games either. Dinner time was family time. If they got too involved in video games I made them turn them off and go outside. Limited time is key.
I love technology but it has not made us better.
This sure gives me a lot to think about. I was watching a show the other day and they made them turn off their phones it was hilarious. Thank you for sharing this…
I love technology, still have a lot to learn about it, but I would have good family time over tech time any day. I didn’t realize there were so many negative effects.
I absolutely agree with this. It is difficult the way things are going in society with technology. It has some great benefits but it has drawbacks as well. I think the relationships and the physical activity are the 2 main concerns for me.
I really agree w/all this. Our daughter is already so interested in our phones and tablets. It can be so addicting. We try not to let her watch too much TV and we turn it off at certain times of the day but she loves it.
Absolutely agree. It is hard to imagine a time before technology when we had landlines and no way of knowing where our teens were while they were out and about. But there should be a shut-down day in every family at least once a week, where phones, iPads, games, t.v. and all other else technology is off limits to enjoy time with one another!
Everything should have a balance! I love technology, but its’ important to put that stuff down and have quality face-to-face interaction. I have to admit that our family probably spends more time on computers, tablets and phones than we should. I knew there were negative effects, but didn’t realize how many of them!
I couldn’t agree with you more. My son is only four, and although I find it impressive that he knows how to work his way around my phone and tablet, prying him away from these gadgets can be quite exasperating. o.O
I completely agree with this! Sometimes it is so nice to have a vacation from technology!
How did we ever survive without technology, right? I remember the days when cell phones were so rare! Now I see even 4 year olds with them! Anyway, I love this post. It’s such a good reminder to appreciate other things in life.
Having a technology break is a great idea. Maybe one night can be a no technology night with a game night instead.
I can’t believe that I survived almost all of high school without a phone. I got my first one my senior year and it was the Nokie 5165 that only called people (and it was pay per minute!) and had “snake” as the game. Now I feel panicky if I forget my phone! We definitely need to work in more “black out” time with technology!
LOL. I know Krista! Cell phones didn’t even exist when I was in high school (yes, I’m THAT old). Now my whole life is on my phone–my music, my calendar, my contacts. I do miss the good old days though when you could go out to eat with someone and actually talk to them the entire meal rather than trying to compete against their cell phone for attention.
I am a huge when it comes to shutting everything off and enjoying my day! It’s something I love doing with my son is just walking away and going to the park, no phone, nothing (well, Just my camera, but that doesn’t count). I love it because I am not so consumed by what is going on with everyone else and I get the chance to make memories for my son and myself!
I am seriously trying to get our entire famly to cut back on screen time- tv, computer, tablet- everything, and get outside, playing board games or just talking to each other. It’s sort of ridiculous that we’re sometimes all in the same room with the tv on, all with devices on laps or in hand. We’re on a tech-free vaca next week and I can’t wait!
You had me laughing hard with your last image
I agree with you with all you points
Life is about balance
I should first say that I support a limited media effects concept. Simply, I don’t agree with blaming media for things like violent behavior because there are many other factors involved. That being said, a critical factor in behavioral outcomes is involvement. Therefore, if we always are on our devices, we’re not being involved in each other’s lives. There is a time and place for technology. We’re pushing it far beyond those boundaries.
I make sure there is downtime each day for technology
So very true and I agree with you. However we live in a technology world today and that is just how it is. I love my techno gadgets too.
I did just that this afternoon. I went out in the backyard with my kids and we had fun!
I completely agree with this post. I too am a big fan of technology, that is what my degree is in. I however only allow myself to turn the computer on when my child is asleep. I only use my phone if I am taking photos of him to send to his dad.
I guess the balance of using technology is what we should apply the most, because it is endangering our health if we don’t go outside walk or do something without technology evolves us.
So true! I use a lot of technology but limit it when it’s family time. My kids don’t have tablets or any hand held device. TV is off all week expect for family movie night once per week and right now even their computer broke down. It’s been awesome. They play together all day long which is wonderful for my daughter who has autism. My daughter reads and my little guy loves to do crafts and draw and all of this was not happening when they could watch TV. Turning off the TV is the best thing I could have done. They will catch up to technology but if they where plopped in front of a screen 2 hrs per day (or more) during their childhood they would never be able to get that time back.
I could not lived without technology too! Every family and every individual should know the limit of using their technology… Families are precious and cannot be replace while technology can be replace at anytime.
My family is a technology fan. But we make sure to have our kids watch only child friendly shows, limit gadget time and of course more playtime or study time.
Great post! We try to limit our kids every day and most of the time they only to play with their iPads when they have done something good. Its a nice reward and they know its a treat!
Definitely need to turn on the electronics more in my house. I’ve been making more of an effort to still play board games with the boys even thought they are all teens..still fun trying to kick there butt in a good game of Star Wars Monopoly or Life or even PayDay. And there is a new game launching Monday that I want to try..its called Phraze-It! Read about it here: http://lisas2900.blogspot.com/2013/08/phraze-it-launching-end-of-this-month.html#.UhfBahtQFe8
Great post, have a great weekend