Increased Use Of Technology Amongst Kids

Whether it is the CBSE, ICSE or CIE schools India houses, the common factor amongst all of them is the rampant usage of technology by both teachers and students in all aspects of teaching and learning. Most kids own at least one of the following:  iPads, iPhones or laptops.

We are slowing leaving the days when kids used their parents’ devices for a few hours a day behind us. Nowadays, kids have their own personal devices and are as addicted to these devices, if not more, than their elder counterparts.

Results? Kids these days spend rarely any time outside, playing physical games. There is a marked reduction in the nutrition and health levels. Far more kids need to wear glasses as compared to before due to the amount of time they spent glued to their screens.  Spending so much time on these gadgets doesn’t allow kids to develop offline friendships and they end up having social anxiety.

Of course, there are advantages to how tech savvy kids are. They are smarter, sharper and there are even kid coders! They are more exposed to the outside world through the use of Internet and often end up losing their innocence far earlier than they normally would.

For their  part, schools are trying to encourage physical sports amongst kids by making offscreen time compulsory. What we perceive to be a problem for working adults has also proven to be a problem amongst toddlers who are 5 year old. They are so addicted to their devices that detoxification is something that needs to be forced upon them.

Of course, there isn’t much even the best school or parents can do about this problem. Not exposing kids to these devices would mean keeping them from the things others kids their age would know intuitively. Not allowing an entire generation of kids to use electronic devices is not even feasible. The solution lies in developing a healthy balance amongst their online and offline time.