The Negative Effects of Electronics

What is the first thing you do in the morning? Check your phone? This is a pretty common first step for majority of the population in the morning. Technology has become a part of every day life, we carry our own mini computers in our pockets. In the past ten years technology has improved and we've become heavily reliant on using it. Technology has become an addiction for people all ages, but primarily effects children and teenagers.  The overuse of technology can increase their social anxiety, depression, and anxiety. Excessive screen time increases social anxiety because it allows individuals to hide behind a screen. Kids are losing their creativity and imagination because their answers are right in front of them on a screen. There is no critical thinking or curiosity. The overuse of technology causes less human interaction between individuals and their peers. Seeing the negative effects from using technology such as obesity, sleep issues, and lower test scores in children are happening more often than you think. One of the most common things we do before we fall asleep is watch something on a screen to fall asleep to. It is a bad habit to have, and it can disrupt your sleep cycles by overexposure to blue light. The light emitted from electronic devices interferes with the brain’s sleep cycle and can prevent getting a good night’s sleep. Another example of how children are using technology more than ever in the past decades is by their parents. Many parents find it to be easier to give them a distraction to focus on rather than communicating with them differently. Parents give their children devices during emotional moments during times when kids are crying, whining and needing some help calming down. This causes children to become less aware of the world around them, only focusing on what's shown on the screen in front of them. It is also hard to separate the good and bad on the internet as kids use it, and this damages a child’s mindset at a young age. As a society humans have retained too much information from nonstop reading or watching articles and videos as conversation topics. Everyone has learned more information than what is needed in our daily lives. Our brains are constantly working overtime causing us to feel more stressed and gain more headaches from staring at screens. Children, teenagers and adults who play video games can develop bad habits and create high OCD levels. Once you’re in the trance of playing a video game that you become addicted to, it is hard to stop even if you try to. There have been many differences in children who are growing with screen time restrictions vs children who receive excessive amounts of screen time during their most impressionable stages of development. Children who are exposed to excessive amounts of screen time have less time for creative or active play, this can lead to loss of creativity and even future health concerns in some kids. Children without screen time restrictions don’t typically receive the amount of time outside as recommended which can lead to lower vitamin D and calcium levels. This can decrease their physical health, causing weaker immune systems and not allow bone growth to be at its full potential. Children who use screens over the recommended 2-hour limit per day have scored lower on language and thinking tests and children who exceed 7 hours of screen time each day have shown thinning of the brain's cortex. This area is known for critical thinking. Young children, toddler age tend to learn more from another person face to face than they learn from videos. Children who are starting to learn how to talk tend to learn language better from individuals who are engaging and interacting with them.

Works Cited:

 Elizabeth Chuck, “Research finds more negative effects of screen time on kids, including higher risk of OCD.” (NBC News, 2022)

Aris Mosley, “The Negative Effects of Too Much Screen Time”.(Valleywise Health, 2020)

Plesset, Anna. “What Does Too Much Screen Time Do to Children’s Brains?” NewYork-Presbyterian, 27 Jan. 2025, healthmatters.nyp.org/what-does-too-much-screen-time-do-to-childrens-brains/#:~:text=A%20landmark%20National%20Institutes%20of%20Health%20(NIH),brain%20related%20to%20critical%20thinking%20and%20reasoning. Accessed 05 Apr. 2025.

MedicalNewsToday “Negative Effects of Technology: Psychological, Social, and Health.” Medical News Today, MediLexicon International, www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/negative-effects-of-technology#physical-health-effects. Accessed 05 Apr. 2025.