Zuleyca Ventura Ventura 1

Professor Rodrick

English 115

25 September 2019

Youth Addiction to Screens

Parents are constantly searching for new means to aid their children in having a

successful future. Some of the new technology that is used in this decade include: computers,

phones, learning software, etc. Although it does seem that screens can be useful educational tools

for young children, studies show that extensive exposure to screens can lead to obesity, anti-

social behavior, and aggressive behavior because parents should limit their child's time with

screens.

As technology advances, there has been an increase of individuals that have access to

technology. These kids are at an age where they should be learning and developing new skills

without the use of a phone. According to Hilary Brueck, she states, “the percentage of the many

students were to feel much compulsion towards to their phone to the point where phones would

vibrate and they would think it’s their phone in their mind when literally it wouldn’t be the

phone.” This shows how kids at a young age or at an older age who are using or has a phone isn't

helping them in a good way. The way that it is impacting the proper development of a child’s

brain is that when a kid stares at their devices it’s like their brain would be focused on only the

device and nothing else. If the child were to clean, the child’s brain would tell him to clean, but

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in another way it would get distracted signaling the kid to go back on the phone instead of

cleaning and doing what the kid is responsible to do.

Not only do teenage kids have a problem with the usage of their phone, but so do younger

children. Parents who have kids between 2-5 years of age, their biggest concern is the device

usage that focuses on their ability of learning to be becoming shorter because they will have the

urge of wanting to have a device as their way of having fun instead of learning. According to

Strasburger VC Council on Communications and Media, it states, “screen media effects on

energy intake as the prominent mechanism linking screen time and obesity in children.” This

example shows that many kids who are addicted to phones, would stare at their screens 24 hours

a day would be in a situation where they would just not go outside with other kids, would just

stay watching movies with a bunch of junk food they can possibly eat that is out in front of them.

With a defect on the kids would make them worse from not eating healthy because of the fact

they only would focus on eating junk food when watching movies.

This behavior impacts kids of all ages, due to the younger kids starting so young. If older

kids are started at the age of 10-15 to have a screen in front of them they will become addicted

and aggressive towards their parents and hide things from them. There is a higher chance to

change them from becoming aggressive or isolated. According to Lepeleire, Sara, she states that

for children to have low screening time and having to eat a healthier diet, parents would have the

circumstances to make their children learn. As well she stated that children who would have an

effect based on a health promoting online intervention for parents called Movie Models that

would make them have more parenting skills towards to their children to make them have less

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screen time and have a better diet for themselves. Parents should make sure and watch their kids

more, to see that they aren't watching bad things. Mari-Jane Williams says, “We need to figure

out where the line is between what is necessary, or at least acceptable, and what is too much”.

We parents should know when is necessary for their kids to have a device. They should be more

aware of what their kids are doing and how much time they are spending on a device.

Since every individual has a device, children between the ages of 10 and 15 are pressured

to go everywhere with their devices. They always need to check their phones for no reason, they

think something is happening when it’s not. According to Lisa Shaw it states, “One in four

young

Internet users ages 10 to 17 report un-willing exposure to sexual material online.” This argues

that older kids would more likely get exposed to inappropriate content with technology. They see

things that they shouldn't see or learn from the internet. This comes back to the parents for not

watching their kids, because they will see it as a big benefit towards to them when knowing what

their kids have been doing. What parents should be doing encouraging their kids to be more

outgoing.

According to Kendra Cherry, “Lack of sleep is also one of the main culprits in the

connection between mobile phone use and the current of teen mental health issues.” This

indicates that the lack of sleep and a massive time spent on smartphones can also lead to teen

depression, anxiety and even suicide rates. This also shows that many teenagers when getting

bullied online find suicide as their solution to avoiding the constant bullying. If these children

had never interacted with online website like Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, they wouldn't be

going through these types of problems.

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 Overall, screen technology has become a big interaction in individuals daily lives. We

should all learn to maintain a stable way to using screens from television to computers and

smartphones, the abundance of screen technology have been more impactful to our youth. We

should limit kids to a 20-30 minutes to a screen for toddlers and for teenagers making sure they

are using it mostly for work on studying and limiting them from using it to play games or watch

videos. As for the parent to make sure their kids are being more proactive going outside more

often than staying in door. It all depends on how we use these devices, which seems that it’s

better used when necessary than just using it for unimportant things. It's going to be difficult

because we are in a world where technology evolves all around, so it's up to us to balance when

to use it and when not. It's up to us to make a change before the new technology grows all around

us ends up changing us individuals to something terrifying.

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 Work Cited

❖ Ferguson, Christopher. “Everything in Moderation: Moderate Use of Screens

Unassociated with Child Behavior Problems” 07 February 2017, Department of
Psychology, Stetson University, 421 N. Woodland Blvd, DeLand, FL 32729, USA

❖ Cherry, Kendra. “The Effect of Smartphones on your Brain” Psychology. 12 August

2012

❖ Brueck, Hilary. “This is what your smartphone is doing to your brain — and it isn't good”
01 March 2019

❖ Shaw, Lisa & Terrell, Rebecca. “What Screens are doing to our Kids” 17 June 2019: print
edition of The New American

❖ Stutzer, Abby. “How does Your Smartphone Affect Your Sleep” 22 March 2018

❖ Strasburger VC Council on Communications and Media. Children, adolescents, obesity,

and the media. [published correction appears in Pediatrics. 2011;128(3):594] Pediatrics.
2011;128(1):201–208.

❖ Glaser, Mark. How Cell Phones Are Killing Face-to-Face Interactions. 22 October 2007

❖ Lepeleire, Sara De, et al. “The Effect of an Online Video Intervention ‘Movie Models’ on

Specific Parenting Practices and Parental Self-Efficacy Related to Children’s Physical

Activity, Screen-Time and Healthy Diet: A Quasi Experimental Study.” BMC Public

Health, vol. 17, Apr. 2017, pp. 1–15. EBSCOhost, doi:10.1186/s12889-017-4264-1.

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❖ Williams, Mari-Jane. "How to help your kids balance screen time and the real world."

Washington Post, 12 Feb. 2019. Opposing Viewpoints in Context, Accessed 15 July 2019