Techs Effects

Pediatric occupational therapist, biologist, speaker, and author, Cris Rowan, created and posted an article called The Impact of Technology on the Developing Child on May 29th, 2013. In the article, Rowan related children's way of life today compared to twenty years ago. Back then, kids continuously played outside for entertainment. Then at night, kids always came together at the table with their parents during and after dinner in order to socialize about their day. But now, according to Rowan, "technology's impact on the 21st century family is fracturing its very foundation, and causing a disintegration of core values that long ago were the fabric that held families together". Kids evolved from playing inside and socializing with their family to shutting themselves in their room playing video games or watching TV. Rowan goes as far as saying that "aged children use on average 7.5 hours per day of entertainment technology, 75 percent of these children have TV's in their bedrooms, and 50 percent of North American homes have the TV on all day. Gone is dining room table conversation, replaced by the "big screen" and take out." So, what's the harm from children spending 7.5 hours watching a flashing light box. Lets start with the epidemic that spreading in the United States and Canada, child obesity and diabetes. After that, their are many kid coming down with a case of autism, coordination disorder, developmental delays, unintelligible speech, ADHD, learning difficulties, sensory processing disorder, anxiety, depression, and sleep disorders. The flashing box caused this by visual and auditor overload. Rowan said that "sensory imbalance creates huge problems in overall neurological development, as the brain's anatomy, chemistry and pathways become permanently altered and impaired." She later goes on to say that "children who overuse technology report persistent body sensations of overall "shaking", increased breathing and heart rate, and a general state of "unease." This can best be described as a persistent hypervigalent sensory system." Even though Rowan doesn't know the long term effect of this kind of stress in developing children are unclear, she dose know that in adults, it weaken the immune system and many disorders and diseases.