todays kids: the iGeneration

Studies are showing that

technology is changing the way that

 children are growing and developing. 

I came across a book that would be fascinating to read -

Rewired:  Understanding the iGeneration and the way they learn

 by Larry D. Rosen. 

"Look around at today´s youth and you can see how technology has changed their lives. They lie on their beds and study while listening to mp3 players, texting and chatting online with friends, and reading and posting Facebook messages." 

 



In the meantime I found an article in Psychology Today, adjunct professor Jim Taylor discusses How Technology is Changing the Way Children Think and Focus in his article  The Power of Prime -The cluttered mind uncluttered.   He states that technology "isn’t just affecting children on the surface of their thinking. Rather, because their brains are still developing and malleable, frequent exposure by so-called digital natives to technology is actually wiring the brain in ways very different than in previous generations.

What is clear is that, as with advances throughout history,

the technology that is available determines how our brains develops." 

He goes on to discuss that the amount of exposure to technology actually "conditions the brain to pay attention to information very differently than reading". 

And he argues that all technology is not bad and that it is not really making children more stupid, it is just making them different. 

Jessica asked a question in regards to how technology is changing the way children are growing up, in compared to her childhood - which consisted of playing outside in the dirt, eating and sleeping! 

Dr. Taylor says "The effects of technology on children are complicated, with both benefits and costs.

Whether technology helps

 or hurts

 in the development of your children’s thinking

 depends on what specific technology is used

 and how and what frequency it is used.

At least early in their lives, the power to dictate your children’s relationship with technology and, as a result, its influence on them, from synaptic activity to conscious thought." 

His bottom line is:

"What does all this mean for raising your children?

The bottom line is that too much screen time

 and not enough other activities,

such as reading,

playing games,

and good old unstructured and imaginative play,

 will result in your children

 having their brains wired

 in ways that may make them

less,

not more,

prepared

 to thrive in this crazy new world of technology."

 

 

 

So much of what Dr. Taylor presents in his article is important to me because I find myself quite concerned with the amount of technology and media that my children are being exposed to.  Gone are the days that ended with me dumping them in the tub to wash off the dirt from a day of outside play.  Children, mine included, are consumed by the buffet of media choices; social media to technology needed for their homework.  All aspects of their life seems to revolve around an on/off button; the off being rarely used. 

It concerns me as a parent that the more time they spend being wired to technology and media the less prepared they are to "thrive in this crazy new world of technology."  I absolutely agree with studies showing that the demands of technology on this generation is changing the way they develop and I would suggest even stunting their growth.  In a sense they sit at a buffet of media in a technological world and starve to death.

Taylor, J. (2012) "The Power of Prime: How Technology is Changing the Way Children Think and Focus". Psychology Today. December 4, 2012. <http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-power-prime/201212/how-technology-is-changing-the-way-children-think-and-focus> Accessed February 2014.