Joyce Alade

Freshman Composition
L. Diomande
Expository Essay 2nd Draft
March 19, 2015
The Effects of Modern Technology on Developing Youths
Modern day technology has altered the world humans grow up in drastically; this has had
a great impact on the development of youths in the 21st century. Decades ago, youths had no
choice but to travel libraries to obtain information. Now, knowledge from all over the world can
be accessed by hitting a few buttons. Communication has also transformed in a similar manner.
Why talk to someone in person when you can text, skype, or direct message someone or
multitudes of people by means of social networking sites. Technology is rather fascinating; it can
save time, money, and simplify older more extensive methods of communication and
accumulating information. However, research reveals that the way modern technology is used
today impacts the early development of youths with regards to their cognitive skills, their social
abilities and their perception of themselves. So, we know about all the tremendous benefits we
gain from modern technology, but what are we losing?
Prior to identifying technologys impact on development, let us first define modern
technology precisely. For the purpose of this paper, modern technology encompasses the internet,
cell phones, social networking sites, televisions and computers, which are significantly less
bulky than their predecessors. Phones are no longer to a cord attached to a wall or some other
cumbersome contraption. Phones can be taken virtually anywhere; and they are much more than
just phones. Mobile phones are pocket-sized computers with access to the internet, social media,
text messaging, cameras, video recorders and music. Nowadays, one does not need a television
to watch television shows. TV stations are beginning to upload episodes of shows online. Media,

like Netflix and YouTube, efface the need to leave ones sleeping quarters to watch a show. TV
programs can be viewed without nuisances such as ones family and the commute from ones
bedroom to the room containing the television. Thus, here, modern technology shall be defined
as the current devices with which we take in knowledge communicate and watch video recorded
content.
Before the advent of modern technology, children spent more time outside, being active,
playing physical games, absorbing information and challenging themselves subconsciously.
Now, children generally spend 7.5 hours per day on entertainment technology
(huffingtonpost.com). This time is often spent performing sedentary activities like watching
television or playing games on the computer or tablet. Developing childrens engagement in this
inactive form of entertainment has resulted in an increase of physical, psychological and
behavior disorders that the health and education systems are just beginning to detect, much less
understand (huffingtonpost.com). Researchers see a correlation between the excessive use of
modern technology and diagnoses of ADHD, autism, coordination disorder, developmental
delays, unintelligible speech, learning difficulties, sensory processing disorder, anxiety,
depression, and sleep disorders increasing at an alarming rate (huffingtonpost.com). In one
interview, Dr. Bruce D. Perry called for stimulating children with real-life experiences with real
people instead of the virtual ones on the television (scholastic.com). Dr. Perry does not
condemn modern technology in this interview. Rather he feels in should be incorporated into
childrens lives appropriately, in fixed amounts, to supplement what they experience in the real
world (scholastic.com). Thus, we see that the use, or one might say abuse, of modern technology
is the true source that is impeding development in children.

Modern technology also has an impact on youths social skills. One article states, that
when too much time is spent on electronics and not enough other activities, such as reading,
playing games, and good old unstructured and imaginative play, make children less, not more,
prepared to thrive in this world. (psychologytoday.com). Children are beginning to draw away
from their parents, and people in general, and draw closer to modern technology. This may not
seem so bad initially. Parents often even give their children electronic devices to keep them busy
and out of the way while parents deal with their own hectic lives (huffingtonpost.com).
Eventually, instead of asking a person a question, kids will go to the internet instead which can
become dangerous because what is on the internet isnt always true. In addition, the lifestyles of
no consequence, seen in TV shows, can be injurious influences on young minds that may not yet
be able to differentiate right from wrong and real from fake. In one recent study, the HomeNet
project, researchers conducted an in-depth analysis of the effects of acquiring access to the
Internet among a group of 93 families; the two-year study documented that, despite the use of the
Internet for such social purposes, teens who spent more time online experienced greater declines
in social and psychological well-being during their first year with access to the Internet
(futureofchildren.org).
This brings up the issue of content control. Parental restrictions can be placed on certain
TV shows but, is the same attention being paid to the internet? Social networking sites enable
children and teenagers to have myriads of friends without having leaving their homes or
actually speaking to such people in public. As a result, children are spending more time in chat
rooms, communicating with "weak ties" with whom they had no offline contact, and less time
communicating with "strong ties," who tend to provide stronger social support
(futureofchildren.org). Furthermore, communicating via the internet often dissociates youths

from reality, which can cause them to say things they would not normally say to a person face-toface. Thus, cyber bullying is born; a form of intimidation, usually employed by youths, using
social networking sites, chatrooms and text or instant messaging. In short, cyberbullies harass
others with malicious messages online. Victims of cyberbullying are more likely to receive poor
grades, skip school, have lower self-esteem, have more health problems, show reluctance
towards attending school and use drugs and alcohol (stopbullying.gov). The easy accessibility
of modern technology in conjunction with the increasing early access children have to these
technologies makes cyberbullying all too easy. The victims of this cyber assault often feel
trapped because the bullies have transcended the barrier of school and invaded the modern
technology abundant in homes today.
With the modernization of technology comes the broadening of the internets capacities,
and this has impacted the commercial industry. The internet created a whole new platform upon
which companies can promote their products. Ads graduated from billboards, busses,
commercials and newspapers to the tops, bottoms and sides of numerous webpages. We are
bombarded by copious images of things we do not need. Pop-up ads and video adverts - that we
are forced to watch before we get to the actual content we are seeking - affect us subconsciously.
Modern technology has become such an integral part of life that the computer and the internet
are practically school supplies for young ones. It can be necessary to hand in assignments,
research papers, and communicate with classmates and professors. So, in addition to using the
internet secularly on social media and gaming and such, there are times when the use of the
computer is necessary for school which is mandatory by the law in America. Keep that in mind
while understanding that as a child looks for sources for an assignment they will likely be
exposed to advertisements. In fact, an occasion in which anyone can access the internet without

the disturbance of ads is rare if not fictional. And this, has a huge impact on how youths see
themselves.
The American Psychological Association (APA) found evidence that the proliferation of
sexualized images of girls and young women in advertising, merchandising, and media is
harmful to girls' self-image and healthy development (apa.org). Those sexualized images are
the thin scantily clad people seen in ads for virtually anything. Female Models tend to be very
thin and tall making young girls fell as if they do not look like these women that something is
wrong with them. Sometimes girls resort to unhealthy practices to get the perfect body. Males
are not left unscathed. Male models tend to be tall, muscular and lean making young men resort
to unhealthy practices to obtain that physique. Its not just the ads that are injurious, social
networking sites (SNSs), such as Facebook, provide abundant social comparison opportunities
(psycnet.apa.org). The way youths use such modern technologies can harbor self-defecating
tendencies.
Ultimately, humans have always exhibited excessive tendencies. They overeat and
overwork and have reaped the negative consequences of such behavior. Now, people overuse the
modern technology and this, like everything else done immoderately, has negative consequences.
Researches see the use of modern technology impede the development of youths cognitive
skills, social skills and perception of themselves. In relatively recent years, people have begun to
notice a correlation between the use of modern technology and learning disorders, poor mentalemotional health and low self-esteem. So what do we lose when we gain with regards to modern
technology? We lose ourselves. Young ones lose their ability to utilize mental processes, like
perception, memory, judgment and reasoning, properly. Children are lose the fiery confidence
and self-assurance that they normally foster in their youth; and they grow up with these feelings;

sometimes subjecting themselves to unhealthy tendencies. In a way, modern technology

facilitates the bad habits humans harbored before modern technology even began to proliferate
every aspects of our lives.

Works Cited Page

Perry, Bruce D., MD, PhD. "The Effects of Technology on the Brain | Scholastic.com."
Interview. Scholastic Teachers. Scholastic, n.d. Web. 18 Mar. 2015.
<http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/article/effects-technology-brain>.
Rowan, Cris. "The Impact of Technology on the Developing Child." The Huffington Post.
TheHuffingtonPost.com, 29 May 2013. Web. 11 Feb. 2015.
<http://www.huffingtonpost.com/cris-rowan/technology-children-negativeimpact_b_3343245.html>.
Subrahmanyam, Kaveri, Robert E. Kraut, Patricia M. Greenfield, and Elisheva F. Gross. "The
Impact of Home Computer Use on Children's Activities and Development." The Future of
Children. Princeton Bookings, 2000. Web. 17 Mar. 2015.
<http://futureofchildren.org/publications/journals/article/index.xml?
journalid=45&articleid=205&sectionid=1342&submit>.
Taylor, Jim, PH.D. "How Technology Is Changing the Way Children Think and Focus."
Psychology Today. Psychology Today, 4 Dec. 2012. Web. 11 Mar. 2015.
<https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-power-prime/201212/how-technology-is-changingthe-way-children-think-and-focus>.
"Social Comparison, Social Media, and Self-esteem." APA PsycNET. APA PsycNET, Oct. 2014.
Web. 9 Mar. 2015. <http://psycnet.apa.org/journals/ppm/3/4/206>.
"What Is Cyberbullying." What Is Cyberbullying. U.S. Department of Health and Human
Services, n.d. Web. 18 Mar. 2015. <http://www.stopbullying.gov/cyberbullying/what-is-it/>.
Zurbriggen, Eileen, PhD, Deborah Tolman, EdD, Monique Ward, PhD, Rebecca Collins, PhD,
Jeanne Blake, Tomi-Ann Roberts, PhD, and Sharon Lamb, EdD. "Sexualization of Girls.
Http://www.apa.org. American Psychological Association, 19 Feb. 2007. Web. 9 Mar. 2015.
<http://www.apa.org/news/press/releases/2007/02/sexualization.aspx>.