Apart from actual dangers that put kids lives at risk, even time spent innocently “hanging out” online can cause problems for kids, down the road. Today’s kids are being referred to as Generation Z, or iGen, because starting at very young ages, they’ve been online. A lot. In Part 1, we looked at how their increased online socializing is impacting in-person social skills, as well as how the emphasis on personal image and branding can become problematic. Now we’ll look at the area parents and teachers might be most likely to harp on: the impact on intellectual and academic success.
Intellectual Concerns
It’s not just the English teachers who are complaining about the effect that texting has had on students’ academic performance. Even if they’re not “sexting” or sending racy acronyms, the texting culture is still having a negative effect in some areas. While the increasingly image-centered nature of the internet has led to a greater level of creativity when it comes to graphic arts and music, literary skills have declined. Online multitasking is sometimes blamed for students’ expressing less complex ideas in their writing, along with using shorter sentences and disconnected paragraphs.
Another downside that carries over into academia is that today’s teens are growing less and less intellectually curious. They flock to Google in order to find things out, but they’re content to remain naïve about the factors that cause various posts to be listed over others, or whether some sources are unworthy of their trust.
Thoughtful Solutions
Is the answer to these potential problems to take away technology and resort to dusting off the old encyclopedia set and board games, while allowing only pen-and-paper communications sent via “snail mail”? Well, that’s not a bad idea, for certain times. Limiting technology use and setting aside specific “unplugged” times is proving to be necessary and helpful for normal intellectual, social, and emotional development.
At the same time, though, we also need to teach our kids how to positively plug into these new resources for good, rather than evil (or even simply wasting valuable time). Instead of keeping our kids from learning new things and developing valuable skills, electronics can actually help them achieve more.
You may want to start with a top-rated kids’ tablets and then text your child links to sites like the following. Your son or daughter will feel the validation of using an electronic device while actually doing something positive.
YouTube is a great place to start. Instead of mindless entertainment, challenge your kids to learn something new — and maybe even race them at it or suggest they race one of their BFFs.
• Increase musical skills by learning basic guitar with Drue James
• Make craft projects from crochet to duct tape bracelets or homemade volcanos.
Continue reading with Part 3.
Image credits: Top © Sean Davis/Fotolia; 2nd © Monkey Business/Fotolia.
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