5 Reasons Technology Isn’t Always Bad for Kids

How much screen time is appropriate for kids? Many parents worry that giving kids access

to too much technology will stunt development or cause attention problems over time. Find

out how technology presents great learning, communication, and developmental

opportunities for children.

Technology Enhances Learning

The simplest way technology aids learning is through the search engine: When kids are

working on projects for school or learning about new subjects, parents and teachers can

show them how to do research using search engines. Explaining how to distinguish a

credible source from the list of search results, even for children who are young, gives kids

the tools to use technology to seek the information they want.

Technology also enhances learning activities both inside and outside the classroom.

Screens don't have to be only for games. Think about downloading a stargazing app to

teach kids about astronomy. Using technology such as a digital camera encourages kids to engage with technology during activities like exploring nature or going on a treasure hunt.

Kids Learn Valuable Technology Skills

Technology skills are essential parts of many jobs. As technology develops further, being

unfamiliar with how basic operating features work will put kids at a disadvantage. Professor Mark Brown of Massey University in New Zealand indicates that letting children use

technology from a young age is beneficial to them learning the technology skills that will

serve them throughout their lives.

Educating kids on technology skills includes teaching them how to be responsible and safe

when interacting with people online. Instead of trying to prevent children from joining social

networks or social games, parents and educators can teach kids about online safety while

giving kids the tools to continue developing their online social skills.

Parents Stay in Touch

Kids and parents aren't always together, whether that's because one parent is deployed

through the military, the parents are divorced, or a parent travels often for business.

Technology allows children to keep in contact with a parent who isn't physically present.

FaceTime, Skype, and other video chatting apps allow kids to actually see their parent,

instead of hearing a voice only over the phone.

Plus, for parents with older children attending boarding school, summer camp, or college,

technology works the same way. Kids and parents don't have to lose touch with one

another.

Language Skills Grow

Many educational games focus on reading skills, both as kids learn to read and as they

graduate to more complex books. Traditionally, some children get help with reading at

home, but other parents either lack the time or aren't equipped to help kids with their reading

skills.

Technology offers a chance for all children in a class to enhance their reading skills. Kids are using the iPhone 6s to learn to read or are learning on a computer at their school or

public library. Parents who have devices at home have special opportunities; the 4.7-inch

Retina HD display on the iPhone, for example, presents many educational game choices

that would have been limited to laptops and desktops.

Children Engage With Tasks

Educational games and schoolwork that happen on tablet or computer screens often require

completion of one level to move up to the next one. Children engaged with completing the

level, even if it's hard, to get the reward of moving up a level learn about task completion.

Teachers have found engaging with tasks to be helpful, too. Some teachers now have

students save digital portfolios of their work. The students get to see their own progress and

their completed projects; the teachers can track the learning styles of different students, and

parents receive updates about the portfolios to keep track of what their children are doing in

school.

Screen time for children can be valuable, but parents need to make sure that the time kids

spend with technology is beneficial for them. A game here or there is fine, but parents have

the power to turn the relationship between kids and technology into something more

meaningful for their children's education and skills development.