Growing up, I remember never using a cellphone or tablet; i do remember using a computer (which looked like a box) but I would only use it from time to time, conisedring it was in the most unvisited are in my home: the basement. The reason I mentioned the location of my  computer is because it shows how unimportant it was to have it; it's also a way of me telling you I barely used it because I was afraid of my basement. In fact because of this, I played with a lot of toys growing up instead. As a child I was always encouraged by my parents to play outdoors or indoors with my toys. In fact, they would play with me and pretend to be anything I wanted them to be to make my experience enjoyable and realistic. As I got older, my parents did buy my brother and I video game systems, but they always set a time limit for our use and encouraged us not to use it more than anything else. 

     In this photo I found on Google, I can't help but feel slightly frustrated with what I see. As a future educator, and hopefully parent, I would hate to see this happen to any of my students or very own children. In this photo I see a mother and father who probably barely know each other and a child who is being silenced by a tablet for one main reason: to allow the parents to relax and be lazy. Children of that age (I'm guessing he is two or three) should be crawling on the ground, exploring their surroundings, playing with toys, and interacting with mommy and daddy. Although there can be several reasons as to why they are all doing something, I still cannot stand the idea of a family being that anti-social. In fact, until this day my dad still frowns upon the use of technology when around family, and I am 21 years old. He encourages everyone to put their cellphones away at dinner time to socialize with one another. 

     Technology can impact a young child in a good way but i believe it impacts them negatively more than anything. In a research article I found, Pediatric Occupational Therapist Cris Rowan, speaks about the negative impacts of technology on children's development. In the article, one statistic that really blows my mind is, "Children use 7.5 hours per day of entertainment technology, and 75% have a device in their bedroom." This is very sad, because most of their day is spent on technology which means they are not interacting with those around them as much, or exploring their surroundings. In addition to this, the article explains how the over-use of technology can affect several different areas of development: 

• Mental Disorders 

• Physical Impairments 

• Social Disorders

• Academic Impairments

     Over-using technology at such a young age can really effect a child's development and academic performance in their present and future situations. In fact, I really frown upon the use of technology at such a young age because I feel that by introducing children to technology at a young age, parents are setting their children up for several challenges in their lifetime. 

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