A wider intervention of technology over the years not only has changed the way we behave, think and interact but also has shaped the entire system in which we live. Children today are part of a digital generation that has grown up in a world surrounded by technology and the internet. Over the last six years, Bangladesh has seen a dramatic increase in the amount of technology available to and used by children. Here, a generation ago, parents worried about the effects of TV; before that, it was radio. Now, the concern is “screen time,” a catchall term for the amount of time that children, especially preteens and teenagers, spend interacting with TVs, computers, smartphones, digital pads, and video games.
Here children are increasingly getting afflicted to the usage of these technologies. Thus technology is occupying a key part of children’s growing up while helping them develop an identity and connect with the virtual world. Children’s access to technology poses both negative and positive impact. The virtual world helps children to exploit a new communicative paradigm. Experts are of the opinion that today’s children are able to ascertain between competing facts more accurately and make decisions more quickly. Also access to technology helps children increase their cognitive and analytical skills.
However, on the other hand, the impact of prolonged screen-time could change how children’s brains develop. There is no denying that internet is damaging children’s capacity for originality and for critical and reflective thinking. Study suggests that screen time can lead to stress because chronic stress created from looking at a screen changes hormone levels which increase irritability. This change in hormone levels can lead to depression. It is found that those who use too much technology are more likely to develop the same brain chemistry as substance abusers. International Journal of Child Health and Human Development said kids have a lack of motivation for activity due to overuse of technology. Hence, leveraging the usage of technologies in child has become a demand of time.
