Slave to the Machine
Technology has made great advancements over the last few decades and its impact on society is immense. People have a constant desire to be stimulated and entertained, spending less time and dedication towards their responsibilities. Growing up with these technological advancements, we become unaware of the effects that technology could have on social development. Studies have been conducted and research shows the harmful effects technology has on our developmental growth.
In early childhood, there are two critical periods in learning language. From birth to around the age of two years old, it is described as the “receptive language” phase, meaning through what we hear, we learn and formulate language. Our environment and what is being talked to or about around us, is how we learn to process language during this critical phase. It is very important that during this stage of learning, babies should not receive any screen time, only playful interaction and exploration. The more that the child is staring at a television the more time is being wasted. Children do not absorb much information from looking at videos on the television or computer. Instead, they learn more through interaction and observation. Although the babies may seem stimulated by the images on the screen, the brain cannot actually process the images on the screen and apply it to what they already know. Technology is a poor learning tool for children.
Research has shown that the more people talk, react and interact with babies, the more language they will accumulate. This stage in learning is like the baby is holding a mirror in front of its face; the baby learns through imitation. The more language that they gain correlates to how many thoughts that they are able to produce. But for growing children, learning this through technology and the Internet is a cheap way to gain more knowledge on language.
This is also true for the second critical learning period for language: expressive language. Expressive language occurs between the ages of two to four. During this phase, children are learning how to use grammar and correctly form sentences. Technology can interrupt that progress by making children disinterested in learning, causing them to turn towards technology and diverting their attention to 2D screens, limiting their capability for more thoughts and words. So the question remains, if a child is introduced to technology at an early stage, will they grow up to become slaves to the machine?
