Monitoring Children's Electronic Use

According to Gentile et al, “Children spend more time with electronic usage than they do in any other activity, aside from sleep.” (E1) Although we may think there are not a lot of negative outcomes from electronic usage, there is more than meets the eye. Studies have been conducted to find out if negative issues during adolescents are linked to electronic usage. These experimental studies show that excessive electronic exposure has a destructive result upon children. According to the Kaisers Foundation’s 2010 report, “only three in ten young children say they have rules about how much time they spend watching TV (28 percent), playing video games (30 percent), and 36 percent say it about using the computer.” Do your parents monitor your electronic

The first reason parents should monitor their child’s electronic usage is because of the physical health issues. High levels of electronic usage are linked to adolescent obesity. If children are watching media all day, they will not want to exercise or engage in extracurricular activities. Heavy electronic usage can lead to the lack of physical boundaries. Greater electronic exposure results in negative health diseases. The personal image on the internet of how people should appear is damaging to the pureness of this generation’s children and other generations to come. The second reason parents should monitor their child’s electronic usage is because of psychological abuse to the mind. Electronic usage gives people an opportunity to bully or be bullied. Childhood is very critical in development of knowledge for what is wrong, what is right, and the consequences regarding the circumstances. Cyberbullying can lead to depression if not stopped. Depression, if not assessed, may lead to suicide. Jealousy plays a huge role in bullying. Kids do not know how much bullying affects a person’s vision of themselves. Parents play the largest role in their child’s experience with electronics. Each parent has a different opinion on whether or not they want their child to have electronics, but it all leads to the same question: Is this benefitting my child in their early years of