Kristal Rudy

ENGL 2010
February 19, 2016

Internet and the importance of

Time Management for Kids and Teens
Comparing todays world 2016 to just 20 years ago in 1996 you can see huge
advancements in technology. The world continues to change and advance every single year. In
1996 children did not have access to devices that are all connected to the internet like they do in
todays every growing and evolving world. And in todays world Children of very small ages
have the ability to tap into the internet from their parents phones, tablets, gaming systems like
X-box, I-pads, Computers, and even TVs unlike they did 20 years ago or even 10! So the
question is why is it a bad thing for kids to have so much access to the internet? And why is it so
important and critical to limit ones childs access to the internet? Throughout this paper I will
explain and answer these questions with supporting documents. I will also go over why allowing
children to have too much screen time/ internet can negatively affect their social skills, mentally
and physically.

When is Internet a bad thing:

1 https://satoriworldmedical.files.wordpress.com/2013/01/just-one-more-tweet-dad.jpg

Firstly why it is a bad thing for children to have plethoras of access to devices that can
connect to the internet, and why is it so important to limit ones childs access to the internet?
Allowing children to search the internet or play games for extended periods of time causes a lack
of interest in the real world of sports friends and activities. It has a negative effect on how they
learn and absorbed information from school work, and causes a huge disconnect from reality.
Ashton Edwards who wrote 2Teens spend a mind-boggling 9 hours a day using media in
new report he quoted James Stayer It just shows you that these kids live in this massive 24/7
digital media technology world, and its shaping every aspect of their life. They spend far more
time with media technology than any other thing in their life. This is the dominant intermediary
in their life. We cannot allow ourselves to raise our children in a way that disconnects them
from life, but many parents are and probably are not realizing it.
The Internet a good thing:
The ability and constant availability to technology and the internet needs to be controlled
to better our childrens and teens lives. Does that necessarily mean there should be no access
granted to the internet or technology? No, the internet is a very useful and helpful resource that is
available to this generation that was not available to other generations. The information and
knowledge gained from the ability to access the internet is outstanding and helps many people
learn and grow at their own individual levels. Learning games and apps to tutoring sites, video
lectures and many other things help children better understand material being taught or presented
to them in a way that fits their needs, but using the internet properly and managing the amount of
time spent is crucial for their mental and physical health.
2 http://fox13now.com/2015/11/03/teens-spend-a-mind-boggling-9-hours-a-day-using-mediain-new-report/

How internet effects Social and Mental development:

Now to touch on how screen time/internet and technology effects childrens and teens
social development and skills and what we can do to improve those social skills. Screen time
effects the way people communicate, learn and express themselves all of which are very
important to ones development. Below I will show you a graph of the internet uses used by
Children only 18 years ago; they accessed the internet approximately 70% less often than they do
in 2014 and that was two years ago.

3 http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/parenting4digitalfuture/2015/10/21/childrens-internet-use-is-morepersonal-mobile-and-even-fair-while-parents-pick-up-the-cost/

Limiting access will allow for social interactions that are crucial to ones learning and
developing to take place. Children need face to face social interactions and it is 4proven by
studies to comfort us and provide us with some important sense of well-being. The early
childhood council came out with four ways to help positively affect social development they are
one5 Build positive relationships with children, families and colleagues two Design
supportive and engaging environments three Teach social and emotional awareness and skills
and fourth Develop individualized interventions for children with the most challenging
behavior, such as children with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder or Autism Spectrum
Disorder Without these social skills when children become adults life will be far more difficult
if they cannot communicate with others on a face to face basis and therefore encouraging social
interactions and discouraging internet and technology interactions will only better aid your
children to be the most successful they can be.
Dangers of the internet:
Next do you ever think about how dangerous all the internet availability is to your
children? Millions of people have the ability to post whatever they want on the internet and
anyone is able to access the information that is posted; including your children, now that is a
scary thought. Katherine Kam stated 6No doubt, the Internet can be an extremely useful tool for
young people. But instant messaging, chat rooms, emails and social networking sites can also
4 https://thebottomline.as.ucsb.edu/2012/01/technology-is-destroying-the-quality-of-humaninteraction

5 http://www.ecc.org.nz/Story?Action=View&Story_id=492

6 http://www.webmd.com/parenting/features/4-dangers-internet

bring trouble - from cyberbullying to more serious Internet dangers, including exposure to sexual
predators. When children have the availability to use and access the internet whenever they
want they run the risk of getting connected with child predators, inappropriate sexual content,
inappropriate language, and even the risk of being bullied and made fun. Anytime to access to
internet means supervision is not always available. Limiting and monitoring the amount of time
ones children spends online will prevent those from occurring, and will also keep parents
informed of what ones child is learning and being exposed to because lets face it children are
not going to inform you of everything they run into online. Having restrictions for children being
able to use the internet by creating daily and weekly time allotments, homework requirements
before able to use, fun activities to do so they dont want to be online or in front of a screen will
prevent your children from coming into dangerous content and people online as well as keep
them from becoming addicted. This will also allow them to partake of the good the internet
offers by being able to keep in contact with friends that have moved away, cousins that live out
of town and even grandparents in a safe and effective manner.
Internet and its effects on Health and Obesity:
The last thing I would like to address is how to much time on the internet/ screen time
can effect a childs overall health and weight. Jen Christensen stated 7Even a little bit of
television viewing goes a long way to potentially hurt a child's health, according to new research.
Kindergartners and first-graders who watched even an hour of television a day were more likely
to be overweight or obese, according to new research presented at the Pediatric Academic
Societies annual meeting in San Diego. The image below shows the statistics of where are
7 http://kutv.com/features/health/baby-your-baby/study-hour-of-tv-daily-may-lead-toweight-gain-in-kindergartners-05-28-2015

children and teen fall. As you can see 1/3 are either overweight or obese and 2/3 of them are not
getting and daily physical activity due to the fact that a total of 7 hours is spent on electronic
devices.

Being overweight and even obese causes huge health concerns in children such as type 2
diabetes, heart disease, Asthma and many other health conditions. The below image shows some
of the health concerns that come with being obese and overweight.

8 https://jlmadvocacy.files.wordpress.com/2013/04/everyday-health.png

These health conditions if not addressed can potentially carry into a childs adult life and
can cause a lot of heart break sorrow and even depression. Being overweight and obese starts
with a lack of physical activity every day. Children need to be active and with the tremendous
amounts of time spent on the internet from phones, i-pods, gaming systems, Televisions etc. they
are not getting the needed physical activity that helps them grow and develop, stay fit and
healthy and be mentally focused. Internet can be very beneficial in moderations as I have stated
above all the positives it contributes to our ability to learn and develop at our own individual

9 http://jerryvinsonblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/The-Potential-risks-of-Obesity10251.jpg

pace, but when physical fitness is haltered from internet/ screen time something needs to be
done.
Conclusion:
If we allow our children to continue to access the internet at the rate they are going with
no moderation they will not have the social development that is critical for the human mind
emotionally or to be able to function in the real world as adults, they will continue to have
increasing amounts of dangerous access to information that may be inappropriate and our
mentally degrading, and there health will continue to take a plunge for the worst. Limiting
childrens access to the internet is up to each parent but think about the effects to much internet
will have on your child and make changes for the better.

Work Cited
http://www.ecc.org.nz/Story?Action=View&Story_id=492 Social development and what to do
About it
http://www.webmd.com/parenting/features/4-dangers-internet four dangers of the internet
http://www.letsmove.gov/health-problems-and-childhood-obesity health problems and child
Obesity
http://www.ecc.org.nz/Story?Action=View&Story_id=492 Social development: why it is
Important and what to do about it
https://thebottomline.as.ucsb.edu/2012/01/technology-is-destroying-the-quality-of-humanInteraction technology is destroying the quality of human interaction
http://fox13now.com/2015/11/03/teens-spend-a-mind-boggling-9-hours-a-day-using-media-inNew-report/Teens spend a mind-boggling 9 hours a day using media in new report
http://kutv.com/features/health/baby-your-baby/study-hour-of-tv-daily-may-lead-to-weight-gainIn-kindergartners-05-28-205 Study: hour of T.V daily, may lead to weight gain in
Kindergartners

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dr-larry-rosen/how-much-technology-shoul_b_3142227.html
How much technology should you let your child use
http://childparenting.about.com/od/technologyentertainment/a/Kids-And-Technology-When-ToLimit-It-And-How.htm kids and technology: When to limit and how
https://satoriworldmedical.files.wordpress.com/2013/01/just-one-more-tweet-dad.jpg (picture 1)
http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/parenting4digitalfuture/2015/10/21/childrens-internet-use-is-morePersonal-mobile-and-even-fair-while-parents-pick-up-the-cost/ (picture 2)
https://jlmadvocacy.files.wordpress.com/2013/04/everyday-health.png (picture 3)
http://jerryvinsonblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/The-Potential-risks-of-Obesity10251. Jpg (picture 4)