Over recent decades, the prominence of technology in the lives of children has grown dramatically. While previous generations of parents and researchers were concerned about the impact of television upon the development of children, the veritable leaps and bounds of technological innovation have made it difficult to keep track of the almost daily changes in the forms of technology in the lives of children. The widespread use of cellular technology has made it increasingly more common to see not only adolescents, but young children carrying cell phones. The ubiquitous nature of the internet, along with the growth of ever-changing forms of social media, has created a rather dichotomous existence for many youth one in which they live in the “real world,” and yet another in which they live in the “online world.” Even the simple notion of a young person playing video games has taken on a radically different quality, as the majority of such games now emphasize the online interaction with other players. Although researchers have been attempting to study how the various forms of technology may potentially affect children and adolescents, there is no denying the fact the technology is playing an ever-important role in their lives.
Recent estimates concerning the levels of usage vary, with some suggesting that adolescents are spending over eight hours each day engaged with some form of technology. Even preschoolers are not immune to the inclusion of technology, as some studies report them as using technology over four hours each day, on average. In many ways, a generational divide has developed, such that children and adolescents, who have grown up in a world where mastery of technological change is an absolute must, have a decided advantage over their parents when it comes to the ease of use of technology. Older generations often find themselves fumbling about with their technological devices, such as their smartphones, and when they are unable to comprehend how it is supposed to function, they turn to their own children for assistance. There is little doubt that contemporary children and adolescents are exposed to changing technologies, not only at home, but also in their schools. As such, they frequently demonstrate a mastery of technological devices which leaves most adults both impressed and embarrassed.
Several decades ago, researchers from a variety of disciplines began to raise alarms about children’s increasing exposure to television, and how both the quantity and quality of television shows could affect them. In most instances, such concerns were made from a social problem perspective, and typically involved a range of warnings about the potentially deleterious and harmful impacts which television could have upon children. Technologies and technological change, however, do not necessarily have to be envisioned as harmful. More and more often, educators are developing new ways to integrate technology into the classroom, making it a central component of their pedagogical plans. Given that children are already drawn by the appeal of using new technologies, it is quite logical that the use of such in the classroom could significantly improve the learning environments and educational outcomes for children. On the other hand, technologies in the lives of children can, in fact, be quite problematic. Many parents live in fear of their children being lured by sex predators on the internet, of having their adolescents engaging in “sexting” with others, or of being “bullied” online. The effects of technologies on children and adolescents, then, can potentially be both good and bad, which makes our need for better understanding the nature of technology in the lives of children and adolescents even greater.
Civilizational Roots of Technology: Rise of History and Advanced Life
