As technology strides forward, so does our quality of life. We are now in a world where common household appliances can operate without our attention, cars nearly drive on their own, and if you need to learn anything about anything, you can look it up on your supercomputer that fits in the palm of your hand. Your child’s time with computers, video games, and smartphones are now considered the norm.
As great as it sounds, this shortcut to thinking is indeed putting our children in a very dangerous position. Since technology is so easily accessible, their identities are now being defined by YouTube, pop culture, and video games. Children are steadily on the path to losing their common sense, health, and humanity.
Path to idiocracy
The present-day young mind is, unfortunately, being molded by technology and the internet. Technology has taken away a child’s thought processes to problem-solving. Children have been accustomed to pressing buttons for a solution. Give a child instructions to do a manual task, most children would be less inclined to read the instructions thoroughly.
Videos, YouTube, and gaming have dominated their lives when it comes to entertainment. Think about how many hours a child spends watching obscure videos of people running into walls, doing a silly dance, people lip syncing to a viral song, watching others play a video game or the like. Thus, devolving any need or desire to be creative. You have to wonder if computers, internet, and technology are designed to program our youth to a state of idiocracy.
Sedentary lifestyle
Going out and spending time outdoors are becoming a thing of the past. Ask your child what they think “playing” means. For most children, they’ll respond with “video games”. Video games are hugely popular with children today. As technology progresses, the video game experience has become more realistic from digital face animations to creating hyper-realistic worlds.
Video games are cleverly programmed to consume just about anyone. Your children won’t realize they’ve spent many hours in the same seated position. This sedentary past-time is the culprit to many health issues like obesity, carpal tunnel, weakened muscles, posture problems, . This is just to name a few.
Bad role models
Pop culture celebrities can be the most admired figures in your child or teen’s life whether you like it or not. For instance, YouTube personalities are now considered “stars” in today’s world. Some of these personalities may even do extreme “stunts” to get the most clicks or views. They also may say or do things that are likely not appropriate for young eyes.
The intention of these entertainers to portray this behavior is to provide an edgy program that may be intoxicating to any young, curious viewer. Children that are not properly educated, can be easily confused. Celebrity influence can cause your child to mimic some of their actions, perhaps leading them to engage in dangerous behaviors themselves. 
Emotional desensitization
With video games containing violent content, it fails to evoke true human senses and emotion that’s normally felt during such tragedies. The result leads to emotional desensitization. For instance, when their virtual character “dies” or when they “kill” another player in their game there’s no guilt felt. They respawn or move onto the next mission. These video game scenarios have unfortunately caused our children to become stoic when it comes to death, at least when it comes to video games.
The same goes for virtual parties. Listen to the conversation. The frank chats with a stranger and sometimes with their friends can come off rude. Without seeing a person in person, the proper way to speak to someone is dismissed during a virtual party gameplay.
As sad as it may seem, technology will only continue to grow. We, being their parents, can always lead them in the right direction by limiting their activities with their smartphones, video games or computers. Be proactive in their lives and encourage them to be free thinkers. Enroll them in a sport of their choice or perhaps take them out to the park or beach. We may not be able to stop technology from taking over, but we can provide a healthy balance.
Author’s Bio: Trevor McDonald graduated from Penn State University in 2012 with a degree in Communications. He is currently living the dream working as a freelance writer. He writes about a broad range of topics, from business, government, and technology to travel, addiction, wellness, education and even fashion & lifestyle. He is currently available for hire on a contract or freelance basis. Please feel free to email him at TrevorC.Mcdonald@gmail.com
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