1. Jessy Havens
3/11/2015
Ms.Cronic
AP Lit
The impact of interactive technology on the development of children.
As technology integrates itself further into our everyday lives, there are growing concerns
on how all these advances could be effecting the cognitive development of young children.
While digital games are becoming important tools for education, we still have not fully
utilized it or fully grasp the possibilities interactive media could have on the education of
hospitalized children. According to the international journal of nursing practice” Digital game-
based learning (DGBL) has been shown to improve the motivation of students with learning
disabilities and the attention of children with cognitive disabilities.”(pg5) By incorporating
DGBL we could improve the educational system that has been established for special needs
children, and taking a new more interactive approach on the way these children are instructed,
we might be able to improve a child’s motivation on education. The child would not perceive it
as school work but as a game making instruction more enjoyable. Another useful implication of
DGBL is that it would allow hospitalized children to interact with other children who are
connected to the server and allow them to develop the social skills while being treated for their
illnesses. According to Child: Care, Health, and Development, “ children with long-term or
chronic illnesses often have difficulty maintaining social contacts with their peers which
increases their feelings of isolation and loneliness.”(pg 3) The use of this technology is an
efficient way for physically restricted children to communicate and engage in activities via web

2. based systems with their peers. By using this system, we could decrease the feelings of
loneliness experienced by children with chronic illness. In 2001, The Journal of the Learning
Sciences conducted an experiment using a three-dimensional multi-user environment or Zora
which allowed children who had undergone organ transplants the opportunity to connect with
each other by using the Zora system. The study reports that “by engaging in the activities in
virtual communications, patients develop senses of belonging and group identity.”(Pg 7)
Children need social interact with others in order to develop important interpersonal skills.
Chronically ill children often miss out on social stimuli due to their illness, so by incorporating
more multi-interactive educational programs we can allow children the opportunity to connect
with and meet others who may have been through similar experiences.
While technology may prove to be beneficial to the development of older children, that might
not be true for younger children toddlers, for instances. As television, tablets, and smart phones
become more intertwined with everyday life, they are becoming seemingly useful parenting and
babysitting tools. Parents are able to place their young children in front of the television or hand
them their Ipad and they go off to another room to do whatever needs to be done without having
to constantly be in the same room. With all the convince technology provides to entertain young
children what negative outcome could result from this? Well according to the Journal of Child
Psychology and Psychiatry” Social interactions are essential for establishing and building secure
attachments and are crucial for positive emotional development.”(pg 3) Early interactions with
caretakers are crucial for infants to be able to form healthy attachment later in life. The earliest
social connection most infants form is with their caregivers, but is screen media specifically
television and Ipads changing how much time caregivers are spending with their young children?
Dr. A Sigman reports that “ infants are social beings and social and emotional skills are complex

3. and technical and need to be learned person to person.” By not interacting with your infant and
letting an electronic device do it instead as a caregiver, you could be potentially preventing early
social development which could damage that child’s ability to form healthy emotional
connections with others later in life. According to Hanna Rosin “toddlers are skilled at what
researchers call socially relevant information. They tune into people and situations that help them
make a coherent narrative of the world.” Young children lack the cognitive ability to handle the
symbolic representation of television. An good example of this would be a three year old asking
if they could reach into the TV and pet the puppy that has appeared on screen. A TV is static and
lacks one of the most important things to toddlers according to Rosin “is a two-way exchange of
information.” Interestingly enough is that Nick Jr’s Blue’s clues, which aired from 1996 to 2006,
incorporated something that would change children’s television forever, the pause. The show’s
protagonist would ask the audience a question and then pause for five seconds to allow the child
watching to answer. The child would feel more engaged and involved when they believe they
have a role to play, when they think their involvement helps Steve and Blue solve the mystery.
According to Rosin “Blue’s clues were on the right track, the pause could trick children into
thinking that Steve was responsive to them.” The way the program is structured tricks young
children into believing the protagonist is speaking and interacting with them directly. The
American academy of pediatrics reports that “it’s certainly not a a parent or caregiver and not
exactly the ideal social partner but its as good an approximation as we’ve ever come up with on
screen and that is why children’s media researchers are so excited about the ipad’s potential.”
While these programs do not make up for parent-child interactions it is better than leaving with
nothing. The argument that screen media are preventing social skill development is a valid
concern as infants spend more and more time in front of screens but if we artificially construct

4. conversation like Blue’s clues did with the creation of the pause we could manipulates children
into thinking they are having a conversation with another person even though they’re not which
would not make up for the real thing but is better than nothing.
In recent years Videogames have passed movies in popularity in the entertainment industry,
with the rise in their popularity the interest to study their effects on children have also increased.
The argument that violent videogames increases violent outbursts has been the topic of debate
since the Columbine shooting where according to some the popular computer game “Doom” a
popular first person shooter of the time may have been a factor that contributed to the shooting.
According an interview with Dr. Phil “the number one negative effect is they tend to
inappropriately resolve anxiety by externalizing it.” This is the view many have on any kind of
violent content. That committing a violent act in a videogame will resonate in the real life. It is
the idea that if I defeat an opponent in Mortal Kombat or steal cars in Grand Theft Auto I am
automatically going to go out and commit murder or theft in real life. According to a study
conducted by researchers at Villanova University and Rutgers University discovered that “there
is no evidence that violent videogames are positively connected to real world crime rates in the
United States.” The study actually proved the opposite. Typically homicide charges tend to
decrease in the months following the release of a popular M-rated violent videogame. An
interview was conducted with one of the researchers, Patrick Markey and according to him “I
think the biggest take home from this is that violent videogames were not related to increases in
violent crime not even a little.” This proves that there is no connection between violent acts and
playing violent videogames. While violent videogames will not cause your eight year old to
become a savage killer, there are some ways you can, as a parent regulate the type of content
your child views while playing videogames and that would be the rating system established by

5. Interactive Digital Software Association in 1994, and renamed Entertainment Software
Association (ESRB) in 2004. The rating system is designed to evaluate media content and decide
what audiences the content is appropriate for. For example any game marked with a E is deemed
for everyone to play while games marked with a M should only be view by mature audiences.
Also with most stores they require an ID that proves you are at least seventeen. According to the
ESRB website “ publishers of packaged or boxed games are carrying an ESRB rating are
contractually bound to follow the industry – adopted principles and guidelines along with
numerous additional requirements addressing how rating information must be displayed.” Most
if not all available videogames should have their rating displayed on the packaging, and by
understanding how the system works a parent can better understand what exactly their child is
viewing while they are playing a videogame. Hanna Rosin reports that “Every new medium has,
within a short time or its introduction, been condemned as a threat to young people. Pulp novels
would destroy morals, TV, would wreak eyesight, and video games would make them violent.
Each one has been accused of seducing kids’ into wasting time that would otherwise be spent
learning about the presidents or digging their toes in the sand.” Being concerned for our
children’s’ well being is not something new but instead of worrying about an abstract concept
you hear on Fox 5 news, you should be doing your own research in what your children are
exposed to and to stop concerning yourself with what another parent deems acceptable in their
household because it may differ from your own. One household may allow their ten year old to
play Call of Duty and another may view that game as too violent for someone of that age.
Caregivers just need to become more literate in videogames and technology it would make things
a lot easier.

6. As technology advances, parenting styles must also evolve as well because while it can create
breakthrough in the way special needs children and hospitalized children are educated it can also
be used as a unpaid babysitter that can prevent the social development aspect of childhood. Also
even though videogames can no longer be blamed for future homicide spikes, a parent’s lack of
understanding the rating system could lead to undesired content being placed into the hands of
children. So the solutions is not to ban the violence but to educated the parents on system which
would allow them to make more informed decisions on what they deem acceptable to be viewed
by their children.
Works cited:
Lightfoot, J., S. Wright, and P. Sloper. "Supporting Pupils in Mainstream School with an Illness or
Disability: Young People's Views." Child: Care, Health and Development 25.4 (1999): 267-84. Web.
Rezaiyan, A., Mohammadi, E and Fallah, P.A (2007) Effects of computer game intervention on the
attention capacity of mentally disabled children. International journal of nursing partice, 13(),284-288
Sigman A (2012) time for a view on screen time, Archives of disease childhood, 97,11,935-942
Makuch, Eddie. "Violent Video Games Don't Lead to Increases in Violent Crimes." N.p., Sept.-Oct.
2014. Web.
"Entertainment Software Rating Board." Entertainment Software Rating Board. N.p., n.d. Web. 11
Mar. 2015.
Hanna, Rosin “ the touch screen generation” The Atlantic, April, 2013