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0 Effects of addiction of gadgets on children

2.1 Speech and language delay

Nowadays, children use gadgets often. The overuse of gadgets has some negative
effects on children's development. Firstly, it effects on children’s speech development which
is crucial for children especially between the age of six months to two years old because this
period is known as the golden age for the development of every child. According to research
led by the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto, the more time children between the ages of
six months and two years spent using handheld screens such as smart phones, tablets and
electronic games, the more likely they were to experience speech delays.

Overuse of gadgets can lead to language or speech delay known as alalia. A speech
and language delay are when a child is not developing speech and language at an expected
rate. It is a common developmental problem that affects as many as 10% of preschool
children. A child with a speech delay might use words and phrases to express ideas but be
difficult to understand while a child with a language delay might pronounce words well but
only be able to put two words together.

Thus, there are many symptoms of a speech and language delay. The children may
have not be able to do these things such as, cannot say simple word such as “mama” or
“dada” either clearly or unclearly by 12 to 15 months, cannot understand simple word “yes”
or “no” and cannot talk in short sentence by three years of age.

In addition, every child develops at his or her own pace. Children will learn to talk
and communicate through interactions with others as much as other children of their same
age. If they refuse to communicate well, they are not learning. Screen time takes away the
time of children which they can spend by talking and communicating with others. For
example, we can look around us that children prefer to spend on smart phones or television
instead of talking with their parents at home. In one study that had been conducted recently,
the researcher found that 4 over 5 parents stated that their children were almost three years
old, but he still had difficulty speaking because of the addiction of gadget. They also said that
if the kids need anything, he indicates by pulling his mum’s clothing and speaking gibberish
and this creates confusion regarding what the mum has to do.

In a nutshell, we can conclude that gadgets addiction in children can lead to speech
and language delay that might hinder children development.
 2.2 Insomnia

Apart from that, the other aftermath of having uncontrolled use of the gadget is
insomnia, also known as a sleep disorder. Insomnia is a common sleep issue that affects
millions of individuals, particularly children of all ages, from infants to schoolchildren. These
issues might occur to children when they are overusing gadgets such as smartphones,
televisions, tablets and laptops without any control or limit from their parents.

The Sleep Health Foundation reports that the bright light from gadgets such as
mobile phones can cause obstructed sleep hormone production, which is melatonin.
Melatonin is a hormone that tells the brain it's time to go to sleep. Bright light delays the
release of melatonin, making it more difficult to fall asleep. This can take place in the
sleeping schedule as children need to have enough sleep hours, which is 9 to 10 hours.
Hence, bad consequences may occur for the children's ability to focus on the class during the
day, and it can also impact their academic process of concentration in the schooling sessions.

Other than that, it can also contribute to mental and physical unwellness that may
cause the children to be slow and weak during the day. Some of the symptoms that can be
proven are napping issues, bedtime defiance and sleep deprivation. Despite scientific and
clinical concerns about the negative effects of screen media on sleep, gadgets in the bedroom
and screen time use around bedtime are nonetheless popular among children. A large-scale,
nationally representative sample of American parents in 2013 revealed that about one third
(36%) of young children had TVs in their bedrooms, including 16% of children under 2 years
of age, 37% of 2-to-4-year-olds, and 45% of 5-to 8-year-olds. Additionally, among parents of
infants and young children who allowed a bedroom TV, 22% did so to help their child fall
asleep, 14% did so to get their child to fall asleep in his/her own room, and 4% did so
because their child slept in a family room containing a TV. The presence of a TV in the
bedroom varies by cultural, socioeconomic, and structural factors. Data from a 2016
nationally representative study of over 2,600 US youth indicated that 47% of tweens and 57%
of teens have TVs in their bedrooms.27 Lower-income youth were more likely to have media
devices in their bedrooms (68% versus 37%).

Based on the statistics, it can be shown that addiction to gadgets is a serious problem
that can lead to insomnia. We can conclude that using gadgets leads you to sleep later and for
a shorter period of time. The brain is affected by technology, which stimulates the mind and
makes it difficult to fall asleep.
 2.3 Anxiety

Furthermore, another bad consequence of gadgets addiction in children is anxiety.

Anxiety is a common emotion when dealing with daily stresses and problems. But when
these emotions are persistent, excessive and irrational, it effects a person’s ability to function,
anxiety becomes a disorder. Anxiety is a fear about future events and reaction to current
events. These kinds of feelings may lead to various physical symptoms like shakiness and
fast heart rate. There are different types of anxiety disorders, including phobias, panic and
stress disorders and obsessive-compulsive disorder. While a smartphone, tablet, or computer
can be a hugely productive tool, compulsive use of these devices can interfere with work,
school, and relationships.

When kids spend more time on social media or playing games than kids do interacting
with real people or kids cannot stop yourself from repeatedly checking texts, emails, or apps
even when it has negative consequences in your life, it may be time to reassess your
technology use. Smartphone addiction, sometimes colloquially known as “nomophobia” (fear
of being without a mobile phone), is often fueled by an Internet overuse problem or Internet
addiction disorder. After all, it’s rarely the phone or tablet itself that creates the compulsion,
but rather the games, apps, and online worlds it connects us to.

This phase is usually harmless and temporary but children who are suffering from
anxiety experience nervousness, shyness and fear. They try to avoid people, places and
activities. Children shows aggression or appears tense when they cannot get online and this
feeling magically goes when their devices are given back. These behaviors can be easily
notice. According to Dr Graham, child gets upset or shows anger when by small things and
when they get online they become calmer. He said parents should not the signs of agitation,
anxiety and irritation in children. Dr. Watts added; ’it’s pretty normal if a child gets upset not
being able to online with one’s friend, but if a child continuously shows anger or depression
not being online then it’s time to start a conversation.
 2.4 Damage to eyesight

Moreover, the effect of gadget addiction in children is damage eyesight. This is

caused by excessive screen time. Many recent studies have found that, most of children spend
their average time in a day by using different gadgets like smartphone, playing video games,
watching television and using stereo systems. Kids loves to use all these gadgets as they
found it very interesting and most of the time parents do allow and practice them to use it.

The effect using gadgets on children’s eyes has turned out as an important topic to
discuss nowadays. Without knowing, kids do pay attention by spending hours using gadgets
and did not realize to their wrong posture, bright screen and screen distance from their actual
positions. This may cause an ultimate health and vision problems day by day.

Staring at screen or electronic devices for continuous hours causes distress and
various problem involving eyes. Thus, there are some of the ways the screen time can affect
kid’s eyes. Firstly, the children will get eye fatigue. Eye discomfort, dimness of vision and
headache is the characterized by eye fatigue. Any glare on the screen can further strain the
eyes for examples when their cornea is look directly to the screen and when the brightness is
on high level it will damage the eyes too. The children that have this eye fatigue may lose
interest in tasks such as reading and will skip do their homework.

Secondly, loss of focus flexibility is the one of the effects of damage eyesight. They
can find it difficult to adjust the distance vision because of their eyes stay focused close-up
for long periods. In fact, there is 1 over 4 children wear some of sort of vision such as
spectacles to see clearly. As children grow, their early vision conditions are caused by
changes in the shape of the eye during their development. If the parents mostly give gadget to
their kids during their development process, it is not a recommended at all. But, when they
give gadget to the kids with their monitoring for the kids learning process such as introduce a
variety of ABC, numbers and kid songs it will fasten their communication process besides
parents or teacher talk to them. It shown that using the gadget with a good way will give the
positive impacts to the kids and parents.

In 2005, study found that the short-sighted rate of seven-year-olds was 9.8% while for
15-year-olds it was 34.4 %. The study was conducted in 2005 and the use of gadgets among
children was still low, now the statistics are expected to increase with uncontrolled use. Many
kids come for blurred vision treatment have a habit of looking at digital screens for a long
time.
 2.5 Learning disorder

Last but not least, gadget addiction among children can cause a learning disorder. A
learning disorder is an issue with information processing that inhibits a person from learning
and efficiently employing a skill. People with ordinary or above average intellect are more
likely to suffer from learning difficulties. As a result, the illness manifests itself as a
discrepancy between predicted skills and academic achievement based on age and
intelligence.

The ability of a kid in reading, writing, and math are all affected by common learning
problems. The difficulty of perceiving words uttered as diverse combinations of sounds is the
most common cause of reading difficulties. This can make it difficult to comprehend how
letters or letters represent sounds, and how a word is formed by combining letters. Although
children have acquired fundamental reading abilities, they may experience challenges such as
reading at normal speeds and not understanding what they read. Writing necessitates a wide
range of visual, motor, and information processing abilities. Children with learning
disabilities in written expression may write slowly, faults with spelling, grammar, and
punctuation, as well as a poor or elusive written text. Learning difficulties in mathematics can
result in a range of issues, including a lack of knowledge of how numbers function and
connect to one another, as well as a lack of proficiency in calculating mathematical problems.
The following are some of the factors that may have a role in the development of learning
disorders are genetics and family history A child's chance of acquiring a learning disorder is
increased if there is a family history of learning difficulties.

Next, trauma to the body, learning difficulties may be triggered by head traumas or
illnesses of the neurological system. Trauma to the mind is also one of the reasons this
happens. Early childhood psychological trauma or abuse can affect brain development and
increase the chances of learning difficulties.

Other than that, signs of learning disorders are they doesn't like completing
homework or activities that require reading, writing, or math, or can't seem to finish
homework assignments without help. At school or when completing academic activities such
as homework or reading, acts out or displays disobedience, aggression, or extreme emotional
reactions.