Gadgets: The New Age Babysitters

By

Mae Rachelle S. Salcedo

Social Issue

Submitted to

Prof. Maria Leorupee Raagas Barros

Department of Psychology

Xavier University- Ateneo de Cagayan

In partial fulfillment of the requirements

in Psy 210 for the degree

MASTERS OF ARTS IN PSYCHOLOGY

Summer 2018
What is the social about?

We all know that technology is a big factor in the life of human beings. In every
aspect of life, technology is being used, and in every hand of a person, you see technology.
Our dependency on gadgets keep us constantly engaged and our preoccupation with our
virtual lives is taking us further away from our human interactions. Applied to the context of
parenting, what we see today is disconnect between a parent and a child quality time that is
being sacrificed at the altar of technology.

It’s amazing how a 2-year old can be handed a gadget and just knows how to use it,
similar to how a kid knows how to use a feeding bottle. Action figures, puzzles and blocks
are no longer the standard toys among today’s children. Research by child-education
specialists at the Michael Cohen Group revealed that touch screens have taken over all
other forms of playful delight for kids. Sixty percent of parents with kids under the age of 12
reported that their child plays on a portable screen often, while 38 percent apparently play
very often. According to Cohen 36 percent of these kids have their own device.

On the average, research by the Kaiser Family Foundation estimates that children

are spending seven and a half hours staring at a screen. Compare these results to a global
survey of preschool-aged kids by the Nature Conservancy, which showed that preschoolers
around the world spend an hour and a half a day (12 hours a week) on a playground or
outdoors. It should be no surprise, then, that when a kid turns seven, traditional play is over.

The advantages of traditional play range from physical to mental and emotional. In
addition, the disadvantages are equally enormous, and the effects stay with the child as he
or she reaches adulthood. So before handing your kid a gadget just to shut him up, learn
about the long term effects modern gadgets can have on a kid’s brain as well as their overall
development (League, 2018).
What makes it social and issue?

A lot of parents would easily hand an iPad to their kids while waiting for food in a
restaurant, put on a movie for a long drive, or let them play a game while parents are caught
up on chores or to give parents a much needed “me time”. It would be social and an issue
because many parents would say it’s a win-win situation since their children are happy, busy
and even learn how to read and count. Parents may claim that they are not hurting anyone
and they could get some time for themselves. While there are benefits to gadget use,
multiple studies are showing negative effects on a child’s development.

Even before kids can utter their first words, kids’ brains are tripling in size and a lot of
learning happens before the age of five. Researchers at the University of Washington reveal
that modern gadgets are not necessary in child development and children can thrive on
being talked to and read to. In fact, kids need one-on-one time with their parents, not
gadgets. Additionally, overexposure to gadgets has been linked to attention deficit, cognitive
delays and impaired learning (League, 2018).

Who is directly affected and how?

Family time is now replaced with tech time. Parents used gadgets as babysitters.
Children are directly affected by the prolonged used of gadgets. Children who are exposed
to gadgets early lack the opportunities for social interaction that is crucial in a young child's
developing brain. Toddlers who choose screen time over play with toys are deprived of the
chance to develop meaningful communication and higher order thinking skills. Instead of a
real person to play with, young children do not learn how to express themselves, ask for their
needs and have difficulty paying attention when they are spoken to.

According to Michael Cohen the study showed that 32 percent of the respondents
claimed that a touch screen device was never a toy. A mere 10 percent were ready to
confess that it was always a vehicle of play. In his research, parents seem to reply to such
surveys with a surfeit of self-protection. When asked what criteria were most important in
buying toys, No. 1 was age appropriateness. Number 2 was educational value. Play value
even came below child's request. But the top of the true reasons for purchase of parents
was to shut their children in crying.
 In addition Veloso (2017) stated in his article 5 Reasons to Stop Using Gadgets as
Babysitters According to Experts, doctors, teachers and other child specialists are advising
parents to stop using screens as a babysitters service, not only because family time is now
being replaced with tech time. But screen addiction can affect a child’s physical, mental and
socio- emotional development.

What can psychological concepts are used to analyze the situation/explain the
behavior of the people surrounding the issue?

Parents may think that it is a good idea to keep their child busy with gadgets so that
children will behave and parents can do whatever they want to do in peace. This may
explain the psychological concepts similar to a positive reinforcement of B.F Skinner. A
parent would give his or her child a gadget for behaving as a positive reinforcement but
ignore the negative effects because parents are responsible for modeling this kind of
behavior.

A study conducted by Patrikakou ( as cited in Prensky, 2001a, 2001b, 2009), the

term digital natives is often contrasted with that of digital immigrants, which describes those
generations that encountered digital means and technological advances at some later point
in life. With students being digital natives while parents and teachers are often digital
immigrants, one wonders how the relationship among parents, students, and teachers is
now filtered and regulated through technology and media use.

In an article Your Tech Usage Affecting Your Child, Dr. Nithya Poornima, Assistant
Professor, Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Services, NIMHANS (as cited in
Gopalakrishnan, 2016) gadgets have become the new age medium of pacification or
engagement for a child. Parents often give them to children to keep them busy. It forms an
interpersonal barrier because both adult and child are then relying on this technology to stay
engaged instead of interacting with each other. It may still serve a purpose when it is used in
short spurts of time, as when done consciously by a parent who says, ‘I am going to be on a
call for the next ten minutes and during that time you may play on the tablet’. Now, that is
better than something that is unconscious and becomes a habit. Like children who cannot eat
or drink without a gadget because they’ve been conditioned to do so.

In addition, De Lima et. Al (2016) studied the perception of parents on children’s use
of gadgets. With the perception of the parents, they simply look at technology as a learning
tool and a source of entertainment for their children, but at the same time, they are aware
with the negative outcome of what it can impose to them. The reasons for the parents to
provide their children with gadgets are for leisure and educational purposes of the children,
and especially for communication, for easier access with their children. It showed that the
most provided gadget by the parents was tablet/ iPad. When it comes to their experiences,
there were two sides of point of view, the progressive and regressive. The parents know the
benefits and, at the same time, the risk factors of the modern technology to their children.
What is being done to respond?

In his article, Gopalakrishnan (2016) stated that parents are responsible for modelling
this kind of behavior we want our children to emulate. However, our gadget etiquette is
anything but a yardstick for our children to learn from. Those of us who are always busy with
our phones are more likely to be swiping off during meals, mumbling into headphones while
driving and even tapping away as we walk. We avoid personal interactions with family and
friends, falling prey to the ‘constant networking’ illusion that our handheld devices provide us.
Whether we like it or not, the cell phone has become a necessity in this fast-paced world. As
with anything, moderation is the key to making it work.

It would have to come down to the parents on how they would moderate the use of
modern technology for their children if they would choose as gadgets as a babysitter. Our
dependency on gadgets keep us constantly engaged and our preoccupation with our virtual
lives is taking us further away from our human interactions (Gopalakrishnan, 2016).

Sundus M. (2018) in his study about the impact of using gadgets on children states
that it’s not a good idea to keep your child busy with gadgets so can do whatever you want
to do in peace, instead keep them occupied with other creative toys, story books, puzzles,
coloring books.

According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, children shouldn’t be exposed to

media before they’re 18 months old, and then only under strict supervision. They should only
watch high-quality programming made for their age group. Those aged two to five shouldn’t
have more than an hour of screen use a day. Again, it should be age-appropriate and high
quality. School-aged children and older should balance media use with other healthy
behaviour, it advises. Experts also advise parents share screen time with their kids. That
way, you can see what they’re being exposed to and help them apply its teachings to the
real world. It'll also make for more quality time together, and that's got to be a good thing
(Svetlik, 2018)

According to Internet Matters, here are also tips in limiting child’s screen time or exposure in
using gadgets.

1. It’s important to set a good example with your own device use. Children will model
their behaviour on you, so make sure you’re not glued to a screen every time they
see you.
 2. Talk to them about the amount of time they spend online and what they spend that
time doing.
3. Agree on an appropriate amount of time they can use their device. These limits could
well help adult members of the family too!
4. Get the whole family to unplug together and create screen-free zones of the house,
such as bedrooms or the dinner table. This will encourage kids to talk more and not
be absorbed in a device all the time.
5. Technology can help. BT’s Parental Controls let you set times when kids can’t get
online, so they can focus on doing their homework. (Click here to activate BT
Parental Controls.) There are other options, too. For example, the Forest app lets
kids grow a beautiful forest in return for keeping their phone use within the set limit. 

What do you suggest could be done as based on the analysis?

My suggestion is to conduct a seminar about the reasons to stop using gadgets as

babysitters. It may be included in some parent’s orientation to discuss the positive and
negative effects of gadgets especially if they will used it as a babysitter it would help parents
about limiting their child’s exposure to gadgets.
References

De Lima, L. & Castronuevo E. (2016). Perception of Parents on Children’s Use of Gadgets.

The Bedan Journal Of Psychology Retrieved from www.sanbeda-
alabang.edu.ph/bede/images/.../BJP2016v2-27.pdf

Gopalakrishnan, M. (2016). Your Tech Usage Affecting Your Child. Retrieved from
https://www.parentcircle.com/article/your-tech-usage-affecting-your-child/

Sundus, M. ( 2018). The Impact of Using Gadgets on Children. Journal of Depression and
Anxiety. Retrived from https://www.omicsonline.org/.../the-impact-of-using-gadgets-on-
children-2167-1044-..

Velsoso, T. (2017). 5 Reasons to Stop Using Gadgets as Babysitters According to Experts.

Retrieved from https://www.smartparenting.com.ph/.../using-gadgets-to-babysit-your-kids-
affects-me.