The Academic Impact of Gadget Using Behavior Among Early Age Students
The Academic Impact of Gadget Using Behavior Among Early Age Students
The Academic Impact of Gadget Using Behavior Among Early Age Students
ABSTRACT
Gadgets also sometimes have an influence in providing stimulation to children from an early
age to adulthood. However, the use of this gadget has a tremendous influence, especially on young
children. The design of this research uses qualitative methods with a phenomenological approach. This
research aims to determine the dynamics of the academic impact of gadget use behavior on early
childhood students. Research participants are people who respond or involve people or the community
by providing information, support, energy, thoughts and materials and their responsibility for a
decision that has been taken to achieve a mutually determined goal. The use of gadgets in early
childhood has a negative impact on their academic development. The first subject shows that children
who are accustomed to using gadgets from the age of one year tend to be lazy about studying, lack
social interaction, and focus only on gadget activities. This impact is also reflected in the child's
difficulties in learning at school. When using gadget Intensive children will experience a decrease in
academic achievement. The child even refuses to study on the grounds that he can learn through
gadgets, which indicates that gadgets are considered the main source of knowledge. The use of gadgets
in early childhood can be detrimental to their academic development, causing a lack of interest in
learning, decreased achievement, and an inability to focus on conventional learning at school.
Introduction
Every human being has the ability to see the future. Humans have reason and thought
to develop science and create desired technology. Science and technology are closely related
because without science there are no new applications for technology and without technology
no one will enjoy the discoveries of science. Current technology is the result of the rapid
development of science and technology (Mukarromah, 2020). This can be seen from the many
innovations and discoveries that are simple to complex. A gadget is a small electronic device
that has a special function, such as a smartphone (Syifa, Setianingsih, & Sulianto, 2019).
Gadgets are the latest innovation from the latest technology which have more practical and
more sophisticated purposes and functions (Sunita & Mayasari, 2018). The development of
gadget types is increasing day by day with more and more models and brands until finally
there are various types with complete and sophisticated features.
According to (Radliya, Apriliya, & Zakiyyah, 2017) gadgets are a very popular
technology today, adults and children use gadgets. Everywhere there are many gadget
products that make children the target market. They and their children have become active
consumers of gadget use. Gadgets also sometimes have an influence in providing stimulation
to children from an early age to adulthood. However, the use of this gadget has a tremendous
influence, especially on young children.
Providing design or stimulation in the context of investment and early detection is the
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focus of education in developing all aspects of life. According to (Damayanti, Ahmad, & Bara,
2020) gadgets are small electronic devices that have many functions. Gadgets or (smartphone)
has many functions for usage so it's easier.
From the results of interviews I conducted on October 20 2023 with children and their
mothers whose children are addicted to gadgets, so in their daily lives the children always hold
on to gadgets and according to their parents they have indeed made a mistake in providing
and buy gadgets. So for the child's daily life, when he wakes up, he is always looking for his
cellphone, then when he eats he also watches YouTube. From the explanation parent the
child, the child becomes lazy to study and play according to the child's age. The following is
a short interview that I conducted with respondents about the child's daily life and when the
child was given a cell phone
"So, it's like this, when he wakes up, he has to watch TV, if not, he'll watch YouTube, and then
he has to have his cellphone while eating, if he's not in the bathroom using his cellphone, he doesn't
want to eat. So, his daily life is always about my cellphone until he's confused, what should he do?
Sometimes when he's out, he also asks for his cellphone, if not, he'll throw a tantrum in front of
many people, so I'm a bit embarrassed." Actually, the mistake was also mine, ma'am. I don't
entirely blame my child, since he was one year old, I introduced him to gadgets and television, so
in the end he became addicted like this, ma'am, to the point where he doesn't want to play with his
friends the same age.
Research on the use of gadgets has been carried out by several previous studies where
previous research studied, researched, and analyzed the use of gadgets in terms of their impact,
especially on the behavior of early childhood. Research conducted by Nur Mutmainnatul Itsna
and Risatur Rofi'ah entitled The Impact of Gadget Use on Early Childhood Social Interaction.
By using qualitative methods with a phenomenological approach. This research shows that
there is an impact of gadget use on young children in the village Sendangagung Paciran
District, Regency. Lamongan found that there were positive impacts and negative impacts,
positive impacts such as making it easier for children to understand lessons, while negative
impacts such as disrupting health and making children addicted to gadgets. Gadgets have a
big influence on children's lack of social interaction, whether interacting with parents, other
family, peers or the community around them. Gadgets make children pay less attention to the
presence or conversations of people who are with them, this is because the child's full attention
or focus is given to gadgets, resulting in a lack of interaction between young children and other
people.
The second research was conducted by Ns. Fitra Maint, S. Kep, M. Kep and Indiana
Sunita, SKM, M. Kes, entitled The Impact of Gadget Use on Early Childhood Development
in Pekanbaru Islamic Cadet Preschool and Kindergarten. By using a quantitative method with
an approach Cross sectional. The results of statistical tests obtained values p= 0.60 is greater
than 0.05, meaning there is no significant relationship between the impact of use gadget with
child development, different with research by Muhammad Fuad Efendi (2014) reported that
that There is an influence of gadgets on children's development. This is because the majority
of children in Taruna Kindergarten use Gadgets for less than 2 hours and are still controlled
and also the geographical location of the respondents is in the middle of Pekanbaru city, access
to all information is easy to obtain, so that information relating to the dangers of use easy
gadgets obtained so that it does not impact the child's development.
From several of these studies, that The behavioral impact of using gadgets has an
influence on young children, so this research will look at the use of gadgets and the impact of
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According to Chiu said that Smartphone addiction is one of the addictions that has risk
lighter from addicted alcohol or drug addiction. Behavior can be said to be addictive behavior
if someone cannot control it desire and cause a negative impact on the individual concerned.
Some of the negative impacts of using gadgets on, then the author can conclude that Using
gadgets can have negative consequences if a person or child is not yet capable manage time
and filter content or any application that is loaded on a gadget. This will result in many bad
things from using gadgets among them such as: can bother health, bother child development,
and someone will be more closed to the surrounding environment, which can further disrupt
the management of children's learning time both at school and at home and in the community.
Early Childhood Theory
According to experts, children who are at an early age are said to be the golden age. Why
is this time called the golden age, because at this time children are growing rapidly and
exceptionally. Since birth, his brain cells have developed extraordinarily by making
connections between cells. It is this process that will shape the experience Which will be
carried throughout life and is very determining. Using various media as a result of brain
research, it is stated that the human brain at birth consists of 100 to 200 brains billion brain
cells, which are ready to develop several trillion pieces of information. Early childhood
children are different, unique individuals and have their own characteristics according to their
age stages. Early childhood (0 to 6 years) is a golden age where stimulation of all aspects of
development plays an important role in subsequent developmental tasks. The early period of
a child's life is an important period in the life span one person child.
At this time, brain growth is undergoing physical development. In other words, that
Early childhood is in the growth stage and this development begins prenatally, that is, from
the womb. The formation of brain nerve cells, as capital for the formation of intelligence,
occurs when the child is in the womb. After birth, there is no longer the formation of brain
nerve cells, but connections between cells The brain's nerves continue to develop. According
to Ahmad Susanto, quoting Bacharuddin Musthafa's opinion, early childhood is children
between the ages of one and five years. This understanding is based on limitations on
psychology development that includes babies (infancy or babyhood) aged 0 to 1 year, early
childhood aged 1 to 5 years, late childhood. Early childhood is an individual who is
undergoing a rapid and fundamental development process for later life. Early childhood is in
the age range 0 to 8 years.
At this time the process of growth and development in various aspects are experiencing
a rapid period in the development span of human life. The learning process as a form of
treatment given to children must pay attention to the characteristics of each stage of
development child. Child age religious own age limit certain, unique
characteristics, and are in a very rapid and fundamental development process for the next life.
During this time, early childhood is called the golden age and continues to develop rapidly.
This development begins prenatally, namely in the womb.
Characteristics of Early Childhood
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language skills in the next period. Likewise, building children's character (morals), at this time
children's character must be built either by parents, family or teachers.
Early childhood (0 to 8 years) are individuals who are experiencing a very rapid growth
and development process. It is even said to be the golden age. that is an age that is very valuable
compared to later ages. This age is a unique phase of life. Age 4 to 6 years, at this age a child
has characteristics including the following:
a) Related With physical development, children are very active various activity. This is beneficial
for the development of small and large muscles.
b) Language development is also getting better. Children are able to understand other people's
speech and are able to express their thoughts within certain limits.
c) Cognitive development (power think) very rapidly, shown by the child's extraordinary
curiosity about the surrounding environment. This can be seen from the children's frequent
questions about everything they see.
d) The form of children's play is individual, not social play. Even though playing activities are
carried out together.
Early childhood starts from 0 to 8 years where early childhood experiences a very rapid
growth process. Early childhood children have their own characteristics such as language,
cognitive, physical motor, moral and social emotional. In children aged 0 to 8 years,
development in children's characteristics will develop rapidly, for example in children's
cognitive abilities, children's ability to grasp what they see more quickly. Therefore, early
childhood should not be missed well.
Romo (2013), according to him playing gadgets in long duration and carried out
continuously every day, can make children develop into antisocial personalities. This happens
because these children do not introduced to socialize with other people. Apart from that, it
also has the potential to encourage children to form superficial relationships. Time for chatting
directly decreases because now is the time remaining to enjoy it all in solitude. Results of
observations made Anggrahini (2013) to several families in one of the Yogyakarta areas
showed that since using gadget, when at home children become difficult to communicate with,
they don't care and don't care enough respond when his parents asked him to talk.
Research Questions
The following are several qualitative research questions with the impact of Gadget usage
behavior in early childhood
1. Central Question
To what extent does the use of gadgets by early age students affect their academic
achievement?
2. Sub-question
a. Is there a relationship between the amount of time spent using gadgets and children's
concentration levels in learning?
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b. How to use gadgets influence children's ability to understand and apply the academic concepts
taught?
c. Is there a difference in learning outcomes between students who use gadgets in a controlled
manner and those who use gadgets uncontrolled?
d. How to use gadgets influence social interaction and collaboration between children in a
learning environment?
Methods
This research method or scientific method is a series of orderly and patterned methods
and steps to emphasize the scientific field (Nursalam, 2016). The design of this research uses
qualitative methods with a phenomenological approach. This research aims to determine the
dynamics of the academic impact of gadget use behavior on early childhood students.
Research participants are people who respond or involve people or the community by
providing information, support, energy, thoughts and materials and their responsibility for a
decision that has been taken to achieve a mutually determined goal (Cahyono, 2016).
Participants in this research were children with a tendency to be exposed to excessive
gadgets. The criteria used in selecting participants were Early Childhood with an age range of
4-6 years, which addicted gadgets. Based on these criteria, 1 young child and his parents have
agreed to be involved in providing information related to the research objectives and have
given their consent on the informed consent form. Subject Description: The subjects in this
study were 2 people with the criteria being males aged 5-7 years and the researcher also
conducted interviews with the subjects' parents. The following is the identity of the subjects in
this research that is :
a. Subject 1 The first subject is named GA, he is male. Born in 2018 and 5 years old, currently
studying PAUD. He lives in Yogyakarta.
b. Subject 2 Object The second name is B, he is male. Born in 2018 and 8 years old, currently
studying elementary school. He lives in Yogyakarta. B.
The research was carried out by researchers searching the surrounding environment and
focused on children who were addicted to gadgets in Yogyakarta after obtaining them various
For further information, the researcher asked permission from the child's parents to see if they
were allowed to carry out the research. This research began with a short interview on October
20 2023. This research was conducted in the city of Yogyakarta and in the surrounding
environment, why did the researchers take these participants in the surrounding environment,
because in the surrounding environment, most young children are already familiar with
gadgets. The process of collecting data through interviews was carried out at the participant's
home when the participant was relaxed and ready to be interviewed. The place and time for
carrying out the interview process is in accordance with the agreement of the parents, children
and researchers. The average interview time range that researchers use for all participants
ranges from 45 minutes to 1 hour. This is in accordance with the statement made by Field and
Morse (1985, in Rachmawati, 2007) that The interview process must be completed within 1
hour. Apart from that, limiting the interview time to 1 hour is so that participants do not get
bored with questions regarding the information the researcher needs and participants can still
concentrate and provide the information well.
The interview process was carried out informally, even though the researcher had an
interview guide, the interview process was based entirely on the development of questions
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spontaneously and naturally. The form of questions used are open-ended questions so that the
child's parents can explore more about their experiences in dealing with problems in children
who are addicted to gadgets. Simultaneously with conducting interviews with participants, the
researcher also used field notes during the interview process to explain events that the
researcher discovered during the interview process with participants, such as what the
researcher heard, experienced and thought to reflect on the data obtained.
No. Aspect Indicator Question
a. How to use gadgets influence early childhood
1. Use of Gadgets The influence development?
of gadget use b. How parent and educator can play a role in
managing gadget use in early childhood so that
it can have negative impacts minimized?
c. What is the role of the technology industry in
developing applications or content that supports
the positive development of early childhood?
d. How do you introduce young children to
technology in a positive way without causing
excessive dependence?
e. How do you support early childhood
development holistically without neglecting the
use of technology such as gadgets?
f. Does your child prefer to learn via gadgets rather
than conventional methods?
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Result
Description: The subjects in this study were 2 people with the criteria being males aged 5-
7 years and the researcher also conducted interviews with the subjects' parents. The following
is the identity of the subjects in this research that is :
a. Subject 1 The first subject is named GA, he is male. Born in 2018 and 5 years old, currently
studying PAUD. He lives in Yogyakarta.
b. Subject 2 Subject The second name is B, he is male. Born in 2018 and 8 years old, currently
studying elementary school. He lives in Yogyakarta.
Interview Results
The results of the interviews are transcripts that were conducted by the researcher on the two
subjects:
a. Use of Gadgets
"So it's like this, sis, when she wakes up she has to watch TV, if not, YouTube, then while
eating, she also has to have a cell phone, sis, if she doesn't use her cell phone, she doesn't want to
eat. So every day he is always on my cell phone, making me confused about what to do.
"Sometimes when I'm going out, I ask for my cell phone if I don't have a tantrum in front of a lot
of people, so I'm also a bit embarrassed."
Subject parents have introduced gadgets to their children from an early age since the age of
one year. Therefore, the subject feels sorry and feels guilty for introducing gadgets to children.
"Actually, the fault lies with me too, ma'am. I don't completely blame my child. Since he was one year old, I
introduced him to gadgets and television, so in the end he became addicted to them like this, ma'am, to
the point where he doesn't want to play with his friends of the same age."
The subject listened to what the researcher gave the solution because the subject realized that
the subject often shouted at his child because the subject felt tired with homework plus the
child was difficult to tell.
“Oh, that's the way it is, sis? "The thing is, I often yell at you if you tell me, hehe, you know,
sis, you have a lot of work to do."
Academic Impact
The use of these gadgets in early childhood has a visible impact, especially on behavior.
a. First Subject
Excessive use of gadgets in early childhood can interfere with their language and
cognitive development. Children tend to spend more time with gadgets than interacting
directly, which can affect the development of speaking and thinking skills. The subject felt that
the child's academics at school and at home could be said to be lacking. The subject also
realized that giving gadgets from an early age could have an impact on the child's academic
impact.
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"So since she was 1 year old, I have trained her to memorize letters, miss, but what should I
do? Hmm, it's really difficult for her." According to her teacher, she is active, yes, she is active,
miss, but it is indeed difficult to teach her. What should I do? I am also really confused and have
to be extra patient."
The subject repeatedly regretted giving gadgets to his child from an early age and it
turned out to have had a negative impact on the child.
b. Second Subject,
Based on the interview and the first subject there are 2 Indicators that is Use of Gadgets
and the second is Academic Impact.
"For B's daily life, when he wakes up at half past 7, sis, it's really hard for him to wake him
up, because at night he often sleeps later than 10 at night, so if he wakes up at noon, even though
he's already in elementary school, sis, he starts school at 7. , while Grandma wakes up at 7 o'clock
so she's milking. "She goes to school at 10 minutes to 7, sis, she comes home at 1 15 minutes every
day, until Thursday she comes home at that time, then on Friday she comes home at 11 o'clock
and "Saturday is off"
From this interview it can be seen that Excessive use of gadgets for children will have a
negative impact because it can reduce their ability to concentrate and increase their
dependence on being able to do various things that they should be able to do themselves. The
parent subjects explained about the child's daily life and the child's activities while going to
school until coming home from school as well timetable children's school from Monday to
Friday.
"At school, hmm, he ranked at the bottom, sis, his grades also dropped drastically because in
exams he rarely studied. If he was asked to study, the answer was "sek to kan sinau seko hp iso"
"Alah, sis, podo wae (it's the same) it's hard to study in the room."
Excessive use of gadgets in early childhood can interfere with their language and
cognitive development. Children tend to spend more time with gadgets than interacting
directly, which can affect the development of speaking and thinking skills. The subject explains
about children's academic development when their grades at school decrease and they get
lower rankings and the impact at home.
Discussion
In the first subject, based on the results of the interview it was found that Categorization
of Academic Impacts of Gadget Use that is Is there an academic impact from using gadgets?
This is characterized by the subject of children who have been given gadgets since the age of
one year. The subject child was given gadgets from the age of one year until now the child is
five years old and the child watches YouTube and online games every day. The subjects
realized that the use of gadgets had a negative effect on early childhood, making children lazy
about studying and unwilling to play with their peers. Children's activities were only about
gadgets, making it difficult for children to eat. Then what is the impact on the child's academics
if he is at school? The child is active at school but is difficult to teach, and the child's parents
have also provided stimulus to the child to want to learn by having him memorize the letters
first. So it can be said that there is an impact on children's academics on gadget use.
In the second subject, based on the results of the interview, it was found that the
categorization of the impact of using gadgets is whether there is an academic impact from
using the gadget. This is characterized by child subjects who have been given gadgets from an
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early age. From the time children come home from school until the evening they are always
holding on to their gadgets, leaving them alone when taking a shower, until children ask their
parents for money to buy diamonds for the games they play. Then what is the impact on the
child's academics if he is at school? The child gets the lowest ranking, his grades can also be
said to have dropped drastically because if the child wants to take an exam, he doesn't want
to study on the grounds that he can learn through gadgets. So it can be said that there is an
impact on children's academics on gadget use
Conclusion
The use of gadgets in early childhood has a negative impact on their academic
development. The first subject shows that children who are accustomed to using gadgets from
the age of one year tend to be lazy about studying, lack social interaction, and focus only on
gadget activities. This impact is also reflected in the child's difficulties in learning at school.
When using gadget Intensive children will experience a decrease in academic achievement.
The child even refuses to study on the grounds that he can learn through gadgets, which
indicates that gadgets are considered the main source of knowledge. The use of gadgets in
early childhood can be detrimental to their academic development, causing a lack of interest
in learning, decreased achievement, and an inability to focus on conventional learning at
school.
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