Constant technological progress being an imperative with the power almost equal to biological progress changes the reality that surrounds us every day. For this reason, a previously unknown digital world has appeared around the human expanding the traditional horizons to a new dimension of culture, science, entertainment, work and social relations. Modern computer techniques or widely ICT, which hardly a dozen years ago were the object of a science fiction novel, now they are widely used solutions.
New technologies and cyberspace have entered into the lives of millions of people for whom the online environment and accompanying digital devices have become an inseparable part of their existence. Virtual space has also become the favorite environment for the functioning of the young generation (Gardner, Dawis 2014; Small, Vorgan 2011).
Science has not provided yet sufficient evidence of the impact of new technologies on the development of young children. According to the recommendations of the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), children under the age of 2 should not have any contact with mobile devices[1]. The Academy warns that excessive use of such type of devices can lead to learning difficulties, concentration problems or obesity. It should also consider the threats to the development of interpersonal skills when contact with a computer or smartphone becomes a substitute for contact with adults or play with other children. On the other hand, it cannot recognize the fact that new technologies have become one of the elements of the social and educational context of the youngest generation. According to information published by the AAP in the United States, over a third of children who are under one year old played with tablets or smartphones[2].
How it is common for young children to use mobile devices in Poland it shows the study conducted by the Nobody's Children Foundation (2015). It was the first study in Poland focused on the youngest children and implemented on a nationwide sample representative for children aged 6 months - 6.5 years. The results turned out to be quite surprising:
- 64% of children aged from 6 months to 6.5 years use mobile devices, 25% - daily
- 26% of children have their own mobile device
- 79% of children watch movies, and 62% play a smartphone or tablet games
- 63% of children sometimes play a smartphone or tablet without a specific purpose
A small child does not have the possibility of independent access to mobile devices. This opportunity is given by parents / adults. Reasons why they provide mobile devices to the youngest children is presented in the chart below.
Chart 1. Reasons why parents provide mobile devices to children, [%], N=1011
Most often, parents allow children to use mobile devices when they have to take care of their own matters (69%). Half of parents allow children to use mobile devices as a reward (49%). In both cases, the shares are the higher the older the children are. Every fifth parent also admits that allows the child to use mobile devices to encourage the child to eat a meal (19%). It is worth noting that the reverse relation was observed here than in the two previously discussed cases, the younger the child is the more often parents allow him/her to use this type of device to encourage him/her to eat a meal, whereas for 2-year-olds this share increases to 34%. Almost 15% of parents use mobile devices to help children to fall asleep, a little more often it results with 1-year and 2-year-old children.
The popularity of new digital technologies among children and young people caused that both researchers and practitioners became interested in the phenomenon (Carballo et al. 2015, Szymański 2016). As a result of the actions undertaken, not only the positive aspect of technological changes was noticed, but also their negative effects including addiction problem. The issue of habitual use of new digital technologies, including the Internet and mobile phones, also appeared in the media and public debate as one of the threats of the 21st century (Garcia-Oliwa, Piqueras 2016). Most experts agree that especially young people excessively use new digital technologies, as well as they have some problems with controlling this involvement which negatively affects their activity in various spheres of social life (Brody 2006, Krzyżak-Szymańska 2015, Yan 2015). It also includes the access to inappropriate content, loss of one's identity, diseases appearance or intensification of violence forms or aggression (Andrzejewska 2015).
Why do children "flee" to the virtual world? What is the adults contribution, the parents in "building" of this phenomenon? The fact that we provide mobile devices to children seems not to be everything. Perhaps children may feel lost, feel lonely, helpless, lose trust in their parents; this what they cannot find in a real world they find in a virtual reality. Children require attentiveness, acceptance, there is no relations and closeness without attention and time, there is no security without relations. They seek support and they find it on the Internet at any time without any problems and limitations.
Diagram 1. Loop of walking in the virtual world
Conclusion. The Internet and computer addiction is a relatively new phenomenon that seemed to be the unintended effect of the development and dissemination of modern technology. A child can only develop properly if the appropriate stimuli are multilateral and they are dose sensible. If we let the child use the benefits of technology without any control and moderation, while not building closeness relations, we will consequently direct the child to the virtual world.
[1] 1 Policy statement: Media use by children younger than 2 years, Pediatrics Vol. 128 No. 5 November 1, 2011, s. 1040 -1045.
[2] First Exposure and Use of Mobile Media in Young Children, H. Kabali, R. Nunez-Davis, S. Mohanty, J. Budacki, K. Leister, M. K. Tan, M. Irigoyen, R. Bonner, Pediatric Academic Societies' Annual Meeting, 25-28 kwietnia 201 5r., San Diego (abstract: http://www.abstracts2view.com/pas/view.php?nu=PAS15L1_1165.3, dostęp w dniu 26.07.2015), oraz C. Kemp, Babies as young as 6 months using mobile media: Survey shows most 2- year-olds using mobile devices, with some spending more than an hour a day on screens, AAP News E150425-3; published ahead of print April 25, 2015.
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