The infiltration of technology in every aspect of people's lives has become an uncontested fact which may continue to be pervasive throughout life process. Historically, humans are going where they have never reached before. People are now hooked up to several applications that offer extreme exposure to the actions and innermost thoughts of other people as well as new channels that aid spying on their loved ones (Wang & Barnard, 2004).
The documentary, Digital Nation extensively explores the digital world that people are living in. The filmmakers look into the virtual technological world. South Korean students are digital addicts and finally enroll in rehab to help them get over the digital addiction. Another emerging debate from the documentary is the concept of multitasking as well as the critics and trends of teaching with the technology (Wang & Barnard, 2004). The film covers diverse technological issues and concludes with a note that technology is advancing and may not go away any soon.
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The impact of technology is more evident in families than anywhere else. The relationship between the parents and their children is noticeably drifted. The traditional roles which used to be played by the parents and children are no longer the same, blurring the lines between the children and their parents (Wang & Barnard, 2004). Over the recent years, children for instance who watch television get toxic messages from the current popular culture telling them that parents are traditional, incompetent, immature and selfish. With this kind of messages getting into the minds of children, they become rude and stop listening to their parents. With time, the relationship between the parents and their kids get blurred, and the kids begin to embrace what they think is the best life which in most cases, is getting into immoral behaviors (Wang & Barnard, 2004).
The divide has further grown because the involvement of children in technological ways interferes with the family relationships. First, the absorption of children into technology like playing video games, texting and watching clips limit the kid's availability to communicate with their parents efficiently. One recent study reported that when parents got home after work, their kids were so absorbed into technology that the children have only 30% of their time to their parents and that they ignored their parents for 50% of their time (Brotchie, Hall, Newton & Nijkamp, 2017). Another study observed that family relationships were not affected if the technology was used for school purposes, but technology affected the family interactions and relationships if it was used for social reasons.
Notably, children who spent most of their time on social network sites claimed that they felt segregated and less supported by their parents. Parents being digital immigrants coming from the analog system, they are still struggling with comfort and proficiency with the new technology that the new generation children have mastered already. The divergence of competence in parents over this sector makes it difficult for them to assume teaching role and give their children proper guide in the use of technology.
Since the parents lack the acumen in technology in their children's eyes, they lack the authority to control its use (Perkins, 1991). Also, since the parents are still suffering apprehension and anxiety about the use of technology, they may decide to withdraw from the technological lives of their children. It is not just the children who can be held accountable for the growing division in families. Parents are equally guilty of creating the distance that is present in families. Often, they are wrapped up in their own technological lives like watching television, surfing the internet and checking emails at times when they can be playing and directing their kids or even building strong bonds with their families.
With the ubiquitous nature of technology in families and the lives of children, it is crucial to establish the potential educational applications for kids of various ages. The parent's knowledge about the social and cognitive abilities of their children can best inform the development of applications and their use (Christensen & Knezek, 2001). The app developers should know the content which is best for kids. Scientific principles may be used to identify the characteristics which determine whether or not an app is educational.
Technology can enhance the creation of educational content for kids. For example, children watching a lion on screen are more likely to grasp knowledge about it more than those just reading about it from books. Children who interact with words and letters by dragging them down and hearing how sound works are more likely to grasp the context than those who traditionally learn about them from books. App developers should prescribe an educational framework that if the children use them, then they get educated even as they are entertained. The content should be meaningful in the children's lives. When selecting an app, it is essential that the idea has a high educational potential and it is something that relates or affects the lives of children (Christense & Knezek, 2001). For example, it is important that kids do not learn about triangle on screen but also recognize that the pizza in front of them is also in the shape of a triangle.
Many studies show that there is a relationship between technology and divorce rates. The rate of divorce is rising, and the quality of marriages is decreasing. In future, this trend may deeply sink the marriage institution into a senseless pit (Perkins, 1991). Technology denies many couples the opportunity to share quality time with each other. Many people want to spend most of their time on Facebook and Instagram instead of using the same time for building a strong foundation for marriages. According to Perkins (1991), there is a direct correlation between the use of social media and the decrease of quality of marriage. The use of social media in marriages creates a lot of jealousy which in turn bring communication problems.
References
Brotchie, J., Hall, P., Newton, P., & Nijkamp, P. (2017). The future of urban form: the impact of new technology . Routledge.
Christensen, R., & Knezek, G. (2001). Instruments for assessing the impact of technology in education. Computers in the Schools , 18 (2-3), 5-25.
Perkins, D. N. (1991). Technology meets constructivism: Do they make a marriage?. Educational technology , 31 (5), 18-23.
Wang, K. W. K., & Barnard, A. (2004). Technology‐dependent children and their families: a review. Journal of advanced nursing , 45 (1), 36-46.
