Category: Articles

Is there really a difference being a child in 2019 versus 2000?

            I go into a house to babysit and have the kid ask me if we can watch a movie. I find the remote and go to turn on the tv but can’t figure it out. In seconds the child has it on for me. Now to find out how to get the DVD player to work, nope streaming service. I stare at the remote to try to figure out what to press to get to the streaming service but the child simply gets it all set up.

It is simply amazing how children can understand the works of any technology. Growing up the only buttons I needed to understand was on/off, volume, and channel.

While it is impressive Andrew Butts states how it is impossible for kids to get away from today’s technology (Butts, 2016). At home, school, and playing with friends technology is more and more apparent.

Kids will be outside playing a game of soccer but will still have their cell phones on them to make sure they do not miss a text.

Technology is everywhere you look, how could children in 2019 be the same as children in 2000 when all that’s surrounding them is technology?

Reference:

Butts, Andrew. (2016). Odyssey . Today’s Kids Vs Yesterday’s Kids. https://www.theodysseyonline.com/todays-kids-yesterdays-kids

Fatima, Arooj. (2017). The Nation. Excessive use of technology in children. https://nation.com.pk/28-Mar-2018/excessive-use-of-technology-in-children

 

 

Fortnite, is it for children?

As a summer camp counselor I have heard far too much on the game “Fortnite”. The purpose of the game? To kill all the other players and be the last one standing.

Sure, it has those dances you see all over such as “The Floss” or “Take the L” but that doesn’t take away from the fact that this game involves violence.

This violence is exposed to children young ages, children “knocking down doors” in order to play this game (Teitell, 2019). The violence the children see is starting to become apparent in their everyday lives.

This game poses a threat to those at a young age as they look to this game as an example of how to behave. In order to ensure children do not look at this behavior in Fortnite as normal there must be some sort of restraint.

Reference:

Teitell, Beth. (2019). The Boston Globe. ‘Fortnite’ may be a virtual game, but it’s having real-life, dangerous effects. https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2019/03/31/unexplained-weight-loss-children-boston-nutritionist-makes-her-diagnosis-fortnite/eNMmGkK814IOsCwDDk2ZPN/story.html

Children’s Impact from Social Media

In today’s society social media is available to those of all ages. Working with children I know that no matter how young children know about social media, whether they learn from their parents or from classmates. The scariest thing, children know how to use these social media outlets and have access to making them.

While I grew up on flip phones and game boys children today have iPads and iPhones which have internet access on them. It is impossible for any parent to monitor their child’s every action which has an increase in the possibility of exposure to the dangers of the internet.

Don’t get me wrong, social media and the internet are amazing inventions, allowing relationships to be build and maintained and for information to be accessible. For children though they do not have a full understanding of the dangers that come along with these benefits.

One huge risk is bullying. Cyber bullying is a very public and in some cases anonymous way to bully peers and other individuals. Cyber bullying has lead unfortunately to depression, anxiety, and suicide as the hurtfulness of this bullying has devastating repercussions (Schurgin O’Keeffe & Clarke-Pearson, 2011).

Another risk is sexting defined by the American Academy of Pediatrics as “sending, receiving, or forwarding sexually explicit messages, photographs, or images via cell phone, computer, or other digital devices” (Schurgin O’Keeffe & Clarke-Pearson, 2011). These exchanges are put out for the public and youth end up facing consequences due to the messages they send.

My goal for making this post is to bring towards to point that children need to be educated of the dangers of social media. The internet and social media provide access for children to be bullied and sext with one another. Without understanding the long lasting effects our youth do not understand why they should not be participating in these actions.

These dangers need to be taught at a younger age than ever due to the availability of these outlets at such a young age.

Reference:

Schurgin O’Keeffe, Gwenn; Clarke-Pearson, Kathleen. (2011). American Academy of Pediatrics. The Impact of Social Media on Children, Adolescents, and Families. https://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/127/4/800 

Orlando, Joanne. (2017). The Conversation. When it comes to kids and social media, it’s not all bad news. https://phys.org/news/2017-07-kids-social-media-bad-news.html

Welcome to my page!

Hello and welcome to my page! My name is Alexa (Lexi) McKinney and I am currently 21 years old. I am working on finishing my college education and fulfilling my dreams of traveling and working at Disney World. I am a student for PennState World Campus as an Human Development and Family Studies (HDFS) major. On this website I plan to share about myself and the travels I will be making along with focusing on my strengths on working with children. I plan to show these strengths through the research of articles on children today.