In The Washington Post, Terrence McCoy wrote an article about the controversial topic, entitled “Researchers: Using an iPad or Smartphone Can Harm a Toddler’s Learning and Social Skills.” In this article, McCoy explains the harmful effects of these pieces of technology when used with children. McCoy believes that increased used with these devices can negatively impact child development, including their problem solving, empathy, self-regulation, social skills, sensory-motor skills and visual-motor skills. While McCoy supported mostly negative effects, he did state that these pieces of technology are capable of positively impacting children when used with educational apps.
In response, Pete Etchells published an article entitled "No, Research Does Not Say That 'iPads and Smartphones May Damage Toddlers Brains.'" In this piece, Etchells responds to a published article that describes some damaging effects with tablet and smartphone use and children (article previously summarized). Etchells’ take was this: there is not enough research to support the theories of damage. There is research that shows negative effects while there are other sources that prove positive effects, but across the board there has not been research that supports the correlation to brain damage. Basically, Etchells argues that such articles with misleading titles are published by "scaremongers," resulting in an uproar about the topic.
While Etchells’ article mostly contradicted and disagreed with McCoy’s, there was a point in which they both agreed upon, whether they’d like to admit it or not. Both McCoy and Etchells mentioned the importance of content. If the content that children were manipulating on the device was educationally related, then there are positive effects involved. On the other hand, most other aspects of each article were in disagreement.
In my opinion, I am all about technology use with children as long as it is appropriate and used wisely. There are countless educational apps that are fun for children and gives them some background knowledge on skills they will begin to practice as they enter a school environment. Too many times I have seen children throwing a fit in public, resulting in a parent handing them a smartphone or tablet to occupy the child while the parent goes back to whatever they were doing. In other cases, I know that some of my students play video games for the entire evening after they get home from school. Making sure that children are not solely using technology and rather are also playing outside and socializing is something that parents should be conscious of.
I’m sure there are hundreds of other articles out there about this same issue; some with the same views as McCoy and some with similar thoughts as Etchells. It is up to the reader to consider the author, the content of the article and the resources mentioned in the article.
References
Etchells, P. (2015, February 02). No, research does not say that 'iPads and smartphones may damage toddlers' brains' | Pete Etchells. Retrieved June 29, 2016, from https://www.theguardian.com/science/head-quarters/2015/feb/02/no-research-does-not-say-that-ipads-and-smartphones-may-damage-toddlers-brains
Researchers: Using an iPad or smartphone can harm a toddler’s learning and social skills. (n.d.). Retrieved June 29, 2016, from https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2015/02/02/using-an-ipad-or-smartphone-can-harm-a-toddlers-brain-researchers-says/?utm_campaign=buffer&utm_content=buffer15e6b&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook.com