Guest Columnist
Crimes of Technology
By
Apr 19, 2009 - 9:46:15 AM

(HealthNewsDigest.com) - Parents, educators and health policy makers everywhere are struggling to manage balancing children’s technology use with health and academics. “How much technology should kids use?”, “what degree of sex or violence should kids watch?”, and “should students be able to surf the net and text message in school” are just a few of the many questions faced by parents, teachers and health professionals. At eight hours per day combined technology use, elementary aged children are just not getting enough of what they need to grow and succeed. Recently media has reported worrisome “applications” of technology, such as cyberbullying and sextexting, activities that are setting the scene for a clash between law, health, and education sectors as children and adolescents are arrested for “crimes of technology” that society couldn’t even anticipate only one year ago. Cyberbullying is where one child “bully’s” another using chat lines, and sextexting is where pornographic photos are “texted” using cell phones. Media reports that students involved in these activities have been arrested for prostitution, child pornography, and distribution of pornography. What other Crimes of Technology will be next?

The past decade has borne witness to an explosion of technology, causing profound changes foundations for homes, schools and work. While designed largely to entertain and improve efficiency, these new technologies have proven quite detrimental to the younger members of society, children. 15% of young children now have developmental delays and 14% have mental health disorders. Managing challenging child behaviors both at school and in homes has become a significant problem, causing a rising incidence in child diagnosis and use of psychotropic (mind altering) medication. Baby TV has recently been implicated as a causal factor in an observed 600% increase in infant “flat head” (from lying too long in infant car seats). TV and video games in children’s bedrooms are causally linked to a nation wide epidemic in obesity. Media violence has been classified as a public health risk due to impact on child aggression. New technologies have hit society so hard and so fast, that the health and education sectors are just beginning to detect the enormity of this rapidly growing problem, much less figuring out what to do about it.

When children are engaging in playful activities, the use of technology is merely an extension of their play, and not really a harmful device in and of itself. But when a cell phone camera is used by one child to photograph another child’s genitalia for instance, and then this same image is texted to others or posted to the internet, this “playful activity” becomes another matter entirely, and gives a whole new meaning to “Let’s play doctor”. While both cyberbullying and sextexting activities may initiate in home or community environments, schools are often the place where the end result is played out, as this is where children come together in groups. Many schools are now creating policies regarding student use of specific technologies (cell phones, iPods, internet), but what can the education sector do to prevent and intervene when it comes to cyberbullying and sextexting? It is likely that down the road technology use will require health and education government regulation and age restriction, as it is apparent that many children and adolescents do not have the maturity necessary to fully understand the ramifications of their actions. While this government regulation and restricted use of technology would curtail many legal dilemmas regarding whether sextexting by minors is a punishable offense, schools are still left trying to decide what they can do right now.

Zone’in Programs Inc. offers schools and homes products, workshops and training to address the impact of technology on child health and academic performance. Zone’in has recently released the new Unplug’in Game, where children travel through different dimensions to build skills to Unplug. Zone’in also created the new Live’in Resource Guide which promotes balanced technology management initiatives. Live’in suggests one hour per day, one day per week and one week per year to be “technology free”, where children perform a variety of activities designed to enhance child health and academic performance through learning how to balance technology use with what they need to grow and succeed.

Cris Rowan, BScOT, BScBi, SIPT, Approved Provider AOTA and CAOT
CEO Zone'in Programs Inc.
6840 Seaview Rd.
Sechelt, BC V0N3A4

website www.zonein.ca

The Facts Reviewed

14% of Canadian children have been diagnosed with a mental illness (1), 15% are developmentally delayed (2), and 15% are obese (3). Media violence has been classified as a public health risk due to causal links to child aggression (4). Foundation skills for learning are not being achieved in pre-school settings, and children are entering the school system with low postural tone, poor motor coordination, and unable to maintain arousal states necessary to pay attention and learn (5). Eight hours per day combined technology use by the elementary population is rapidly destroying family structure and eroding the health and education systems as we know them, and it’s time to act (6). School-based Balanced Technology Management programs would ensure children and their families get the information and tools they need to achieve a balance between technology use, and what they need to grow and succeed.

Waddell C. Improving the Mental Health of Young Children. Children’s Health Policy Centre, Simon Fraser University, Vancouver BC, Canada. 2007. Available at: http://www.firstcallbc.org/pdfs/Communities/4-alliance.pdf.
Hamilton S. Screening for developmental delay: Reliable, easy-to-use tools. Journal of Family Practice. 2006; 55 (5): 416-422.
Birmingham CL, Muller JL, Palepu A, Spinelli JJ, Anis AH. The cost of obesity in Canada. Canadian Medical Association Journal. 1999; 160:483-488.
Huesmann LR. The Impact of Electronic Media Violence: Scientific Theory and Research. Journal of Adolescent Health. 2007; 41: S6-13.
Jennings JT. Conveying the message about optimal infant positions. Physical and Occupational Therapy in Pediatrics. 2005; 25 (3); 3-18.
Rideout VJ, Vandewater EA, Wartella EA. Zero to six: electronic media in the lives of infants, toddlers and preschoolers. Menlo Park (CA): Kaiser Family Foundation; Fall 2003.

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