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Bridgett Hutchinson
Professor Poole
Psychology 241
January 28, 2014
Listen to the Kids (Are Your Kids plugged Into Screens?)
Are your kids addicted to the screen? Not only are the children and teens addicted but
society as a whole relies on cell phones and social media. What happened to the parent-child
relationship? What happen to peer relationship? How are we handling our kids screen addiction?
Last what can we do to unplug our children and ourselves from the screens?
Before there were smart phone, tablet, video games, and social media, parents could spend
quality time with their children. Now with the infatuation of screens family time is being
ignored, or worst it is non-existing. Everywhere a child goes today there is some kind of
computer device connected to them. With this fixation of the screens we are losing our kids to
social media, and to internet gaming. For example Dr. Densmore, Are Your Kids Plugged I nto
Screens)? Talks about how she observes several children at the mall dancing to images on a
giant screen. These children were mesmerized by the sound and the colors of the digital screen,
and their parents were ignoring them, because they were on their smart phones. This is part of
the problem.
I asked five seniors at Rocky Mount High School if they thought they were addicted to
texting and social media, the answer was YES Two students said they check their phones
every two minutes during class. They do not have regard for the school rules of no cell phone use
in class. Their feeling toward a teacher taking their phones is "if my teachers do not pay for my
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phone, they don't have a right to take it, and I will deal with the consequences. In the Nash-
Rocky
Mount School system, students who refuse to give a teacher their phone the consequence is a
three days out- of school suspension.
"Nearly 78% of American children ages 12 to 17 have cell phones, and 47% of them are
smart phones. (Pew Research Center Berkman Center for internet and society at Harvard
University). During recess, between classes, walking up and down steps, the students of Rocky
Mount High School are seen using their devices are using their cell phones to text or play
internet games. This is where we are losing our peer interaction and communication.
Facebook, Twitter and other social media is what is happening to the parent-child, and peer
relationships. Researchers show this is" the erosion of creative play and interaction with caring
adults" (Dr. Densmore). Because the children and parents are using smart phones or social
media, this is the cause for the huge disconnect with the parent, and child. In today's society we
are not making time for family, and our children are losing on lots of their communications,
writing and verbal skills.
So YES we are addicted to the screen, but it not just our kids but society as a whole. We are
part to blame for this, 70% of our preschooler between the age of 4 to 6 in the United States
have used the computer, and a quarter of them use one every day.( Development Across the
Life Span Feldman R.S. pg 206). We have used TV and the computers to baby sit our kids.
In closing there is some software or apps that can actually help children and teens with their
school work, and improve their language skills, but there are so many more that are not helpful.
The children and teens in the US need social development which we are sadly losing fast. We
need to find a solution for the addiction to the screens, if we plan to save our children and teens
(society as a whole) from being social disconnected.
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Solution to get us un-plugged:
Elementary/Middle School Students: Limit the time spent on the screens, Safeguard the
devices (Parent Control), Allow more time for outdoor activity (park, ball games movies), and
have a screen free week for the family (everyone).
High School Students: Set limits for them per day for time on social media. No phones at meal time.
Allow more family time, do thing that is phone free. (movies, skating, play ball games).
Adults: Have date night with spouse, Be honest with the kid, spouse, and yourself (screen free
time for enter family), Have the children help with prepare meals (which helps them with their
math, and vocabulary), and family night/screen free vacations











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Work Cited
Densmore, A., Ed.D. (2014, January 22). Are Your Kids Plugged Into Screens? [Listen to the Kids].
Psychology Today, 1.
Feldman, R. S., PhD. (2014). Development Across the Life Span (7th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson
Education, Inc.
http://www.law.harvard.edu/news/2013/07/15_berkman-pew-teens-social-media-privacy.html
Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University and the Pew Research Centers Internet &
American Life Projec