Media transformations have widened the gap between children and adults. Technology is detaching kids from the social contract since digital resources have become highly authoritative. Therefore, it is essential to look into how media, especially online activities, has modified childhood and parenting, considering that media panic is rising. Appropriately, children are malleable and hence innocent media consumers, making them vulnerable to technology influence.
Children are naive and can adopt any lifestyle and personality. Since kids grow in particular settings, they undergo rapid cultural reforms to pick their societal recognition (Kline, 1993). Consequently, children are susceptible to environmental forces and can follow any direction depending on the pressure’s intensity. Surprisingly, adults manage the media and are interested in controlling children (Drotner, 1999). Notably, children are victims of adverse technology effects, which can subject them to social evils.
Children’s pliability increases their vulnerability, causing panic among the interested stakeholders. Kids transform into adulthood through identity modification that puts them at risk of pollution (Cook, 2004). Subsequently, responsible individuals are concerned about how technology has altered childhood and parenting. For instance, there is a consensus that children are extensively prone to digital control, and 71% of American parents worry about technology addiction (Murphy, 2020). Accordingly, the minimally regulated technology-children interaction exposes kids to unhealthy media consumption.
Children can consume anything they come across in their surroundings. However, there is no certainty that media products are entirely suitable for children’s intake. Sadly, technology experts are manipulative and can take advantage of children’s vulnerability to create negative influence, primarily through inappropriate digital advertising. Correspondingly, there is a need for enhanced censorship and parental control to ensure that media support kids’ positive cultural growth.
References
Cook, D. T. (2004). Chapter 2 – A brief history of childhood and motherhood into the twentieth century. In The commodification of childhood: The children’s clothing industry and the rise of the child consumer. Durham, NC: Duke University Press.
Drotner, K. (1999). Dangerous media? Panic discourses and dilemma of modernity. Paedogogica Historica, 35(3), 593-619.
Kline, S (1993). Chapter 2 – The making of children’s culture. In Out of the garden: Toys, tv, and children’s culture in the age of marketing. London, UK: Verso.
Murphy, C. (2020). Worried about your kid’s screen time? Parenting issues arise due to social media, tech. USA Today. Web.