1. Technology helping or hindering our future generations? Image by Ram Reddy

2. Since the invention of technology there has been debate over balancing the amount of technology children are exposed to Image by Kriss Szkurlatowski

3. The first question to ask is… How much time is being spent using technology? Image by Emre Nacigil

4. In the year 1999, children ages 8 to 18 years old spent approximately …. Source: Media Literacy Clearing House 3 ¾ hours watching television 1 ¾ hours listening to music ½ an hour using the computer ½ an hour playing video games Image by Mark Boggis

5. By the year 2009, the time had increased to… Source: Media Literacy Clearing House 4 ½ hours watching television 2 ½ hours listening to music 1 ½ hours using the computer 1 ¼ hours playing video games Image by Elisa Nobe

6. 29 % of time exposed to media is spent multitasking Source: Media Literacy Clearing House Image by Jacopo Lorenzetti

7. How are companies targeting the increase in technology usage by youth? Image by Free Photos Banks

8. Apple is creating newchildren’s apps for the iPad “With electronic books—a technology teeming with children’s titles, many of them stunningly rendered from the Apple iPad—mere pictures and conversations are passé , at least pictures that don’t move and conversations that you can’t here” ~ Lawrence Downes, The New York Times Image by Lin Hsun

9. Does digital interactivity endanger mental passivity? Source: The New York Times “What does interactivity do for the imagination, as reading a book gets closer and closer to watching television? ~ Lawrence Downs, The New York Times Image by Dora Pete

10. Image by Belinda Ramos “Today’s children aren’t old enough to prove or disprove any grand theories about e-literacy and e-maginations” ~ Lawrence Downs, The New York Times

11. Some apps, however, are quite beneficial to young children Nursery with Storytime An app that acts as a form of remote parenting using recorded voices. It allows parents to connect with their children when they’re not physically there Source: PSFK.com Image by Shin Ishimaru

12. The Digital Sandbox app allows children access to unlimited virtual toys, providing them with more than reality could Source: PSFK.com Image by Patrick Dignard

13. Some apps for children are created to improve academic results and help with learning Apps, like Jellytoons,act as brain trainers for children and others, like iCommunicate,work to help children with special needs Source: PSFK.com Image by Shho

14. Technology has had many detrimental effects on the lives and learning of children “The Oxford Junior Dictionary will no longer contain a large chunk of nature terms…replacing the cut words in the children’s dictionary will be technology terms” ~ Dan Gould, PSFK Image by Sanja Gjenero

15. Words like beaver, dandelion, ivy and tulip were removed, while… words like blog, chatroom, mp3 player and celebrity were added. Source: PSFK Image by Jon Fife

16. Transformations like these dictionary updates give us signs that technology is having a greater influence in the lives of children, while nature and other past influences begin to take the backseat Image by Spectrious

17. Embedded Advertisements Advertisements are being subtly concealed within children’s video games Source: The New York Times’ Bits Image by Josh Gallaway

18. “Children who may think they are simply playing video games are in fact engaging with sophisticated commercials, a practice that is beginning to attract scrutiny from regulators” ~ The New York Times’ Bits Image by Sarich10

19. Image by Dave Rutt In conclusion… When it comes to children and technology, everything needs to be kept in perspective

20. Technology can help stimulate and cultivate the minds of children… …but it also has the power to manifest negative and unwanted effects. Image by Greg Lawler

21. CREDIT All images used are sourced from Flickr and Stock.Xchng and are licensed under the creative commons Image by Dennis Kim