How Technology is Changing Childhood

With today’s children more able to work their way around a tablet than tell the time, what does this mean for the future?
First there was the Stone Age, which was swiftly followed by ages of Bronze and Iron. Fast forward through ages of Darkness and Medievality and you arrive at the Age of the Digital.
The technology that we have come to know and love has cemented its place at the center of our world; the average adult spends more time interacting digitally than sleeping. And the situation is even more acute for the next generation.
Recent research has found that the skillset of the average child is changing. Put simply, our children may be more apt at Angry Birds than able to tie their shoelaces. In fact, more than half of children aged between two and ten feel more comfortable on their iPads than learning to swim, tell the time, or tie their laces.

For some, this is concerning. There is evidence to suggest that children are entering school with reduced movement, brain function and development, along with an increased risk of suffering from mental health problems and obesity.
Others, meanwhile, are excited by the prospect of a generation iPad. If a toddler can grasp the intricacies of a computer, what might they be able to achieve as a teenager?
Commentators like the authors of Kids Tech Report suggest that digitalisation will create ‘a new level of empowerment for kids never before seen in human history.’. They argue that childhood is a continual negotiation with the bounds of reality and that tech will help them push these boundaries and discover new things. They even suggest that the future could see a rising ‘kidularity’ in which technology redefines the power dynamic between parents and children.
The London School of Economics found that all but 10 European countries saw their children using the Internet significantly more often than their adult counterparts. As many as one in three children in the UK aged between two and four owns an iPad. When we look at this map, which shows global Internet use, we can see how both Europe and the US see the majority of online action; is it the children of these countries who are connecting with each other and with their devices so much?
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