Kids Are Inundated With New Digital Technologies — How Does That Affect Learning?
Are these technologies changing kids’ brains in a good way, a dangerous one, or both?
Detroit Today host Stephen Henderson writes:
“I have to admit it.
I’m one of those people, now, who is absolutely dependent upon, and mesmerized by, technology. And I mean, to a disturbing degree. The phone is always in my hand, to the point where everyone around me has had to say, at some point, ‘Can’t you put that down? Just for a minute?’
And the answer, sadly, is no. I don’t feel like I have complete control of my impulses anymore.
The phone, or the technology that drives the phone, has rewired my brain.
But if that’s true for me — a man in his late 40s who didn’t grow up with all these things — what effect is all this having on my children, and yours? I see them being affected in the same way — unable to unplug or detach from technology.
And I’ve begun to think, what’s this doing to their brains?
For sure, it’s changing them, but is it in a good way, or a dangerous one? Or both?”
To dig into those questions, Henderson speaks with Dr. Diane Levin, clinical professor of applied human development at Boston University’s Wheelock College.
Click on the audio player above to hear that conversation.
