Experts, teachers consider tech’s impact on child development

Does the technology that fills modern life impact the way kids learn to think?

“The key thing that I would want all parents to know is that screens aren’t all good or all bad. A lot of this depends on how you use screens,” Nusheen Ameenuddin, a Mayo Clinic pediatrician, said in a February 2024 Mayo Clinic informational video.

Tech isn’t just influencing young people academically.

“One interesting thing that kids struggle with these days is that they cannot sit and watch a movie,” said Minnehaha Academy fourth-grade teacher Angie Magnuson. “I wonder if it is because they are used to watching shorter shows, and the ability to watch what they want is always at their fingertips.”

Generation Alpha, children born after 2010, has been online since birth. They are still children, growing up with Millennial parents, who are extensive users of social media. They don’t know what it’s like to live unplugged. Gen Z, born between about 1997 and 2010 — including current high-school students — experienced a few early years before smartphones and social media became common.

“I think that apps like Tik-Tok and Instagram have impacted what kids know and find important, which results in changing the way elementary students act. So socially I see a significant change in students,” said Magnuson. “Teaching fourth grade, I can see that kids are very aware of trends and styles. I can imagine that can cause insecurity. I would honestly guess that this is the way it always was. When I was in school I was always aware of the cool shoes, jeans and general style. Kids still face these demands today, and it will always create insecurity.”