The latest research on how technology affects youth in adulthood is hopeful. In a study of over 1,200 young adults, researchers from the University of Colorado, Boulder found little long-lasting negative technology effects on youth.
The reason why young adults overuse technology is not because of early technology use. In fact, when it comes to technology and parental involvement, researchers found no effect between prohibitions and limits and the later use of technology as young adults.
The published study minimizes the fears of long-lasting technology addiction among youth. Does tech addiction evolve from childhood to adulthood? Co-author of the research paper, Joshua Goode revealed that "the fears were anecdotal. Now with new data, those fears are not bearing out."
From Telephone to Chat
For the researchers, it is simply a matter of swapping one form of technology for another. While youth in the 90s and previous decades watched TV and talked to their friends over the telephone, now YouTube and social media replaced them.
Still, there is no denying that the use of digital technology continues to rise. As early as 2-5 years old, toddlers use of technology jumped up by 32 percent. Child tech addiction fears may be due to the fact that 6-11 year olds are now spending 23 percent more time with tech, Science Daily revealed.
Who spends less time on technology?
The study showed that children who grow up with fewer devices at home are less likely subject to technology use as adults. Less time spent on technology when they were kids also lead to less technology use as older adults. However, the statistics showed a weak relationship in both situations.
Married adults also tend to use less of technology. There was no significant impact made by early use of technology. Simply that single adults tend to have a higher use of technology in adulthood. However, parents and young adults who have parent friends increased their use of technology.
How Technology Affects Youth in Adulthood: The Surprising Reason
How much time a young adult will spend on technology depends not on technology and parental involvement in childhood. It is not even the early use of technology that matters. The research showed data revealing life in young adulthood as the determining factor of tech use as young adults.
For example, while college students believe they spend too much time on technology compared to their childhood, their lifestyle mandates such heavy use of tech.
College student participants of the study showed they are in control of their tech use but need to use tech more because they need to. In the future, the college participants see themselves using less technology. Thus the study suggested that addiction to technology is not irrevocable for majority of the teens in America.
Technology Parental Control Tips
Recent study does not entirely debunk parental involvement as beneficial to their children's use of technology. New York Times suggested technology safety tips for parents. For the little ones, it is wise to make tech use for kids a family affair.
When parenting teenagers, there should be a balance between the teens' need for privacy, and making sure they are safe.
In case of emergency, parents should have the ability to access to their teens' accounts. Parents may follow their teens on social media as well. This is due to the fact that young social media users need help realizing their online and real-life experiences are intertwined, New York Times revealed in another article.
For example, universities and high schools now expel students who post unauthorized creepshots of women, imply school shooting threats, racist Snapchat posts, or spread fringe hate speech online, Vox reported.
