The virtual world is not just encroaching on real life, in many ways it has become a substitute for it. Have a need? There’s an app for that.

My smart phone is smarter than I am. In fact, my friend’s three-year old daughter was using her iPhone to play games while I was still using a flip-phone. And most of us have joked that if we have technology problems, the easiest solution is to find the nearest child. It’s almost a guarantee they will know how to solve the difficulty.

But this constant interaction with a screen, whether phone, tablet, or television, may have unintended consequences. Psychologists believe that children’s brain development is being damaged.

• Preschoolers learn how to download an app before they learn how to tie their shoes.
• On-line games have replaced the interactions of playing games in person.
• Children don’t experience the rich joy of browsing through bookshelves at their local library or bookstore, picking up this book or that one, thumbing through the pages. Now books are downloaded with a click.
• Children and teens no longer know what it means to enjoy the sense of anticipation that comes from waiting to interact with a friend, because they’re connected 24/7.
• Teens struggle to look people in the eye because they’re uncomfortable with face-to-face conversations.
• Impulse control is almost non-existent as young people and adults share their thoughts and opinions without hesitation or discernment. Send now, regret later.
• A 2013 study also shows prolific social media users experience significant bouts of depression. It happens because they compare their lives unfavorably to all the positive, exciting posts they read on Facebook and other sites.
• Even sexual identity is affected as children have initial experiences with online pornography or because of constant physical comparisons with their peers.

Technology is not evil. But indiscriminate use of technology is causing problems for both children and adults. As with any tool, we need to apply wisdom and discernment so that we control the technology rather than having it control us.

Don’t allow the virtual world to overrun your real world…or the real world of your children.

What controls have you established for your family regarding technology?
What controls do you need to establish?