RWP 8.2 Impacts of Technology

Mindfulness Monday!

Brenda Brewer [e-mail] 570.820.4210 x24589

Poll

What year did the baby monitor debut?!

When Were Baby Monitors Invented | A Historical Overview - eufy US

• 1930's

• 1950's

• 1970's

• 1990's

​Real World Parenting
8.2 Impact of Technology
on Children & Parenting

Lesson Objective:

• identify different types of technology that parents can utilize in raising their children

• evaluate the potential benefits and drawbacks of parenting technology

• describe how technology may impact the development of children

Vocabulary:
distracted parenting, parenting apps, parental controls, parenting technology, social isolation, unplugged

In the 1930s, the baby monitor completely transformed how parents cared for their children.

It allowed parents to help their child sleep in a separate room while still being alerted if their child needed them.

Today, a baby monitor can be found in nearly every household with an infant or a young toddler.

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Engage! Technology & Children

The Best High-Tech Baby Gear of 2025

Parenthood in the 21st century is influenced by the use of parenting technology, which refers to any device or piece of technology that impacts how parents nurture and support the development of their children.

This technology improves how parents support their children.

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Questions to Ask Before Purchasing:

• What is the cost of the technology? Is it one piece of equipment, such as an audio or video baby monitor, or does it have a monthly or annual subscription?

• Will the technology be of assistance to the parent or caregiver? What specifically will the technology assist with tracking baby's sleep or feeding the baby? Is it an educational technology or a playtime technology that many toddlers like to use?

​Parent Technology

Draw

What are some types of location tracking technologies available for caretakers in 2026?

Driving Monitors

One concern that almost all parents in the United States have is the safety of their children when they begin to drive alone. Luckily, digital monitors can help. These monitors can be added to most vehicles and allow parents to keep track of where their children drive and how fast they are going.

Home Wireless Time

Many teenagers and adolescents spend a dozen hours a week or more online using social media sites and online video games. One useful piece of technology for parents is a home internet control device. This allows parents to restrict and limit the amount of time their children spend online.

Monitoring Digital Habits

Parental apps that allow parents to monitor the digital habits of their children with social media sites, other digital apps, or online video games. Parents can use these apps in combination with talking to their children about the danger of irresponsible digital habits to help their children develop healthier digital behaviors.

Family Scheduling Apps

Other parental apps allow parents to schedule their teenagers' and adolescents' time to help them create more responsible behaviors.

This ensures that teenagers and adolescents are not spending all their time online. This also includes scheduling household chores and responsibilities for teenagers.

​Child Finances

Parental apps also help parents teach their teenagers and adolescents about financial literacy and planning.

These apps help parents show their children how to save their money, set financial budgets, and even invest for the future.

Increased independence leads to new encounters for parents.
Specific pieces of technology can help parents master these experiences.

Parental controls refer to any technology that allows parents to set limits on the time that their children have access to things such as television, social media, or video games.

These devices are an important way that can help to set limits and provide structure for children.

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​Parental Controls

Multiple Choice

True or False: You can set your own controls on your personal device?

• True

• False

Another potential issue associated with the use of technology by parents is referred to as distracted parenting.

This is when parents overuse personal technology such as hand-held digital technology. It also means that parents become irritated when their use of technology is interrupted by the needs of their children.

Distracted parenting can result in parents feeling agitated by their children. It can also cause them to fail to fulfill the basic needs of their children.

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​Distracted Parenting

A possible strategy to combat distracted parenting is parenting while unplugged.

This refers to not using technology when interacting with your children and remaining present in the moment.

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​Unplugging

Multiple Choice

Which of the following statements provides the best description of distracted parenting?

• Parents become irritated when their use of technology is interrupted by children

• Relying on parenting technology to fulfill the responsibilities of parenthood

• Parental technologies help parents stay organized and track different responsibilities

​Reduced Attention

The overuse of technology might impact a child's ability to remain focused. Digital games and entertainment often provide children with very quick enjoyment with minimal effort.

Negative Impacts of Technology

​Brain Development

The use of digital technology can also contribute to issues with memory. It might also impact a child's ability to think logically and abstractly. This may be the case if the technology being consumed is for entertainment rather than educational purposes.

​Sleep Issues

Children using digital screens close to bedtime may have issues falling and staying asleep. The use of digital screens before bedtime causes issues with the body's production of melatonin and the ability to fall asleep.

​Neural Exercise

Learning and educational games can be a positive influence on a child's cognitive development by providing them with neural exercises that help them think critically and logically.

Positive Impacts of Technology

Decision-Making and Complex Reasoning

Some digital educational games and programs can help contribute to children creating better decision-making and complex reasoning skills. These programs sometimes involve time limits and goals for children to achieve.

​Improved Memory

Games that involve recalling information they have already learned help children develop their working memory and apply the information they have just learned.

Multiple Choice

Which of the following impacts of technology on childhood cognitive development

is potentially beneficial to children?

• sleep issues

• neural exercise

• reduced attention

​Too much time on the internet and social media may harm the social and emotional development of a child.

They may struggle to build stable relationships and recognize emotional cues in others, leading to impaired social skills. It is important to balance online activity with real-life social interaction.

Another potential impact of technology is social isolation. This refers to when a child has few to no social peers with whom to interact regularly, resulting in feelings of loneliness and depression.

It is important to teach your children about the dangers of their digital footprint. Children and teens need to know that the information and images they post online are likely to remain there for the rest of their lives.

​Your Digital Footprint

Multiple Choice

Which of the following concepts refers to when a child has few to no social peers with whom to interact regularly, resulting in feelings of loneliness and depression?

• distracted parenting

• screen time

• 
  parental controls

• social isolation

Multiple Choice

Which of the following statements most closely describes the concern of parents about their child's digital footprint?

• 
  Children are posting information online that will harm future academic and professional opportunities.

• Children may be sharing personal information with others online.

• 
  Children may be spending too much time on screens, which can impair their cognitive development.

• Parents are not able to plan sufficient time for their children to engage in activities without technology.

Multiple Choice

True or False: Unplugging is when parents can attempt to connect more socially with their children by interacting with them without the use of digital technology?

• True

• False

In this lesson, you learned:

• different types of technology that parents can utilize in parenting their children; and

• the potential benefits and drawbacks of parenting technology; and

• how technology may impact the development of children.

In the next lesson, you will learn about the benefits of assistive technology and devices.

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Summary