Imagine this: it’s 3:30 pm. A little boy is getting home from school and dashes into his house to get his soccer ball and runs outside again. All of the kids in the neighborhood come out of their houses and join him and they run as a pack to the park to play a soccer game. They stay at the park until it gets dark and quickly rush home to make it back in time for dinner to watch the new episodes on Disney Channel. Ah, childhood at its finest, except children are not running to play outside anymore and instead they are running into their houses to play the newest game in the app store. For children today playtime doesn’t mean playing tag at the park with your friends, instead playtime means games on their tablet they can play with their friends online. Although technology helps kids learn about the world and connects them with others, it hinders their eyesight quality and sleep schedule as well as deprive children from playing outside more which helps them exercise and supports their mental health.

Instead of spending time outside, children are spending most of their time indoors behind a screen which hinders the quality of their eyesight as well as their sleep schedule. In fact in a study conducted by the National Eye Institute found that nearsightedness increased from “25 to 41.6 percent” over the past thirty years and the greatest risk for myopia (nearsightedness) progression “takes place in childhood”1. More time spent using technological devices gives children a higher chance to develop vision problems like myopia which can visibly impair their eyesight and require children to obtain glasses or contacts. Great amounts of technology use can also affect a person’s sleep schedule and not just their eyesight.

Light emitted from the technological screens can affect the brain’s ability to sleep and may cause “insomnia”2. At this age children grow with the help of sleep and too much technology use at night can hinder a child’s sleep cycle which does not help their growth. According to a study done by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) called Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD), technological use is linked to poor sleep quality which affects “focus, concentration, mood, and mental well-being”3. The amount of screen time kids use at night affects how much sleep they get which affects how they feel the next day and how they function at school. The lack of sleep children get because of technology use at night should be reduced based on the effects they have because they drain them instead of letting them grow like physical exercise which kids are deprived of by playing with video games all day and night.

Kids would get a boost of exercise if they play games outside instead of playing video games inside which isn’t good for their eyesight or sleep cycle. Playing outside allows children to be more physically active than when they’re playing indoors because it contributes “positively” to a child’s “overall fitness” and can help “burn calories”4. By playing a fun game like tag with their friends, kids don’t even realize they are getting the exercise they need because they are too busy having fun. According to pediatrician Claire McCarthy, active play is “the best exercise” for children instead of exercising indoors5.  When kids play outside, they have the freedom to play whatever they want whether it’s climbing a tree or playing on the playground which is much better for them than staying inside all day. By watching television and playing video games all day instead of going outside, children have an increased risk of being “overweight”6. Instead of being active outside with their friends, some kids are not doing anything except sitting in front of a screen and staring at it all day and not stretching their legs to even get a small amount of exercise which isn’t good for their physical health. Children should forget their tablets and video games and instead take a deep breath of fresh air outside because it will benefit them physically and mentally.

Not only will kids get a great amount of physical activity by playing outside, but by getting out into the sun they will also improve their mental health. When children are outside they have the opportunity to jump, skip, run, and shout which reduces “tension, anxiety, and restlessness”7. Just by being outside children have the opportunity to do things they can’t do inside which can allow them to release all of the bundled up stress they have inside and letting it go which proves the outdoors is beneficial for a child’s mental health. Children are also exposed to the sun when they go outdoors which helps them make vitamin D that plays a vital role in “bone development”, getting a “healthy sleep”, and influencing a person’s “mood”8. Since children spend more time inside than outside, they are not getting the sunlight or vitamin D they need to grow or a get a good sleep which affects their overall mood and transitions to the next day. Tablets and television seem to be the main focus of kids today and takes up most of their time. Video games are more preferred than physical games and kids don’t realize on what they are missing out and how one day of playing on their xbox can have detrimental effects on their physicality and mentality.

To solve this problem kids should be given homework assignments to play outside at home. For every thirty minutes to an hour they spend outside, they can add up all of the minutes they spend playing outside and by the end of the week they can earn a reward based on how much time they play outside. Although watching television and playing video games is the new form of entertainment for kids today, children today should experience the joy of having the wind blow through their face while running behind a tree to hide from their friends during a game of hide and seek. Children should be able to feel the excitement and adrenaline rush of almost being tagged but getting away in the nick of time. They should experience and live their childhood in the outdoors with their friends playing soccer at the park instead of being indoors with a television screen.

Endnotes
1.  How To Decrease Your Child's Risk of Computer Vision Syndrome. (n.d.). Retrieved from

2.  Morin, A., & Lcsw. (n.d.). How Too Much Screen Time Hurts Kids and Their Families. Retrieved from verywellfamily.com/the-negative-effects-of-too-much-screen-time-1094877

3.  Homayoun, A. (2018, December 27). How much screen time? Silicon Valley parents are still trying to

4.  Benefits of Nature for Kids. (n.d.). Retrieved from

5.  McCarthy, C. (2018, May 21). 6 reasons children need to play outside. Retrieved from

6.  Morin, Effects of Too Much Screen Time, 2018

7.  (n.d), Benefits of Nature

8. McCarthy, Play Outside, 2018