Scott Jacob | Contributing Writer

Being a chunky, awkward, latchkey kid in sixth grade is not exactly the perfect formula for societal integration and popularity. What I – the rotund boy who preferred the backlight of a TV screen to a human face – learned in lieu of optimal social skills was how to dive into a world of pixelated characters and fabricated worlds.

An overindulgence in video games became a form of technological glut- tony that ultimately dulled my perspective of the world. In effect, my obsession with the gaming universe narrowed my desire for reading literature, embarking on outdoor adventures or becoming active in the arts.

Children crave intellectual, emotional and spiritual stimulation as they grow. With this in mind, parents can shape the avenue through which their children reach developmental fulfillment, essentially either limiting or eliminating the excessive consumption of technology. But if success alone is not enough inspiration to remove the iPad from a 3-year-old’s hand, the overwhelming number of childhood ADD and ADHD cases, that can be linked to the overindulgence in media, should be.

According to Centers for Disease Control (CDC) research, the average number of ADHD cases increased by 3 percent each year from 1997 to 2006. In 2007, 5.4 million children in the United States were diagnosed with the hyperactive learning disorder.

Not surprisingly, the Pew Research Center documents a dramatic in- crease in the youth ownership of cellphones. In 2004, 45 percent of adolescents in the 12-17 age group owned cellphones, 63 percent in 2006 and 71 percent in early 2008. The incessant barrage of texting, paired with an expectation of expedited downloads, blazing fast Internet speeds and over- all instant gratification, creates a direct link to the diminishing attention span of American youth. There is little to compel an adolescent to engage in meaningful conversation with their parents or friends when they can simply veil their faces behind a screen and be sufficiently stimulated by outside influences that require no supplementary work.

A 2013 survey from the CDC released statistics claiming that one in every 10 high school students in America is diagnosed with ADHD. Disregarding the fact that gaining access to drugs like Adderall, Ritalin and Vyvanse is an influential reason many kids claim to have ADHD, these statistics should be extremely alarming not only to current parents, but also to anyone who desires to have kids in the future.

The dangers of technology are not hard to identify; cyber-bullying, easy access to pornography and volatile chat rooms are all legitimate concerns for parents. However, the real danger emerges when structured, intentional parenting is replaced by apps and games.

Introducing the vast capabilities of smartphones into children’s early lives encourages them to become de- pendent and possibly self-absorbed in what is fundamentally a separate world altogether – at the adolescent age when their egocentricity reigns supreme. Devastating insults, vicious threats and heavily sexual conversations are made private and alarmingly simple by cellphones.

Lyons is the principal of Gold Trail, a fourth-eighth grade school located a stone’s throw away from where gold was first discovered in California in 1848.

“Too often, technology is viewed as some panacea guaranteed to create engagement,” Lyons said. “On the contrary, it is more often used ineffectively and absorbs resources that could go to more effective use.”

One such resource is the attention and focus of students. An article written by the American Civil Liberties Union titled “Hello! Students Have a Right to Privacy in their Cell Phones,” states that 77 percent of students bring their cellphones to school, while 64 percent send texts during class, and 25 percent have received a phone call during class time.

Deterring the focus of a child or adolescent is not only the fault of the individual cheapening their education but also the parent who allows his/her child to own a cellphone at a young age. There has been an epidemic of parents who earnestly believe that without a cellphone a child will get lost, hurt or fall into some form of danger. It is as if there is some exponentially larger threat to children in the modern day that requires parents to embrace paranoia as the norm and shove a traceable piece of technology into the hands of their kid.

A drastic alteration in the way parents view technology—treating the influence as a dessert rather than a main course in a child’s intellectual diet—will do wonders for the development of the next generation of youth. Cellphones, iPads, gaming consoles, computers and the inevitable introduction of countless more electronic devices force parents to decide whether technology will be primary or supplementary in the lives of rapidly developing family members.

Parents are not only responsible for teaching their children how to be- come functioning members of society but also how to critically analyze the world, how to evaluate controversial issues and above all, how to love human beings.

“We are becoming supremely disconnected from the natural cycle and rhythms of the existence that has framed human development for eons,” Lyons said.

Human advancements in technology are not a work of evil by any means, but when human faces are traded in for pixelated text, and the stats of a video game character are revered above the struggles and laughter of a soul, parents have succumbed to the simplicity of the electronic babysitter.