Influence of ICT on Children's Identity and Wellbeing - Essay Example

University

Introduction

There has been endless debate, discussions, and scholarly deliberations on how developments in Information Communication Technology (ICT) has affected children’s identity and wellbeing. The children in the contemporary modern world do not have the experiences that the past generation had and took for granted. However, their lives have improved in so many ways (Guldberg, 2009). There are stark outcomes on the development of a child that are associated with both the low expectations of human beings and the stringent culture. Therefore, it is important to identify the real problem that influence the development of children’s identity and wellbeing as a result of ICT developments. The role of Information and communication technologies (ICTs) in the society is enormous in terms of benefit, but it has its dark side especially if consumed in excess. ICT has evolved for the past few decades and aspects such as messaging, email, social networking sites such as Facebook, and instant messaging are new forms of communication and they are define how people interact with one another and in particular children. These type of communication mechanisms have affected the adolescent development, and this concerns communication theorists in trying to analyze to what extent ICT can influence identity development and the wellbeing of children. NHS (2015) indicated that watching television for more than two hours a day has the propensity of increasing a child’s blood pressure. This paper aims at critically assessing how developments in information communication technology in the last twenty years has influenced children’s identity and wellbeing.

The Technology Age

Access to internet has risen tremendously across the globe and this has ensured that children in finding it easier to access technology easier as compared in the past. For instance, the computer and internet use in the United State special report by the U.S. Department of Commerce (2005) indicate that household that have access to the internet has risen from 18% to 57.7% in 2003. This implies that the children especially the adolescents have access to the internet and virtual media. These are the children in the technology age, and in today’s world one can easily assess the technology through their phones. Children are now spending more time online more than what their parents they do, and more worrying is the fact that there is minimal control and restriction on most online sites. There are educative sites in being online, and there are other sites that can influence the identity and wellbeing and identity of a child negatively. Ward, (2013) indicated that many children are using the internet negatively, they are viewing self-harm, animal cruelty, violent pornography, and eating disorders websites and most of the children admit that they lie in order to access such sites. There are such time that the children are spending on the internet that, they find it difficult to do things offline such as reading a book.

Young People and ICTs

Young people and the ICT is a developing area as far as research is concerned, and therefore the aspects of the manner in which practice is enhanced is very difficult. Most of the available literature young person’s such as adolescents and children and the ICT mainly focuses on the internet and the mobile phones, which is primarily the first lot of engagement of young persons with ICTs. There are conventional forms of ICT such as the television and the Radio, but there are other new forms of information communication technology such as the social networking sites and other platforms that rely on the internet. The impact of ICTs on young people’s social relationship and identity has been well researched (Cyr, Berman and Smith, 2014). Therefore, it should be noted that ICTs are not a technical sphere that is not associated to the lives of the children. The market for ICT has now identified children as a very important segment in relation to ICT products and serviced, and this increases the vulnerability of children that are still developing physically, emotionally and socially. The integration of ICT both conventional and modern forms are influencing the young people and the children both negatively and positively. Therefore, this aspects tasks the stakeholders on children’s welfare authority to devise ways and mechanisms that can enhance that young people and children’s wellbeing and identity are not impacted negatively.

Childhood in Crisis

Numerous studies have asserted that the type of childhood that is characterized by the modern times is in crisis. There is huge difference between the types of childhood that was experienced in the past years, the present childhood is greatly impacted by technology and other digital elements. Brooks, (2006) indicate that there is so much difference between the type of childhood they had and the current type of childhood in the current times, since there is so much social anxiety that describe the current form of childhood such as sexuality, nutrition, and consumerism that makes it difficult to understand the contemporary childhood. Identity has been described as the tendency to form in adolescence and early adulthood, and thus it is the abilities, abilities and dynamic organization of an individual (Marcia, 1980). The childhood crisis is mainly brought about by the aspect of digitally-connected of the children and youth. The 21st century is a period that is characterized with enormous change in terms of technology. These forms of technology have impacted the development of children in their wellbeing and identity. For instance, children found ICT as a platform where they can reduce boredom and find new friends, and this is an illustration of how their wellbeing is enhanced.

The various forms of information communication and technology can be good or bad for the identity of children (Osit, 2008). The social consequences that are associated by the large deployment of ICTs are also are large and are linked with childhood crisis. When the children are using any form of new technology the consequences that will befall the society are not envisaged initially. For instance children are likely to misuse the mobile technology and this gives rise to a form of subculture of ICT abuse among the older children. Some of the examples that can be used to demonstrate a subculture of ICT abuse among the older children include bullying by the means of messages. Another form of such abuse is proliferation, which occurs when young people are encouraged to make cruel and demeaning remarks about each other, their teachers or parents. There is a form of childhood crisis that will accrue such behavior and children are supposed to be guided by their parents to avoid subculture of ICT abuse. When the children attack one another on ICT platforms they are destroying each other’s identity. When providing communications facilities such as mobile phones and computers should be done with utmost due diligence to avoid an instance of social consequence.

The notion of ‘crisis’ has been well assessed in most of the 21st media commentary (Furedi 2001; Hardyment, 2007). There is numerous evidence that suggest childhood is in a crisis and information communication is asserted to be the root cause of the crisis. There is a common assumption that the current form of childhood is not the same as it used to be in previous years, and it this is a recipe of a catastrophe in the current society. For instance, the form of play that that was played in the last thirty years is very different from the type of plays that the current children engage in. The type of childhood plays that characterizes the children of the 21st century is the kind that is mainly relies on ICT such as video games and online games. The childhood in crisis notion is an aspect that has been used to explain the aspects of contemporary parenting practice. The manner in which parents are supposed to rear their children an era where ICT influences the development of children from an identity and wellbeing perspective.

Contextual Nature of Crisis

The crisis in childhood as presented by the various authors is either inductive or realistic. Some of the characteristics of the childhood crisis should not be a true representation of the children lives, and it should not be an indication of the crisis that children in the future generations are going to experience. So as to understand the current crisis of the contemporary children it is very important to look at the past. There has been an assertion of crisis and anxiety, and it is suggested that there is nothing new in this ideas (Cunningham, 1995). The civilization process forms a disparity between the children and adults, and this makes children to be viewed as a special state that necessitate special status. The manner in which children are treated determines the future wellbeing of the children in the future. In the past children were conceptualized as an assets of the state, and therefore children were a site of the intervention for the state. For instance, to reduce mortality rates the state ensures that mothers are educated on hygiene and how to take care of the children. The health of the children is a function that the government ensured to protect the children.

The behaviors that children engage through information communication and technology requires a comprehensive understanding of children development and behavioral psychology. The understanding should also comprise of the feedback between capabilities mediated through technologies and the antisocial behavior among the young children. The concerns that parents and child experts are challenged with the manner that they are supposed to deal with the emergent behavior that arise as a result of consumption of the ICT products. Children are ‘property’ or assets of the state as indicated previously, and therefore it is very important for the government to consider ways that will aim to protect children from the harm that can implicate the children’s behavioral aspects as a result of ICT. Information communication technology is an aspect that can influence the development of the children either physically or emotionally, therefore there should be some restrictions to protect the children from the harm of ICT.

Moral Panic and the Construction of Crisis

The cultural studies have been used to examine the power of dominant construction, and they have tried to analyze the concept of ‘crises and they have suggested explained the concept with ‘moral panic.’ The cultural studies can be used effectively to describe and explain childhood crisis. In this context exploring mutual constructions and commonly held ideas are prone to assume important mode of analysis with considerable explanatory power. The best examples that can be used to explain this phenomenon is the Geoffrey Pearson’s study Hooligans (1983). The study by Pearson indicates the history of moral panics from the mid-1800s to the 1980s. The main argument is mainly based on historical documents and contemporary representations and it is argued that for every 20 years there is a particular element of moral panic about the youth. He suggests that each moral panic is mainly based and build on the previous moral panic, and jut when the moral panic about the youth is about to come to an end another one emerges. This argument is very important to the concerns that surrounds the children’s identity and wellbeing that is perceived to be in jeopardy as a result of the development in information technology. Therefore, the idea of the childhood in crisis from this context can be asserted to be moral panic that is more of a cyclical concern rather than a new phenomenon.

Late Modernity, Risk and the Crisis of Childhood

The other aspect that can be used to comprehend the concept of childhood in crisis is from the perspective of late modern social theory. Giddens (1991) is a sociologists that explains the concept of late modernity is marked by the emergence of a new relationship between the individual and the social. When the traditions of the industrial order comes to an end significantly, this is the moment when the self-identity is perceived as a reflexive project. Individuals are able to tell their narratives of themselves and others, and the narratives are mainly concerned with who and what they want to become. Therefore, the reflexive projects of self is mainly associated with the sphere of intimacy, and this thee inception of ‘Romantic love that is mainly concerned the narrative into the life of an individual (Giddens, 19992). Therefore, this theoretical perspective can be used to explain the children crisis. This is due to the fact that a child can be perceived as a treasured emotional investment that translates to the concept of purity in relationship. Therefore, the children can be given the liberty to use freely the developments in information technology. The risk that is associated with children’s association with ICT is because the affection that the parents have towards them is enormous and they don’t want affect the wellbeing of their children.

Parenting in Late Modernity

In the late modern period, the advancement of information communication technology seems to give the parent-child relationship a unique character compared to 20 years ago. This is exemplified by the prevalence of pregnancy magazines in both print and electric media that has a combined approach to science and consumerism. This influences the modern parenting styles and distinguishes them from the traditional parenting methods. The pregnancy magazines in the contemporary modern world provide parents with contemporary insights into parenting practices such as presenting childbearing as a generative integration of science, consumerism and romanticism. According to these practices, parenting is understood as the process of re-embedding of a reconstructed form of childhood that is geared to be consistent with the dynamic social relationship as shaped by the changing social climate such as predominance use of technology is most social spheres (Hendrick, 2003).

As earlier noted, the relationship between technology and children especially as shaped by the concept if consumption is deemed to be bad news. Within the popular discourses and policy-oriented debates, parents are tainted as the targets of ‘pester power’ in their attempts to control and monitor their children while the children are portrayed as victims of consumer culture (Palmer, 2007). Nevertheless, the many cotemporary parenting materials including pregnancy magazines point to the consumption practices of parents as aligned towards an enduring and desirous affair towards deriving satisfaction from the outcomes of material production. The logic of targeting a specific niche in marketing within the postindustrial economies indicates that companies pursue a continuous search for specialization and differentiation of their unique products so as to appeal to a given demographic for purposes of survival in the highly competitive market. In this regard, the baby market is also affected by the increasing impact of consumerism as companies view the new parents and the pregnant women as a remarkable target market for target and rich opportunity for creation and marketing of products meant for the newborn children. Eventually, the tastes and preferences of the child and the parent will be shaped by the new and emerging parenting trends as promoted by instruments of information communication technology of the modern period.

According to Hardyment (2007), there is an increase in the number of parenting magazines, books and other electronic media that have been produced targeting parents since 1980s. These materials present parenting and childhood as a new concept that needs the attention of the news and the public eye. These materials are vastly promote the concept of pregnancy as the most ideal time for the parents to be pampered and indulge. The message is also related to the romantic notion that children should be taken great care of since they are a blessings and a gift from God. As such, a new child should be showered with gifts from many people including parents, friends and relatives. This is a way of illustrating commodification of pregnancy, birth and parenting using a broad range of products that promote consumerism. It is worth noting that even the early pregnancy stages have been highly commercialized as seen in the promotion off the ultrasound scanning. While traditionally this was only concerned with the medical assessment of the pregnant women, the rise of spirit of consumerism has seen many companies come out to promote the use of such machines for commercial purposes. It is therefore prudent to note that, with the changes in the consumption levels of materials inspired by information communication technology, the parenting of the young children is shaped differently from the traditional forms of parenting, thereby marking the life-long changes in the behavior of the children based on the way they use information at their disposal to construct new meaning in life.

Other than the pregnancy magazines, there is another market niche that targets both children nod their parents, giving rise to the concept of dual consumerism. This concept is evident even in some books and films such as Harry Potter series which targets children as the primary audience, while at the same time drawing the attention of the children. Capitalizing on the popularity of such films, toy manufacturers are able to produce and market their spin-off products such as dressing-up costumes, trading cards, and action figures (Trodd, 2016). Worth noting is the fact that ICT has created further opportunities for children to be adultified and made target consumers in the modern digital age. Many children are increasingly exposed to unprecedented film, television, social networking site, online games and website. According to the research published by Ofcom (2013), there is evidence that forty three percent of children aged between five and fifteen years have access to mobile phones with a record increase in the use of the tablet computer, giving the children more access to digital content. While the television remains a major avenue upon which children access digital content, the increase in the use of computers and tablets has not only exposed them to mainstream digital content, but also to the internet which is easily accessible through the computers and the tablet computer (Palmer, 2007). While it would be prudent to note that benefits that the advancement in technology brings to the children, the worrying negative effects of the culture consumerism poses major challenges around the implications of this trend.

Conceptual approaches to Children’s use of Information Communication Technology (ICT)

There is an extensive consensus of the profound impact of ICT on the lives of the young people, especially in their social relations, identity construction and wellbeing. While there is profound agreement of the potential of ICT creating far-reaching effects on the social relations, many researchers differ in the nature of these impacts. There are two areas in the area of child development that have been greatly affected by ICT in relation to children’s identity and well-being. These are identity formation and citizenship.

Identities

The concept of identity is essential in determining the extent of social changes derived from the relationship between the development of ICTs and changing nature of social relations (Atkinson and Nixon, 2005). ICTs have developed into a primary media through which the young people and the children use to learn, interact and form relationships with the others as well as how they construct the meaning of the world around them (Boase and Wellman 2004). The application of ICT in education has triggered widespread sharing of information, an attribute that differentiates the modern period from 20 years ago when learning and child play had no influence from technology (Chappell et al. 2003).

Identify is perceived differently, including as a product of discourse, relational in nature, or a dynamic process, while others have expanded on this view to include ‘action and performance’, for ‘wearing and showing, not storing and keeping’ (Merchant, 2005: 304). His notion has been reiterated by Beck and Beck-Gernsheim (2002), who assert that the social changes that have taken place in the last 30 years require the shaping of identity in a constant and lifelong process where each individual is required to shape their own identities. In this regard, ICTs have played a huge role in ultimately shaping who the children are and how they relate to each other (Merchant, 2005). In effect, there are a variety of ICT forms that have a remarkable influence in the construction of identities by the children and young people as they influence the manner in which the children construct meaning of the world around them by providing them with identity resources (Carrington and Marsh 2005).

ICTs shape identity formation through interaction; interactivity between people and between people and websites. This has led to the creation of virtual lives where the children are able to form long term relationships with people they have never met face to face, or people they have met before do not need to meet often to interact and communicate (Guldbery, 2009). This limits the physical presence as an essential aspect in the interaction process. While this aspect is viewed positively in transcending the limitation of face interaction, it has led to generation of new possibilities for children where they construct their realities and identities on the elements of seclusion and isolation while undermining the role of physical interaction and performance of identity. In this case, there is evidence to show that the role of ICTs in the formation of a virtual world is an oppressive rather a liberating aspect (Atkinson and Nixon, 2005). This is because it leads to challenging of the traditional forms of communication and interactions where the children were involved in social lives and construction of realities through practical means as opposed to simulations as seen in computer games and computer-aided learning materials (Beavis and Charles, 2005).

Citizenship

The concept of citizenship is used in this context to extent the understandings about how children use the ICTs to promote their participation in the community and derive a sense of belong. As such, ICTs shape the children’s wellbeing in no only determining how they construct their own identities, but also in modeling the possibilities of the people they connect with and how they belong in the communities and social spheres they live in.

According to minimal interpretations of citizenship, children are considered as part of the production of ‘good citizens’ and parenting styles are geared towards ensuring that children grow to become law-abiding and public-spirited adults who exercise their political involvement through voting and respect for representation. According to this approach, children are viewed a consumers who exercise their marketplace rights and ICTs play the role of enhancing their knowledge about their rights and obligations (Mellor et al. 2002).

There is a blurring line between the concept of consumption and production and the role played by ICTs in shaping the consumerism behavior of the young people. According to Willis, (2003), consumption of products is associated with a type of production. He also argues that ICTs provides the seemingly unending stream of cultural forms and symbols that shape the consumer culture and determine how the children ‘acculturate commodities into their everyday lives’ for purposes of changing their lives and shaping new perceptive (Willis 2003: 413).

In line with the role of the children as a citizen who is actively involved in social, economic and political participation, Brooks, (2006 154) posit that ‘consumer culture has offered children access to areas of adult life from which they are traditionally been excluded’. Most researchers argue that the role of children as active participants is not all good news. Cunningham, (2006) acknowledges that there is potentially inappropriate materials form the wide range of content that the children interact with due to their exposure to the many forms of ICTs. The digital world is characterized by visual media that triggers children to think themselves as adults. This implies that the sense of childhood for most of the children may be lost in the process as the children becomes identified through digital content. This concurs which the views of Postman, (1996) who argued that the advent of technology and the excessive consumption of digital material may mark the “disappearance of childhood.

Threats of Development of ICT to Children

The argument on the loss of childhood in children by Postman (1994) and Kehily (2009) view that technology poses the ‘stranger danger’ on the children through issues such as lack of freedom and bullying presents an important need to view children as a generation that needs rescuing due to their high level of vulnerability to social evils and vices through technology. Early charities, philanthropists and missionaries views children as weak, dependent and powerless victims that needed the protection and help of the adults (Montgomery, 2013). This concept can be considered by examining the works of Lord Shaftesbury who focuses on improving the lives of the children. However, Montgomery, (2013) notes that most of these charities have shifted in direction and the radical changes have seen most of them focus more on policy change as opposed to child recue. It is, nevertheless, important to note that the major motivation of ‘supporting the unsupported’ remains as there is a constant aspects of support and intervention. Other researchers also examine the impact of changing social spheres and their effects on the vulnerability of the children and concur that there is need for enhanced parental support to the children, especially at early years of their development as that is a very critical stage that influenced their transition to adulthood (Tickell, 2011). According to Tickell, (2011: 4), “high quality early years interventions provide lasting and significant long term effects on young children’s development”.

Apart from the image of the children as a vulnerable part of the population, the western world also has a discourse that views children as a threat. Children in the western world are increasingly exposed to digital content that make them a threat to themselves and others around them (BBC News, 2015). This view has its origin in the fifteenth century where children were kept occupied in factories and land to prevent them from any mischief and idleness. Children under the age of ten were kept in schools to ensure they were effectively disciplined and occupied (Cunningham, 2006). The view of children in the contemporary modern world can be explained using two main discourses; the romantic discourse and the puritan discourse. According to the romantic discourse, children as seen as innocent being that need the support of their parents to develop successfully. On the other hand, the puritan discourse views children as sinful and wicked as expressed in the Christian doctrine of the ‘Original Sin’ (Montgomery, 2013). The puritan view can be exemplified by the child murder that occurred in 1993 and captured the public attention after a two-year old was assaulted and killed by two ten-year old boys. There was a massive emotive reaction from the media and the public calling for a death penalty to be imposed as punishment to the boys. The judge of the Preston Crown Court, presiding over the matter called the crime as an ‘act of unparalleled evil and barbarity’ (Goldson and Jamieson, 2002).

Conclusion

The development of information communication technology has had major influence in shaping the identities and wellbeing of children in contemporary modern world in ways that were not experienced 20 years. Traditionally, children shaped the perception of their world based on physical interaction with others and had the guidance of their parents in shaping their identities. However, the changes in modern lifestyles has exposed children to many hours on the television, the internet and other digital devices that allows them to create virtual relationships where the control of the parents is minimal, it present at all. The digital age is associated with many positive outcomes in various social, economic and political development of the children, but it is also marred with important implications that cannot be underestimated in shaping the children’s future development. The concept of consumerism culture and development of children as active participants has had major influence on the development of children’s identities and wellbeing.