Ahh, the tech tantrum. Chances are you’ve expe­ri­enced the angry, sad, frus­trat­ed, out­ra­geous out­burst that some­times occurs when you try to take the iPhone or iPad away from your chil­dren. If they over­re­act at that moment, what does that mean for their over­all emo­tion­al health?

We’ve already looked at how tech­nol­o­gy changes the way chil­dren pay atten­tion and think and the impacts of tech­nol­o­gy on children’s self-esteem. Now let’s exam­ine how tech­nol­o­gy influ­ences your children’s emo­tion­al devel­op­ment. This quick guide looks at the pros and cons and what par­ents need to keep in mind.

Children and Technology: Impacts on Emotions

How does tech­nol­o­gy influ­ence your children’s emo­tion­al well-being?

Pros:

• Some tech con­tent teach­es chil­dren to iden­ti­fy and man­age their emo­tions. Videos in kids apps like Jel­lies pro­vide addi­tion­al sto­ries and con­text to help chil­dren under­stand and deal with their feelings.

Cons:

• The most effec­tive way to pro­mote healthy emo­tion­al devel­op­ment in chil­dren is through face-to-face inter­ac­tions with par­ents, fam­i­ly, and friends. Exces­sive tech­nol­o­gy use can get in the way of devel­op­ing those relationships.
• Tech­nol­o­gy is not a good tool for teach­ing chil­dren to deal with their emo­tions in the moment. All too often par­ents use tech­nol­o­gy to dis­tract or calm chil­dren. This often leads to more emo­tion­al and behav­ioral prob­lems.

What Parents Need to Know About Children and Technology

The impact tech­nol­o­gy has on your children’s emo­tion­al devel­op­ment depends on how it’s used. Tech­nol­o­gy can play a pow­er­ful sup­port­ive role in teach­ing chil­dren about their emo­tions when paired with trust­ing and patient human inter­ac­tion. And, like any­thing, it can become a detri­ment to emo­tion­al growth if used improperly.

Be wary of using your iPhone or tablet to as your family’s go-to sooth­ing device. Chil­dren who turn to a smart­phone or tablet to deal with bore­dom or a tem­per tantrum don’t get the oppor­tu­ni­ty to learn self-reg­u­la­tion or process tough emo­tions in a healthy way. Instead, they’re taught to become over-reliant on the device for deal­ing with unpleas­ant emotions.

Head on over to the Jel­lies blog for more resources about chil­dren and tech­nol­o­gy. We tack­le pop­u­lar tech par­ent­ing top­ics like The Trou­ble With Kids Video Apps and your Child’s Screen Time: Every­thing You Need to Know.