How is the Internet Affecting how Kids are Growing Up?

If you go out to a restaurant or somewhere where you have to sit for a while like a sporting event, you most likely will see a child with either a phone or some sort of tablet in their hands. Under normal circumstances, if you were to look down your street, you most likely will not see many kids playing outside. I like to see it as a sign of the times and how technology has trickled down from adults to toddlers. But the question at bay is if this is a necessarily bad or good thing?

Studies have shown that children exposed to smart devices improve hand-eye coordination, problem solving skills, and navigational skills as well. While these devices are a way to help bide a child's time, they can also be put to educational uses as a multitude of educational apps such as ABC Mouse have hit the stores. Not to mention, YouTube has become a massive central for children filled with videos on letters, numbers, words, colors, nursery rhymes, and so much more  all along with a catchy song to remember it all by. It looks to be the perfect tool to prepare a child's developmental skills, but is this depriving children of the childhood that we experienced, or is this just the new norm?

While kids may be learning, is that all they are really doing and is this trapping them inside the house for hours on end? The internet is an endless depth of information, however, as we all know, it is not all true. People everyday are exposed to false information, however kids of young ages are most at risk. In addition, kids are seen spending significantly more time inside the house in one spot on their devices. Sitting in the usual hunched over position has shown that there could be a possible extra bone growth in our neck from this improper posture. What about their eyes as well and headphone use? Is this decreasing their amount of exercise and bringing up additional health risks? Do you think early exposure of the internet to children will make them more easily persuaded? Do you think it will put kids' safety more at risk, or will it make them more aware? Would you allow your child to have a smart device, why or why not?