Ethics

Computers, the internet and other associated technologies have a profound impact on children lives. Nowadays, computers and other related technologies have become tremendously common, with almost every child accessing one. In the course of this excessive use, children normally become closely associated with computers, utilizing them at school, at home, at childcare centres plus any other setting. The conventional approaches of learning have greatly transformed, as computers and related technologies, such as the internet have taken a great position in childhood development. Several individuals wonder whether this technology is a dreadful or good thing. As computers take a greater and greater position in the childrens lives, its essential, vital and significant to ask the consequences they are having. The purpose of this paper is to explore the social or ethical impacts of computers on children and to provide a way of investigating this empirically.

Recent researches have indicated that computers encompass a weighty impact on numerous crucial matters of a childs existence entertainment, health, education and early social relationship. The result of the existing connection between computers and children lies between 2 edges either detrimental or valuable. With no proper and appropriate supervision, children might suffer psychological, physical and social consequences from extensive, unmonitored and prolonged use of computers. Yet with appropriate monitoring or supervision, parents can provide instrumental guide to their childrens knowledge with computers, greatly negating the injurious, harmful or detrimental impacts. Therefore, its imperative for teachers, parents and other individuals who handle childrens issues on daily basis to ensure that children get the beneficial and not detrimental knowledge from computers and correlated technologies, such as internet.

Education
On education, there a number of outstanding software programs available to assist children learn. Ranging from educational games to other programs designed for children learning. These programs assist children to enhance skills in several dissimilar crucial areas, comprising mathematics, typing, vocabulary, history and many more. These computer programs ensure faster as well as easier learning than several other conventional ways, such as oral lectures or use of textbooks. Computers as well have transformed the way children are taught at school. Today, children are given extra assignments and homework online. In lots of computerized classes, children are able to access homepages to inquire something or receive responds from either teachers or friends.

Other computer related technologies, such as internet offers children with an innumerable resources apart from textbooks and other sources. Setzer (2006 1) found that children who used the internet and computer during childhood perform better in academic work than those who never had such experience. Computer literacy is more and more becoming a significant skill, since nearly every school in all industrialized plus some third world nations has computers. The computer literacy will as well be essential in later stages of childrens lives, as computers now play a great function in todays world. However, adversaries of computer utilization in kindergarten or elementary schools support the idea that children who extensively utilize computers spend much of their time on less educational rewarding activities, such as playing games. This notion is unfamiliar to many people, as lacks significant empirical evidence. Contrary to adversaries notion, children who extensively use computer in classroom demonstrate a better understanding of whatever learnt than those with no computer experience.

Entertainment
Entertainment is another critical issue in childrens lives many computer games are designed to assist children learn math, language, logical thinking and a lot of other skills. A well designed computer game can be used as an alternative to general teaching approaches, such as lectures as well as textbooks. A number of studies have shown that children have a greater interest in playing games than studying. Thus, when games contain both educational and entertaining contents, children never observe it as work and end up having fun and acquiring educative information as well. What is more, computer games provide an actual brain workout for children. In scores of video games, the ability needed to triumph involves high level and abstract thinking. Most of these skills are never taught in the classroom. Various mental skills children learn through video games comprise

Logic and problem solving
Spatial, hand-eye coordination and fine motor skills
Following instructions
That said, computer entertainment through games introduce children to online world. It should be recognized that children are now living in sophisticated, high-tech world. Computer games help children be comfortable and adapt to computing concepts. This is especially imperative for children of female sex who depict less interest in issues to do with high technology. Additionally, computer games escalate kids level of self-esteem and self-confidence, as they are able to master games. In numerous games, difficulty stages are adjustable. As beginners, children normally start at the easy stage and through persistent practicing plus slowly developing skills, they become confident in dealing with more tricky challenges. Since the failure cost in computer games is always very low, children do not fear giving it a try. Children take extra risks in the games and explore novel approaches of winning. By so doing, they can reflect the same attitude to actual life. Further, games with various players allow children to work together to achieve set goals. In such games, a child is able to appreciate ideas from others and can formulate plans together with distribution of tasks on the basis of skills.

Conversely, researches indicate that children who play violent computer video games are likely to encompass increased feelings, aggressive thoughts and antisocial behaviour. The impact of violent video games in children is worsened by the interactive nature of games. In several computer video games, children are often rewarded for being violent. The acts of brutality or violence are repeatedly done. Therefore, the repetition, reward offered and active participation become exacerbating tools for learning violent and antisocial behaviours. In fact, numerous researches appear to show that violent computer video games may be linked to antisocial behaviours, such as aggression and impulsive in children. However, evidence to these studies is never consistent, thus the discourse still remains unsettled.

Social and Psychological Development
Recent researches have shown that computer use benefit children in both social and cognitive development. Though, one of the worries concerning computer use has been that children can develop antisocial behaviours by isolating themselves from their peers, thereby negatively affecting their social development.  On the contrary, due to inadequate computer resources, some educators frequently put children in groups while using computers. Working in groups or with a partner has been applauded by a number of credible researchers in the world, as this proximity motivates children to share views concerning their work. Moreover, open ended computer programs frequently precipitate discussion. For instance, children are able to socialize more than 9 times by use of open ended computer programs than when puzzling. This is an elevated level of socialization is an optimistic indicator and may signal that children have the ability to discuss a problem at hand and discover a probable solution. Childrens relations while using computer may comprise an array of social skills, including cooperative learning, conflict resolution and problem solving strategies. When working together in group, they are more likely to inquire from each other than demanding for assistance from an adult person.

Correspondingly, the internet and computers have revolutionized communication approaches, providing tools to allow children communicate online. Web applications like AIM, E-mail, Myspace and facebook are well recognized and extensively used by children.  Whether the internet is for maintaining old friends or making novel friends, children have found a new and modern way of social interaction. With an ability for children to communicate to someone around the world in just a moment, computers and related technologies, such as the internet get rid of several geographical barriers, thus allowing children to maintain and make new friends all over the world. Besides, the internet offers children with a channel through which they share notions and express their creativity. Through world wide sites, such as Facebook, Myspace and even YouTube, children have an opportunity to share their views, experiences and demonstrate their artistic creativity with the entire world.

Though the internet and other computer technologies offer a number of opportunities for childrens social and psychological development, they do expose children to potentially adult or negative contents. Thus, computers and other related technologies are double-edged sword, as they not only offer substantial gains to children, such as socialization, research access and communication outlet to the families, but connate harmful aspects, such as hate sites,  commercialism, pornography, isolation, violence and predator as well. The websites considered harmful to childrens social and cognitive development comprise those devoted to unconstructive contents, such as online gambling, violent online computer games, pornography and so forth. For instance, several children are able to access pornographic movies online. Children can as well be fortuitously exposed to various obscene crop-up adverts and extensive pornographic materials just by innocently typing key words, such as Madonna, Britney Spears or Christina Aguilera into a search engine.

Health
A kid can make about four thousand eye movement in sixty minutes while playing computer video games. Often they have complexity tracking the eye movement in vertical, oblique and horizontal directions. Staring at computer screen and playing computer games for less than twenty minutes result in visual system of an individual becoming locked into focus just at the computers screen distance and becomes blurry. The blinking action of the eyes is lessened when children spend much time staring on the computer screen. Typically, blinking takes place after every fifteen minutes and is the only natural way of eyes lubrication. Children of about eight years put on contact lenses and lessened blinking process causes eyes dry out and this stimulates irritation. Lessened blinking as well leads to redness of the eyes with or with no contact lenses.

Monotonous motion from using the mouse and typing by use of computer keyboard can result in carpal tunnel syndrome. Uncomfortable sitting postures cause back and neck troubles in both children and adults. These problems may perhaps impede a childs performance in school, sleep and this discomfort may lead to pessimistic attitudes. Children often complain of hand pains, induced by playing computer games each and every day. Steady reiteration of similar moves may sometime aggravate joint damages and irritation of skin. Also, various computer games can provoke or induce epilepsy. That aside, children addicted to computer and computer games frequently consume junk foods with high levels of calories and fats. Combined with inadequate physical exercise, this becomes a major contributing factor to the increase in obese children. Obesity leads to the rise of risk conditions, such as hypertension, coronary artery disease and diabetes.

Development of attention in an individual normally takes a course of several years and occurs in 3 stages. For this to happen, the brain ought to practice arrange of activities which sharpen attention skills. Computers frequently clash with these brain activities which are required for an individual to develop the capability of paying attention. The very first stage of attention development takes place at the age of seven. At this age, children learn to be selective attentive. Computers present a risk at this stage of attention development, as they catalyze multiple senses at the same time. When exposed to extensive computer used, children never have an opportunity of developing the capability of paying attention to a sole activity.

The second attention development stage takes place at ages of between seven and nine years. This is particularly a crucial stage because is when an individuals brain response organization develops. Brain response organization allows a child to formulate a logical plan and implement it in an effectual and organized manner. However, various computer programs never permit children to realize this development. The steps to come up with plans and to organize in a rationale manner are always mapped out by computer, thus impeding the development of response organization in children. Though there only a few computer programs that permit this development, majority lack such opportunities. The third and final stage of attention development is unremitting attention or the capability of an individual to stay alert for a certain period of time and normally takes place from 11 years onwards. This stage is essential for children and teens, as they keep on grooming their aptitude to concentrate for a substantial period of time. Again, extensive used of computers by children infringes on their brains opportunity to achieve this critical, crucial and significant skill.

Empirical Investigation of the Topic
This topic can be investigated empirically in a number of ways, including administration of questionnaires and interviewing of research subjects. For instance, when investigating the probable link between computer games, violence, gambling and crime among children. A quantitative research can be carried out by using interviews or questionnaires to a specified number of children and parents. Factors such as the research area, sex and sample size ought to be clearly defined for accurate results. A self report questionnaire can also be administered to children and their parents with various questions regarding computer game playing, gambling and violence. After collecting this information, a correct statistical data analysis method can be identified and employed for quantitative analysis of the information acquired.

Conclusion
In spite of these limitations, technology utilization has a great potential to improve individuals lives. The availability of wealth information makes the internet indispensable source of education. Computers are now playing a pivotal role in the current society, thereby escalating the significance of teaching children this invaluable literacy. Educators, parents and other people who deal with children encompass the power to monitor and shape the contents children obtain from computers or computer technologies. The harmful consequences related with computer utilization can be greatly eradicated by appropriate and proper monitoring of computer use in children. Therefore, its quite essential that parents, teachers and other responsible adults to ensure that children acquire the much needed computer education and also to offer guidance with regards to the use of computers.