Paper Example on Effects of Children's Use of Electronics before Bedtime

Introduction

Children are curious to learn and explore electronic gadgets available at home or at institutions of learning. A perception that is passed to them by how they are handled keenly by those they live with brings in a lot of yearning to spend time on the gadgets. Inevitably, schools are upgrading with innovation in technology whereas back at home the same is taking place. Hence, children have grown a tendency to spend time on such electronic gadgets as they have a review and learn how to interact with them (Burton and Fox, 2013). However, the only ample time available to them of significance is after school where they have to attend to their further studies meant to be done at home before exploring the gadgets which consume much of their time. As a result, they experience sleep deficiency which has become a concern situation in most children which is realized after making trips to the hospital. This paper will outline a literature review on effects of using electronic gadgets on children before bedtime.

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The Significance of the Practice Problem

Use of smartphones, playing video games and watching electronic media has been observed to increase sleep deficiency in children especially during weekdays. Studies indicate that most children are having short bedtime due to the use of televisions which delay their bedtime and wake-up time in return (Dunckley, 2015). Although sleep time should be measured by the actual time one is asleep exempting time spent awake when one gets to bed, leaves a gap in the literature. Use of electronic media consumes time that a child is meant to be sleeping hence extends till time left is not enough to have quality sleep. Use of bright light in the electronic media affects the sight while the radiation emitted from such gadgets affect sleep. They inherently affect the health of a child which means attending clinical attendance. This leads to costs for the parents over gadgets that could be regulated.

Some impacts are detrimental since a child may need to use glasses that regulate light emitted from such gadgets. Thus, research shows that a child may suffer from headaches due to such lighting or muscle aches as a result of much time spent on the gadget (Ratey and Hagerman, 2008). Such electronic radiations affect sleep through creating delays before one actual sleep is activated. A clear scenario is when a child gets home and spends time playing games without much movement which will result in physical discomforts. Considerably, due to the availability of different kinds of gadgets, children tend to break the monotony of using one gadget by changing to another to a maximum of six electronic gadgets. Children tend to have emotional and behavioral problems and get detached from social activities due to spending time alone on gadgets from which they try to solve their issues.

Early introduction to gadgets to children may hamper with their growth due to reduced quality of sleep which is contributed by less time spent sleeping. It does not come to an end soon since as the children grow they interact extensively with electronic gadgets. It is important for children to grow accordingly being alleviated by problems that can be put under control by parents. Restrictions are necessary, from a study carried out on adolescents, since the adult knows better what is suitable for the child (Guernsey and Guernsey, 2012). Limiting screen time to a certain extent will prove in a great way that the children will have a healthy growth as they experience quality ample sleep in their growth life.

PICOT Question

Effects of electronic gadgets on children are paramount before bedtime especially adolescents who use smartphones. From observations and research carried out, children are not having ample time to sleep due to excessive of electronic gadgets that are available at their disposal. Most homes have a variety of such devices that are used by children and have a favorite of them all. According to a study on high school students, in most family setups, boys are found to be fond of playing play station games while girls are fond of using smartphones or listening to music (Iannini, 2014). Hence, when they are not engaged in other chores, they are having screen time that is not quantitatively regulated by their parents or guardians. In some cases, children at a very tender age are allowed to have tablets as they go to bed without the realization that it's doing more harm than good to the kids. These are carried in their bedrooms and their use extends hence taking much of their sleep time. Therefore from the study, it requires the intervention of parents to create regulations on gadgets use otherwise, studies and health of their children will be at stake creating unnecessary costs to them (Kapp, 2007).

Theoretical Framework

Many adolescents who have sleep problems tend to resolve the problem by using gadgets until they can fall asleep. Considerable time is consumed for an extended period until sleep time dwindles to only a few hours than the recommended aggregate of eight hours. Digital media as shown from findings, has had adverse effects as teenagers tend to get very engrossed to the gadgets that they cannot leave till a task open in the computer has to be completed (Kardaras, 2016). They end up staying up late in pursuit of mimicked activities which they tend to get ahead of. Psychophysiological arousal at bedtime has been evident among many schools going children who tend to turn to electronic gadget just as they go to take a rest. The time extends till time left to cater for sleeping is so much gone till they have insufficient rest. The result is an unsettled mind that cannot concentrate fully at school trying to catch a nap where possible. Hardly to parents come to the realization of the harm they could be causing until they see their children having a hard time staying up during the day. In some worse cases, class concentration becomes threatened since sleeping time was consumed while watching games, playing mimicked games which lowers their performances. Class attendances are shelved with time when the parent assumes the kid could be sick and takes them for a check according to Ratey and Hagerman (Ratey and Hagerman, 2008). The realization is that screen time is slowly depriving their children a lot more than just sleep. Their health could be at stake since they have to stay up trying to sleep since 'insomnia' developed when the use of electronic gadget became a priority.

Synthesis of the Literature

There is not enough scientific evidence to show how electronic gadgets affect periods of sleep but rather from studies, gadgets are used to replace sleep time. Sleeping problems are covered up by the use of media in most cases developed as one tries to use the latter extensively hence becomes a habit in most adolescents. In many instances, use of electronic media before sleep tends to get children to sleep fast for gadgets emitting moderate white light however for blue light devices, the light suppresses a darkness hormone making it hard to sleep. This is evident in using tablets to play games by children hence in the next day they become very drossy trying to sleep (Louv, 2013). With the rising trend on an inability to sleep immediately, for children using electronic gadgets, manufacturing companies have adopted a new way to help cope with the light illuminated from such devices.

Once children want to proceed with their electronic usage at night, they activate night which is barely becoming effective. The darkness hormone is still affected and in return, less time is dedicated to sleep. Children who have longer screen time have less sleeping time and poor quality too. The light whether deem, night node activated or bright leads to alertness that keeps one from sleeping which creates insomnia for a lengthy period of time. Watching exciting videos will activate the brain to release adrenaline hormone that pacts away falling asleep for a longer time. One still continues to pursue the enthusiasm of such videos or games till they are out of ample time to sleep.

There is an actual relationship that electronic gadget deprives children sleep through too much engagement and the mind now develops a mechanism to accommodate elongated time sleeplessness. However, where sleep strikes, children have to find a solace and their head for sometimes to get a relief from the heaviness of less and poor quality sleep (Mansbach and Cortes, 2013). This occurs during weekdays where children have to cope with both learning and accumulated sleep from too much screen time.

Practice Recommendations

Parents are entirely responsible for regulating their children's interactions with gadgets at home. Monitoring children online activities is very vital to keep the child on the right track. Discussing the content of what they actually watch helps the children stay on purposeful education. Creating time to co-use the gadgets together will help a parent note the sites they visit frequently and use technical restrictions towards the common good of the children.

Project Description

With advancement in technology, it is hard to convince that sleep quality has an effect on children while growing up. Young children may sleep due to getting tired after a long day of play. However, some children will be lethargic all day and parents will think their kids are just introverts. Bringing out a conviction about the topic was met by some hurdles but sticking to the same brought out the realization that too much screen time before bedtime is bringing more harm than good to children (Droyd, 2011). Championing on interviewing teenagers to get information on how the relationship between use of gadgets before bedtime how it affects sleep yielded by most of them responding that they have less time to sleep which affects their class concentration.

Project Evaluation Results

During summer holidays, I engaged adolescents to answer to my questionnaires online through their emails on a willingness basis. The questions involved the frequency of use of electronic gadgets, how it affected their class concentration and sleep, and how they contribute to sleep problems. Statistics show that it affected both genders although invariably due to engagement with different kind of devices.

Discussion and Implications for Nursing and Healthcare

From a nursing perspective, electronic gadgets affect the quality of sleep in children by watching before bedtime. It is clear that the blue light affects the darkness hormone that contributes to sleeping hence children tend to stay awake longer. However, it is not clear how electronic gadgets contribute to a long time before sleeping when the light remains bright. Concentration on the respective game or video is what determines a lot, hence more research in that path should be done.

Plans for Dissemination

With innovation in technology, most parents want the best for their children hence equip them all around. Having various types of gadgets is in a bid to try and keep them in line with the changes in the world. My project was presented to the nursing department heads who, despite having knowledge that too much exposure to the light from the gadget can cause related eye problems did not know that it affects children growth and quality of their sleep. Hence, the project will be included in the school monthly press print to reach a large number of people. In addition, it will be available in the class blog for anyone to access it.

Summary and Conclusion

Effects of electronic gadgets on children before bedtime can be considerably reduced when parents agree to be strict on screen time. Gadgets to be used at home by children should be regulated in use to allow children to have quality time while sleeping which will promote...