10 Ways Technology is Ruining Childhoods

Childhood bullying has recently become a huge societal concern. Granted, everyone got bullied growing up, but with technological advancements, today's bullying doesn't stop on the playground. Facebook is only one of the many gateways bullies have to constantly harrass their peers, and for kids, this can truely be devastating.

Thanks to social networking sites, kids these days have no idea what to say and when to say it. They constantly feel the need to update everyone on exactly what they're doing (we're looking at you, Twitter). Because they have the ability to post status updates via Facebook or photos via Instagram, the younger generation has become the generation of oversharers.

Back in the day, the most violent video games you could get your hands on were Street Fighter and Super Mario Bros. and, even then, the quality was so bad it's effect barely registered. Now, between the Xbox One and PS4, violent video games have reached a new, and very real level.

Between texting friends in class and sending late-night sexts to your high school girlfriend, kids are constantly plugged into their phones. This, of course, leads to iPosture. As New York magazine reports: "Eighty-four percent of 18-to-24-year-olds report neck and backaches in the past year. As it happens, more than 8 trillion texts were sent during that time, giving the global condition its catchy if clichéd name, first introduced by a British health-care provider." So, yeah, stop texting so much.

There are many things that technology has made obsolete. For example, why should kids need to learn proper spelling, grammar, and even simple math when their phones can do everything for them? Although technology allows kids to access information with a single touch, they forget that the basics are just as essential.

When we were kids, getting up on Saturday mornings to catch the newest episode of our favorite cartoons was a weekend ritual (Power Rangers, anyone?). However, between Netflix, Hulu, and everything on demand now, kids can't deal with waiting for anything. They need access to the newest shows at a moment's notice, and if they don't get it, there's probably going to be hell to pay.

We've all seen it: a family having dinner at a restaurant and little Johnny and Molly are sitting on their tablets watching some nonsense. Kids today are so engulfed in tablets that they can't handle one dinner without it. Do better, parents.

There's something wrong when a kid is glued to Netflix watching Breaking Bad. Streaming sites have given way to such an extensive amount of readily available entertainment that kids don't stay kids for very long. Rather than watching cartoons, they watch dramas that are probably inappropriate. No 12 year old should be subjected to Lena Dunham's naked body. That's just cruel.

Kids these days are glued to their couches making "friends" on Facebook. They are slowly but surely losing the ability to connect with people face-to-face. The biggest problem with this form of communication results in kids becoming socially awkward, which most tend to be now. Someone needs to sit them down and tell them that Facebook is not real life. We repeat: FACEBOOK IS NOT REAL LIFE.

It's pretty hard for a kid to keep a bit of innocence when they're constantly seeing ads for erectile dysfunction. Young boys and girls that are "plugged-in" grow up far quicker than earlier generations. Gen-X, and maybe even Gen-Y, had to make do with old issues of Playboys.