Chapter 1

The Problem

Background of the Study

Technology is constantly evolving, it changes the way people live and plays a

vital role in the society in terms of communication, education and etc. Gadgets have

been a part of the current generation where people are more technology oriented

especially the younger ones. Children nowadays or those can be referred to as

Generation Z, children who are born during the digital world and can also be

described As Digital Natives members in this generation are more tech savvy (Zain et

al. 2022). Some authors said that the people who are born in this generation could not

live without gadgets. Although gadgets has its contribution in breaking geographical

barriers and making information accessible, and helps in terms in communicating and

on the education system, however, technology has its own negative records as well.

The existence of gadgets is like two sides of a coin. On one side, it brings benefits to

our life, but on the other side, it facilitates negative behavior impacts to its users

(Ariani, 2017).

According to the study of Al-Ayouby’s (2017) about the effects of gadget use

on early childhood, the negative and positive effects of gadgets and the internet in

forming the character of early childhood depend on the supervision and direction of

parents and other people around the children on what is good for children at an early

age. However, the negative impact is in full concern because the application of

character education is disrupted when children pay more attention to the gadgets used

and they choose to ignore the utterances of parents while they are using gadgets.

Parents plays a very important role in influencing and controlling the children to the

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usage of these gadgets. According to the study by Teng (2022) of the 60 parents

interviewed, only 30 percent had rules on how much” computer time” their children

were allowed. The remaining gave their children free rein to use devices of any kind.

In the past, parents allowed their children to use computers only when they were

older. Now, the children are given all sorts of gadgets at a younger age (Karuppiah,

2015). Some of 85 percent of the parents felt their children benefited from using the

gadgets, as they saw them becoming more IT-savvy (Teng, 2022). However, parents

are still not aware of the risks involved in the misuse and excessive use of this

devices.

The whole idea of children using electronic gadgets to keep them occupied or

parents giving them these gadgets to keep them entertained and occupied was always

a secondary thought. Children use to be forced by their parents to engage in outdoor

activities and watching television was the next best option. But these days parents

themselves are very involved with the gadgets like iPod, smartphone, notebook, etc.

that they have and their children are also consumers of these gadgets. Parents seem to

approve their child using these gadgets and to an extent believe that is can have a

positive influence on their child (Xavier, 2015). Parents allow their children to use

gadgets at an early age in such various reasons and purposes some of this is to lure

their kids to stay indoors, for fear of some possible risks outside or to control their

children, also for education purposes to enhance their learning skills and many more.

However parents forget about the responsibility to weigh the good and bad effects of

giving gadgets to their children as it can be harmful or beneficial for their children.

Parents do not fully understand the negative effects of using such devices and many

parents do not teach their children how to use gadgets properly. Therefore, if the

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children are left without the supervision of any adults they tend to self-neglect,

causing unwanted consequences to their vision and health (Chiu, 2014).

Children who are using gadgets are rapidly increasing from time to time. In

2013 Daily mail reported that 29% of the toddlers can easily use the gadgets and

remaining 70% are master by primary school age. According to the USA Centers for

Disease Control and Prevention, an average child spends about 8 hours a day

watching electronic screens. However too much exposure on these gadgets increases

the risk to the children of having a health and mental problem such as increase the risk

of anxiety, child depression, problematic child behavior and attention deficit disorder

(ADHD). This will lead to one person become restless, twitchy, can’t concentrate and

easily get distracted and thus influence behavior towards performance at school and at

home. Too much letting their children to engage in these gadgets eats away the family

bond time and affect the relationship between parents and child. Health risks such as

poor sitting postures and children straining their eyes by sitting in front of and staring

at electronic screens for too long. There are also social and emotional risks lie gaming

addiction and cyber-bullying, which could lead to serious consequences. Children

could pick up negative habits like being violent, or face problems in socializing with

peers.

“Some children said they skip their meals or eat faster so that they can finish

their game, and go on to the next level. These problems worsen later on in the primary

schooling years, but such habits may be formed when they’re younger. So we need no

trace back to see where they start” (Kuruppiah, 2015). Therefore, many researcher

studied that children nowadays spend their time on different gadgets like cellphones,

XBOX, TV, and stereo system with different purposes some are to learn by the use of

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educational games but children are more likely to play games, watch entertaining

videos, and browse the internet. (Sundus, 2018). Kids nowadays spend their free time

using gadgets instead of interacting actively and physically with their friends outdoor

that affects their social skills. The excessive use of gadgets impact on children’s

health and child’s development, from development delays to behavior problems

includes their cognitive, physical, social, emotional, and language development.

The researchers aims to conduct an extensive study with regard to the impact

of utilizing gadgets of the parents since in our current era, people are highly

dependent to technology since technology had been a lot of help in education and

that’s also the reason of some parents why they are letting their kids to use gadgets at

a young age. The researchers will provide solutions for the possible problems and

challenges that the children might encounter in over using gadgets at their young age.

Moreover, this study might contribute worthwhile to the society and various factors of

life especially to the parents. A lot of research has been done on this type of

phenomena; this paper will study on the positive and negative impacts of letting the

children expose to gadgets at an early age.

Statement of the Problem

This research aim to study about the effects of using gadgets of children at an

early age on the different aspects of the lives of the kids in the perspective of their

parents.

Specifically it aims to answer the following questions:

1. What are the effects of the gadgets on the child’s health?

2. How does the gadgets use affect their child’s development?

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3. Why do parents expose their kids in gadgets at an early age?

4. What can be proposed based on the findings of the study?

Scope and Delimitation of the Study

The main purpose and the general aim of the study is to determine the effects

of using gadgets in children aging 3-5 yrs. old, this will dictate whether gadgets are

beneficial for them or not.

This study primarily distinguishes the aspects that affects preschooler’s

behavior, traits, health and communication skills, in many other studies this research

will also guides and inform parents that gadgets is not always bad for a child, a proper

use of gadgets helps them promote an enhanced learning experience, help them

enhance their skills, and allow them to explore their topics of interest. As parents, it is

important to make themselves to be aware of the advantages and disadvantages of

electronic gadgets, and ways to manage gadget to use to benefit your child’s lifestyle.

In the mentioned study a group of fifteen (15) parents in Donsol, Sorsogon

would be an optimal reportage in the span of this studies. This research will preside

over with narrow financial and intervals.

Significance of the Study

This study focuses on explaining the effects of using gadgets on children.

Specifically, this research will benefit the following:

To the children, the results of study will serve as a guide on the children to

use the gadgets properly and to early the possible impact of gadgets on them

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To the parents, the results give awareness to the parents on the effects of

exposing their child on gadgets at an early age since the parents should be the one

who will control and discipline their children. Moreover, it will help the parents on

their parenting styles on their children.

To the teachers, the result may give deeper knowledge about the impact of

gadgets in academic performance of the children and teach them a proper way to

utilize gadgets.

To the students, the results may serve as advance knowledge, which can help

them for future use since these students will also build family, so this research will

give deeper understanding, for them to be aware and avoid possible negative effects

of exposing the children on gadgets at an early age.

To the society, the results may serve as an eye opener to the people who are

born in this generation to spread awareness of the impacts of gadgets in children.

To the future researcher, the results may serve as a help to the future

researcher for additional information and deeper knowledge about the effects of

gadgets on the children's lives.

Definition of terms

Cognitive. It refers to being conscious on mental activities (as thinking, reasoning,

remembering, imagining, learning words, and using language). In this study, it is a

part of child development that is about the process of acquiring knowledge and

understanding or the critical thinking and the state of mental health of children.

Child Development. It involves the biological, psychological, and emotional changes

that occur in human beings between birth and the conclusion of adolescence. In this
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research this determines the process or stages that the children adopt or develop while

growing up.

Gadgets. This reefers to an often small mechanical or electronical devices with a

practical use but often thought of as a novelty. In this study, gadgets refer to

cellphones, tablets and laptops which are used by the toddlers.

Technology. It is the application of scientific knowledge to the practical aims of

human life or, as it is sometimes phrased, to the change and manipulation of the

human environment. In this study technology covers the type of technology or the

gadgets which is the main focus that the children used in this research.

Preschoolers. It refers to young children usually between three and five years old or

in the primary school age. In this research this are the young children where the

researcher will focus on conducting the study.

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References

Al-Ayouby, M.H. (2017). Dampak penggunan gadget pada anak usia dini (Studi di

Paud dan TK Handayani Bandar Lampung). (Skripsi).

Universitas Lampung, Bandar Lampung. Retrieved

from https://doi.org/10.31949/educatio.v7i3.1379

Ariani, A. (2017). Effects of Playing with Gadgets on Elementary School Children in

Urban and Rural Environment. Retrieved from

https://doi.10.2991/hsic-17.2017.5

Colino, S. (1847) Retrieved from

https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/toddlers.

Fielding, H.W. (1847). Retrieved from https://www.britannica.com/technology.com

Karuppiah, N. (2015). Computer habits and behaviours among young children in

Singapore. Retrieved from

https://doi.org/10.1080/03004430.2014.930451

Solow, O.R. (1987). Retrieved from

https://www.britannica.com/technology/technology

Sundus, M. (2017). The Impact of using Gadgets on children. J Depress Anxiety

6:296. Retrieved from

https://wwwlongdom.org/open-access/the-impact- of-

using-gadgets-on-children-31330.html

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Xavier, S. (2015). Effects of Electronic Gadgets on the Children: Mothers’

Perspective. Retrieved from

https://www.academia.edu/2860566/Effects_of_Electro

nic_Gadgets_on_the_Children_Mothers_Perspective

Yee, H.K., Seok, C.B., Hashmi, S.I., Teng, T.L., Indran, R. (2016). WHY GADGETS

USAGE AMONG PRESCHOOLERS SHOULD

MATTER TO TEACHERS? A PILOT STUDY.

Retrieved from

https://www.research.net/publication/30511847

Zain, Z.M., Jamani, F.N., Hadirah, N.F., Hurudin, S.M. (2022). Gadgets and Their

Impact on Child Development. Retrieved from

https://studymoose.com/the-impact- of-using-gadgets-

on-children-essay

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Chapter II
Review Related Literature & Studies

Review of Related Literature

In recent years, the use of gadgets among children aged 3-5 years old has

become increasingly prevalent. While these devices can provide a variety of benefits,

such as educational opportunities and entertainment, concerns have been raised about

the potential negative effects on these to the children’s development.

This section contains readings and literature from different sources such as

books, newspaper, journals, websites, articles, theses and dissertations related to the

study. It starts with the definition and determinants of gadgets and next are the review

of related literature which discusses the effects of these gadgets on the children. This

literature review examines the existing research on the use of gadgets by young

children, exploring the effects on cognitive, social, physical, mental and emotional

development as well as to their health. By examining the current state of knowledge

on this topic, this review aims to contribute to the ongoing discussion of appropriate

gadget use among young children.

Pandit et al. (2022) define gadgets as the portable devices like mobile phones,

MP3 players and gaming consoles or any other wireless-enabled devices. While

Utami (2022) define gadget is a telecommunications medium that has a small form

that is easy to carry and is widely used today and that gadgets are able to influence

humans both terms of mindset and behavior. Likewise, according to Setiani (2020)

gadget is a term in English which defines a small electronic device with various

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function. Gadgets are form of sophisticated technology that is easily available and that

gadgets have minimalist and practical design so they are easy to carry anywhere

(Novitasari, 2016).

According to Nahar et al. (2018), children in Malaysia spend 19 hours a `week

in gadgets, which is abnormal for children without commitments such as working

from home. In Korea, as explained by Joo & Sang (2013), most of the Korean people

use gadgets because of the features provided by the developers, and they feel that the

applications in the gadgets suits their needs. Sari (2020) stated that gadget make

children more easily gain to information and where children can play games, watch

videos to entertain themselves.

Children at the age of 5-6 child’s mind is so tender that they absorb everything

around them that’s why they can easily adopt the use of these electronic devices to

their lives (Xavier, 2015). However, Setiani (2020) conveyed that the use of gadgets

has both positive and negative impacts. Excessive use of gadgets has a various impact

on the children, it’s either it can be positive or negative effect. In terms of ‘parents

role’ in influencing the main problem was parents themselves were using these

gadgets too often in front of their child because at the age of 5 or 6 child’s mind is so

tender that they absorb everything around very likely to imitate their parents (Sundus,

2017).

Active Healthy Kids Canada reported in 2014 that children 3-5 years old

spend an average of 2 hours per day in front of screens. Only 15% of preschoolers

met current Canadian Sedentary Behavior Guidelines for the Early Years, which

recommend limiting screen time to less than 1 hour per day. In the USA, rates of

mobile use among 2-to 4 year olds increased from 39% to 80% between 2011 and

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2013. On 2012 study found that the average child between 8 months and 8 years of

age is exposed to nearly 4 hours of background TV on a typical day (Paediatric &

Child Health, 2017). On study by Chen & Stempel (2018) found that between 1997

and 2014, screen time doubled among children aged 0 to 2 years and that, both before

and after the advent of mobile devices, young children’s television time increased

tremendously. Moreover, it suggest that future researcher should examine the

association between screen time and other Child Development Supplement measures.

Pandit (2022) expressed that too much use of gadgets may negatively affect a

child’s mind on its functioning, and may even cause attention deficit, cognitive

delays, impaired in gaining knowledge of, multiplied impulsivity, and reduced

potential self-regulation. In agreement with Sundus (2017) he said that it can lead to

attention deficits, anxiety, and childhood depression. But, Andriani (2022) explained

that when children play games available in the device, the child’s brain will think and

process information and continue analyze. Moreover, children can also learn new

knowledge from their learning of various pictures, writing, and colors. Games can

also train their mentality and attitude towards competition as they will be familiar

with the terms win and lose when playing games, introducing them to difficulties and

effort, children are expected to be more enthusiast about getting the desired result

through their effort.

As technology advances, the use of electronic gadgets by children is becoming

a more important research topic, as some parents are very open with their children

regarding the usage of gadgets. There are some benefits of gadget usage among

children since technically it can improve their education because there is infinite

information at their fingertips (Chiu, 2014). Interactive ‘learn-to-read’ apps and e-

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books on the gadget can build early literacy by providing practice with letters, phonics

and word recognition. Screens may help with language learning when quality content

is co-viewed and discussed with parents, preschoolers can learn best in expressive and

vocabulary terms (Paediatric & Child Health, 2017).

A study conducted by Paedriatric & Child Health (2017) discussed about the

potential benefits and risks of screen media on development of the children including

psychosocial and physical health of the children. It reported that beginning at about 2

years, quality TV- well-designed, age-appropriate programs with specific educational

goals can provide an additional route to early language and literacy for children. Early

evidence suggests that interactive media, specifically applications that involve

contingent responses from an adult (i.e., timely reactions to what a child says or does),

as it can help children retain taught information. This responsiveness, when coupled

with age-appropriate content, timing and intensity of action, can teach new words to

24-month-olds. There is early evidence that interactive ‘learn-to-read’ apps and e-

books can build early literacy by providing practice with letters, phonics and word

recognition and that children learn best (i.e., in expressive and vocabulary terms). It

states that digital media use enhances social and language skills for all children.

In contrast with the study by Suhana (2017) which focused on the usage of

gadget which use the internet users to find out the percentage of children in Indonesia

that are using gadgets and as a result it found that 98% of children and adolescents in

Indonesia know about internet and 79.5% among them are internet users. Since

children are frequently use technology often ignore their surrounding environment

and they prefer playing gadgets than playing with peers. So that social communication

with children is increasingly reduced. Suhana (2017) added that when children are too

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occupied with gadgets, they have a limited vocabulary: hence, it may lead to

stuttering because they did not practice speaking in real life with actual people.

Base on the study conducted by Kabali et al. (2015) cross-sectional study of

350 children aged 6 months to 4 years seen October to November 2014 at pediatric

clinic found that almost all children (96.6%) used mobile devices when doing house

chores, to keep them calm and at bedtime while at age of 2 most children used a

device daily and spent comparable screen time on television and mobile devices.

However, they said that children aged 6 months to 4 years who had high levels of

screen time had lower levels of expressive language development compared to those

with low screen time that’s why they conveyed that studies urgently needed to update

recommendations for families and providers on the use of mobile media by young

children.

Similarly, a study by Schmidt et al. (2017) found that excessive gadget use

among preschoolers was associated with poorer social skills and greater hyperactivity.

Another study by Madigan et al. (2019) showed that higher levels of screen time at

age 2 were associated with poorer developmental outcomes at age 3, including lower

language, cognitive, and motor skills. In addition, Sundus (2017) made a discussion

about the negative impact of these gadgets on children, it can cause speech or

language delay. The study found that the more time children between the ages of six

(6) months and two (2) years old spent using handled screens such as smart phones,

tablets and electronic games, the more likely the children to experience speech delays.

In 2015 study by Trinika et al. on 166 children in Kindergarten at school in

Pontianak City, it was found that there was an effect of using gadgets on the

psychosocial development of preschoolers (3-6) years old, where it was found that

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children preferred to play with gadgets compared to playing outside with their peers.

Specifically, this study found that preschoolers use gadgets for about half to 5 hours

per day. However this study only assessed psychosocial development without other

developmental domains. Based on this background the researcher considered it is

important to conduct research on the overview of gadget utilization and its effect on

growth and development, including gross motor, fine motor, language speech, and

personal social domain in preschool children.

The prolonged mobile gadget usage can limit the physical activity of the

children to play so that they lack of the stimulus to develop their motoric and social

skills. Moreover, emotional challenges faced by preschoolers include accepting self-

direction limitations, restraining aggressive attitudes and sexual impulses, and also

developing interactions with adults and peers. In addition prolonged mobile gadget

usage can interfere the children’s development to learn to accept the limitations of

self-direction and also limit their interaction with peers. According to theory, raging

behavior can be triggered by several things, including excessive anxiety, fear, fatigue,

inconsistent expectations or physical discomfort. Playing gadget for one hour can

cause fatigue and physical discomfort. In addition, parents who are inconsistent in

setting the limits on using gadgets can make children’s expectations unfulfilled and

trigger raging behavior (Ayu et al. 2021).

In the contrary of the study of Andriani (2022) gadgets have positive impact

on children’s growth and development. Gadgets can be used as a physical skill

training tool for fine motor skills (small muscles such as wrists, fingers, feet, lops and

tongue) at an early age. He proved that as early childhood plays on smartphones or

other gadgets, they will learn to coordinate finger movements and use their hands

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more quickly and efficiently. Information processing memory abilities, simple

reasoning, and communication of children can also develop through gadgets.

Ayu et al. (2020) studied about the mobile usage and the deviation from ideal

mental health status of preschoolers in Bandung Wetan District. Based on his study he

found out that most of the children used the gadget more than an hour a day and that

children under than 6 years old may use gadgets as long as it does not interfere with

their sleep time, physical activity, and other habits that are important for their health.

Ayu et al. suggests that parents should create time together where children are free

from gadgets. He also suggests to follow the AAP recommendation to parents to

avoid mobile gadget usage for children under 18 months of age.

Another study mentioned that when children are preoccupied with gadgets are

likely to have Emotional disorder such as being aggressive like when they are playing

gadgets in predetermined time, when the time is over then they will ask additional

which is sign of addiction and that children with their power will hit, become

aggressive or cry. Emotional disorder is a result of children are exposed to violence

display in their gadgets since many video games now display murder, raping, torture

and violence content. (Suhana, 2017).

As stated by Arani (2017) the trend of early use of gadgets of the children may

contribute to their negative behavior. These has eventually affects the academic

performance of young children. As specified by Sundus (2017) the excessive use of

gadgets can have a negative impact on character of the children since children use

gadgets and use internet to see adult content rather to search for educational websites

which leads to bad impact on their character, they forgot moral values and they

become mentally advanced beyond their age. Tantrums are the most common form of

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aggressiveness among toddlers. As they grow older, children who are depend on

computer games are most likely to confront and disobey their elders. ‘So as early as

nowadays, in preference to on tablets to quit down little dynamo, opt for coloring

books or balls. Take rate of your child nowadays and know more about their

behavioral adjustment” (Pandit, 2022).

Another study conducted by Siregar & Nurhafizah (2022) founded that the use

of gadgets caused inhabitation of emotional development of children aged 5-6 years

old in Khairunnisa kindergarten in Lubuk Sikaping district, Pasaman regency. Their

study showed that the influence of gadget use on the emotional development of

children aged 5-6 years old in Khairunnisa kindergarten had percentage of 72.2%.

They also said that it influence the children in their self-awareness, responsibility,

prosocial behavior, and duration of gadget use. The indicators suggest that parents

need to supervise the children more regarding their use of gadget use since

specifically more than 2 hours of use of these gadgets per day cause some aspect of

children’s emotional development to be hampered incorrectly.

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Review of Related Studies

This section contains studies from different resources such as peer-reviewed

journals, unpublished theses and dissertations, government reports and others to dig

up some information that can be helpful to our study and could provide deeper

knowledge to the readers.

Abdul (2013) stated that children as young as one year old are being

surrounded by gadgets that become their incentive to behave well in public. Parents

are introducing their children to gadgets, and because as young children that are full

of curiosity, as time goes by, they get addicted by gadgets. In agreement with

Ardiyani et al. (2021) stated that inappropriate and excessive use of gadgets can cause

addiction and interfere with physical, psychological, and emotional health, increase

social isolation, and negatively affect development on the children. Moreover, those

who always spend their time on gadgets suffer from a lack of sleep, escapism, mood

disorders, aggression, and physical injuries. Commonly, and knowledge effects.

“Therefore, the resulting impact will be greatly influenced by the role of parents,

family and the environment” (Jap et al. 2013).

According to Zain (2022) the excessive usage of gadgets could affect the way

children learn, write, and read, depending on their cognitive skills. When children are

occupied with gadgets, they are reluctant to learn and to understand basic knowledge

in school, which in turn can affects their cognitive skills (Zain, 2022). On the

contrary of the study by Yee et al (2016) found that usage of gadgets assist

preschoolers on learning. it simultaneously encouraging preschoolers to be up to date

with technology. They also found that gadgets improve children’s social skills.

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Another study conducted by Sowmya & Manjuvani (2019) found that the

usage of electronic gadgets by preschool children and its influence on their language

development resulted that children among 7 test (include following directions,

proposition, name/use of the object, action agent test, comprehension test, ability to

give name, age, sex and address and indication of parts of the body) with higher

gadget usage scored higher on language tests than children with low gadget usage.

Thus researcher assumed that gadget usage create positive impact on language

development of children, especially when children watch different educational

programs, videos, rhymes etc. they will pick up new vocabulary and improve their

language skills.

However, on the data collected by the in-depth audiotaped interview of

Nugraha et al. (2019) where the researcher interviewed 10 participants, their research

revealed that too much use of gadget has some negative effects on the development of

speech in toddlers which made it impossible for them to talk like other children at the

same age. Moreover, Nirwana (2018) stated that children at age of 3-4 years old

generally have enthusiasm in speaking, their curiosity tend to be greater, such as

telling something that happened around them to the closest person. However, the

presence of gadget in this digital era has negative influences on their speaking ability.

Therefore, excessive usage of gadgets among children may affect their social skills.

“For example, they might become introverted and prefer being alone instead of

talking to their friends Gadgets also might affect children’s speech development if

they just focus on videos rather than communicating with their peers verbally” (Zain,

2022).

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Based on the result of Al-Ayouby’s (2017) study about the effects of gadget

use on early childhood, the negative and positive effects of gadgets and the internet in

forming the character of early childhood depend on the supervision and direction of

parents and other people around the children on what is good for children at an early

age. However, the negative impact is in full concern because the application of

character education is disrupted when children pay more attention to the gadgets used

and they choose to ignore the utterances of parents while they are using gadgets.

Children likely to have Attention deficit and mental disorder. (Keumala et al. 2018).

They stated that children tend to not care about their surroundings when they are

using gadgets. They do not move and only focus on screen. The researcher found on

their research that there are 5 from 18 children who may easily get angry if they are

not permitted to use gadget, the older kids even express their anger and do like what

they seen in the videos or games they play in the gadgets.

Chiu (2014) agrees that excessive use of gadget can cause addiction to the

children and he explained that effects of gadget addiction can lead to emotional stress

and poor international relationships, as people who are addicted to gadgets tend to be

very passive and alienated from their surroundings. Besides, Andreesen et al. (2016)

also discussed that those who are addicted to gadgets, especially when it comes to

video games, have increased stress and self-perception problems. If they win the

game, then they will continue to play, but if they lose, they become angry and

rebellious, which affects their communication with other people.

Furthermore, gadget dependency can also arise when parents start to introduce

gadgets to their children use to the rapid development of technology. Children use

gadgets to do several things, such as listening to songs, online chatting, video gaming,

20
and browsing through the internet. In other words, children rely on gadgets to be the

source of their entertainment, use them to explore information on the internet, and

spend most of their time on gadgets. Therefore, if the children are left without the

supervision of any adults they tend to self-neglect, causing unwanted consequences to

their vision and health (Chiu, 2014).

Rashid et al. (2020) study where children were asked questions relating to

their access to electronic gadgets, time spent outdoor activities, and whether they

experience any health complication as an after effect of the usage. Where there study

resulted that the use of gadgets are significantly more in 2020 compared to 2019 and

that the use of gadgets results of less tendency to spend time outdoor and worst or all

researcher observed that it can cause to health problems like headache, backache,

visual disturbance, and sleeping disturbance children also showed less tendency to

spend time outdoor activities. Different social-demographic factors have influence on

the use of gadgets, this use has greatly been affecting both the physical and mental

health of students of Bangladesh. . Thus, when gadgets become part of their routine, it

might also affect their health, causing joint pain, back pain, and eyestrain (Zain,

2022).

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Effects of Using Gadgets of the Children at an Early Age (3-5 yrs. Old) in the

Perspective of their Parents

IV DV

Effects of gadgets on children at

an early age specifically

 Children’s Development

 Using gadget of children (cognitive, social,

at an early age physical, mental and

emotional development)

 Health

 Behavior /attitude

This study utilizes the Independent Variable (IV) and Dependent Variable

(DV) Model. The Independent Variable (IV) consist of the use of gadgets of the

children at an early age specifically in their school and at home. These variables at as

potential predictors of the outcome under Dependent Variable (DV).

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The Dependent Variable (DV) consists of children’s development, health,

behavior/ attitude. The outcome variable is dependent on the use of gadgets of the

children at an early age. A possible relationship of the Independent Variable (IV) and

Dependent Variable (DV) are explored.

Synthesis-Of-Art

In recent years the upbringing of technology cause changes in our lives

especially gadgets which helps people a lot in terms of communication and in

education. Since then, many people are already involved in using these gadgets that

even adults let young children use these devices. Even if these gadgets could really

help the children on their education we cannot deny that these devices also has

negative effect children’s development and health.

According to Setiani ( 2020) usage of gadgets has a positive and negative

impact to the children. While Paediatric & Child Health (2017) & Stempel (2018)

focuses on the screen time of children. Pandit (2022) & Sundus (2017) stated

excessive use of gadgets have negative effects on the child’s mind and may even

cause attention deficit, cognitive delays, impaired in gaining knowledge of, multiplied

impulsivity, and reduced potential self-regulation, anxiety and depression. On the

contrary Yee et al (2016), Andriani (2022), Zain (2022) reported that usage of gadgets

can help children to gain more knowledge with just playing games on these gadgets or

even watch videos.

Stated by Chiu (2014), Paediatric & Child Health (2017), Sowmya &

Manjuvani (2019) that children can learns best in expressive and their vocabulary

which enhance their social and language skills and can build early literacy specifically

23
when children watch different educational programs, videos, rhymes etc. they will

pick up new vocabulary and improve their language skills.

However, Suhana (2017), Kabali et al. (2015), Schmidt et al. (2017), Sundus

(2017), Nugraha et al. (2019), Zain (2022) conveyed that usage of gadgets can affect

social skills or psychosocial development. Moreover, researcher stated that children

who are associated on gadgets has poorer social skills, she added that when children

are too occupied with gadgets, they have a limited vocabulary: hence, it may lead to

stuttering because they did not practice speaking in real life with actual people or

speech and language delay.

Ayu et al. (2021) expressed that prolonged mobile gadget usage can limit the

physical activity of the children to play so that they lack of the stimulus to develop

their motoric and social skills and researcher added that can be triggered by several

things, including excessive anxiety, fear, fatigue, inconsistent expectations or physical

discomfort. Playing gadget for one hour can cause fatigue and physical discomfort.

But, Andriani (2022) stated that gadgets can be used as a physical skill training tool

for fine motor skills (small muscles such as wrists, fingers, feet, lops and tongue) at an

early age.

Based on the studies by Abdul (2013), Suhana, (2017), Arani (2017), Keumala

et al. (2018), Pandit (2022) children that are preoccupied with gadgets are likely to

have emotional disorder, affect their behavior and become aggressive. Sundus (2017)

added that since children use gadgets and use internet to see adult content rather to

search for educational websites which leads to bad impact on their character, they

forgot moral values. However, Al-Ayouby’s (2017) said that effects of gadget use on

early childhood has negative and positive effects of gadgets and the internet in

24
forming the character of early childhood depend on the supervision and direction of

parents. Moreover, Siregar & Nurhafizah (2022) Chiu (2014) founded that the use of

gadgets caused inhabitation of emotional development of children and it can lead to

addiction. In addition, that effects of gadget addiction can lead to emotional stress and

poor international relationships,

Ardiyani et al. (2021), Jap et al. (2013) use of gadgets can cause

addiction and interfere with physical, psychological, and emotional health and that

those who always spend their time on gadgets suffer from a lack of sleep, escapism,

mood disorders, aggression, and physical injuries. Chiu (2014) if the children are left

without the supervision of any adults they tend to self-neglect, causing unwanted

consequences to their vision and health , this use has also greatly been affecting their

both the physical and mental health. Specifically, Rashid et al. (2020) observed that it

can cause to health problems like headache, backache, visual disturbance, and

sleeping disturbance children also showed less tendency to spend time outdoor

activities. Thus, when gadgets become part of their routine, it might also affect their

health, causing joint pain, back pain, and eyestrain (Zain, 2022).

To sum up the usage of gadgets studies has been proved to have

advantages and disadvantages that affect the children’s cognitive, social, physical,

mental and emotional development and health of the children. In this research

undertaken by the researchers of this study there’s a high probability that the

excessive use of gadgets might also affect the character or the behavior of the children

since in the use of these gadgets there’s an inappropriate applications, videos etc. to

play or to watch that unnecessary for children to encounter at young age which they

might adopt nor copy.

25
Gap Bridge of the Study

In the past studies researchers focused on positive and negative effects of the

screen time of the children and how it affects the children’s development and health.

Moreover, researcher of this study found gaps that is important to conduct a research

and further study.

Since gadgets have been a lot of improvement nowadays where we can

communicate, surf on the internet or websites, watch videos, play various games

either educational or entertainment purposes. That even adult/parents let their children

do what they want to do in these gadgets and these negligent might affect every

factors of life of the children. However, despite of the benefits and advantages of

gadgets on our lives we cannot deny that these devices also has a disadvantages and

negative effects. Many researcher have conducted similarly on our studies however

there are still significant gap that are important for further study.

Based on the literature and studies reviewed on these paper it shows that some

researcher does not agree with the each other nor do not have the same side. However,

researcher found these gap that might cause a confusion to the readers. Moreover, the

previous studies and current studies has a differences and similarities. The past studies

focused on screen time of children which they believed that has a lot of impact on

their development and health. Whereas the current study will focus on how the

negligent of parents affect children usage of gadgets and that is perhaps be the factor

that affect the children’s mind, habit, lifestyle, and behavior specifically their

children’s development and health. Since, nowadays parents tolerate kids by the use

of these gadgets even though they do not totally know about what the kids is doing on
26
that gadgets. Parents not all the time observe and watch over their kids while using

these electronical devices. Although some of them know that there are some content

of videos and apps they can watch on gadgets by the use of internet that are not

appropriate for children.

Thus, there is already a study that mentioned about the effect of content they

watch and etc. on these gadgets however they did not really focused on this topic and

does not provide enough information that is why researcher tend to provide more

knowledge about these for the reasons that the researchers of this study found

unanswered questions that is need to be answer and a gap that is need to conduct a

research. These problem may also affect the children’s development, there physical,

psychosocial, emotional, mental and cognitive development. Hence: these

inappropriate content that children watch or play can lead to some problem, such as

they might adopt bad words they hear on videos or games , how they communicate

(psychosocial), their behavior or attitude (emotional & mental), how they dress

(physical) and worst of all they might get expose to pornography which is not good

for them.

There are some study that suggest some gap that is need an in-depth study

Stempel (2018) it suggest that future researcher should examine the association

between screen time and other Child Development Supplement measures. Trinika et

al. (2015) considered it is important to conduct research on the overview of gadget

utilization and its effect on growth and development, including gross motor, fine

motor, language speech, and personal social domain in preschool children. Another

researchers suggest that parents need to supervise the children more regarding their

use of gadget use since specifically more than 2 hours of use of these gadgets per day

27
cause some aspect of children’s emotional development to be hampered incorrectly

(Siregar & Nurhafizah 2022). These gaps that is observed by the researcher may also

be answer on these paper.

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Chapter III
Methodology

This chapter discuss all the methods that researcher will use on collecting

information and data. It includes the research design, participants in the study with

sampling procedure, research instruments, data gathering procedure and

statistical/data treatment.

This section will show readers how the researchers will conduct their research

and describe the researcher’s strategies and techniques in collecting data that will help

them to expand and gain deeper knowledge about the main issue on this study. These

chapter will show how the researchers accumulate factual and useful information.

Moreover, researcher expect that these methods will help a lot to gather data easily

and successfully.

Research Design

The descriptive techniques of this research which is the qualitative research

that focused on the effects of gadgets on the development and health of young

children in the Donsol Sorsogon. Researcher choose this location for the reason that

this place is the near and most of the children here are expose on gadgets since this

place has an access on internet and mobile phones. These methods will distinguish

both the positive and negative effects of the usage of gadgets on the child’s

development such as cognitive, physical, social, mental and emotional development.

Moreover, it also regards the impacts of gadgets on their health. This will help

researchers collect information

Participants of the Study

34
The research will be conducted at Donsol Sorsogon on this month May 2023.

This study includes a random family of the said location. Participants will be the

parents of child, since the young children does not know how to communicate and

express their understandings and experience. The study will have a total of 15 parents

as participants, who will provide and shared their parental experiences with regards to

the said problem.

Sampling Procedures

The researchers made a question to gather information in order to attain the

goals of the study. Researchers will ask permission to the participants before

conducting the interview in person and will provide an agreement. Each question will

be discussed to the participants to avoid misunderstanding. Random sampling is the

research sampling that researchers will use on gathering data because it is the most

appropriate to use in conducting this research. It is where researchers will not pick

participants to conduct this interview on the other hand researchers will only

interview parents who will permit and willing to share their observation or

experiences in this study. Researchers will take down notes on the participants answer

and use it for data interpretation and will film the interview for the documentation of

the study.

Research Instruments

Face to face interview was the main instrument in our data gathering. Varied

questions will be asked and all the provided answers will be used to assess the

research. The questionnaires consist of four (4) questions in order to gather the

respondent’s thoughts, opinions and experiences. This research instruments will serve

as the most reliable and valid way to collect valuable information.

To gather the data. First, we will simplify the research question that we will

use on interviewing the participants. Second is we will go to houses and ask for

permission to conduct an interview to the parents and after they permitted us to

interview them then we will start reading the research questions that we prepare. After

filming the interview, we will write down the documentation of an interview from

introducing the research title, asking the participants until the last answers of

participants. Then, after collecting all the information and data we will now analyze

and discuss the result.

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37