Is the Internet Making Your Children Dumber?

There has been an ongoing narrative for years that has many questioning whether on the whole the internet is working for us or against us. It has also been questioned about its ability to make us smart, or if it takes us to the other spectrum away from intelligence. You will find that the question about the internet making us dumber and our children too, is not so much to do with the information but how we process it.

Developing long-term memory takes old fashioned hard work. You can see how problematic it can get when everyone, from an ICBC lawyer Vancouver consultant to a McDonald’s Virginia cashier all, have to consult their smartphones to know their to-do list. If we are this dependent on our phones, then trying to internalize information is almost pointless of we can always check the internet to find out what policies are changing and how they affect is. Important things don’t need remembering, because we have the internet.

Is information on our fingertips entirely a good thing?

When Alexa helps our children double check their homework, children almost put no effort because they know they have something to help them. That is different from the days where calculators were not as standard and working out an equation long-hand is what you were expected to do. Of course, we do welcome the use of the internet to make our increasingly complex lives easier. However, it is likely that we are perhaps teaching ourselves and children to rely too much on it than our brains which are more powerful than we give credit it.

We have become smarter when it comes to knowing where to find knowledge, but we are less of a powerhouse of knowledge. It is primarily left to experts in fields where they ought to continually have information at the top of their head. When it comes to the educational system, things are quite the opposite for memorization is the order of the day. Students cramp large chunks of information for all their exams and almost erase everything they know when the final exams are a wrap.

What can be done to get balance?

Going offline for perhaps a few hours a day, days, weeks or months is what you and your children can do. Opt for other sources of information such as books and newspapers that allow you to gather information another way. Only relying on a screen affects how we learn, as neurologist say all learning styles have to be at play, not just sticking to one as the myth suggested.

Ensuring that you are not made dumber by the internet also means becoming increasingly aware of your overreliance on the internet. If you look up something more than once, it’s a sign you could do more to pay attention, internalize and remember it for a future time.