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Children... Be Aware

© Caroline Baker

Everyone has heard that the Internet and computers can be a dangerous place for young children. They are exposed to the potential of running into pedophiles or hate sites or extremely violent games. Yet, not many people think about the dangers to a child's physical health if their use on the computer goes unchecked.

Children are effected just like adults with ergonomic issues. Back injuries, eye strains, and repetitive motion injuries are just as likely to happen in your children as it is in yourself.

Back Injuries and Slouching
Most people will begin to slouch as they sit at a computer for extended periods of time. Their shoulders sag forward and they lean ever so slightly towards the monitor. This cuts off critical fluids to the rest of the body and adds stress to the spine. Especially for young children, chairs are often too big to allow them to support their back and/or too high, forcing their legs to swing free.

Repetitive Motion Injuries
You'd be hard pressed to find a game these days that doesn't involve the clicking of a mouse or joystick. Especially action games, where speed it the objective to winning, a child's hands and fingers can easily become strained from the repetitive motion. This is very similar to what folks see from musicians. However, unlike most musicians, playing a video game normally only involves one or two fingers. (And for most children, last far longer than their daily instrument practice.)

Carpal Tunnel Syndrome
When the hand posture is bad, it cuts off circulation at the wrists. This can lead to all sorts of problems, including Carpal Tunnel Syndrome. For adults, using things like wrist pads helps to keep the wrists elevated and minimize the damage. For small children, wrist pads just get pushed aside as they are big and get in the way or their hands are so small that they don't even reach the rests.

Eye Strain
The computer monitor creates a great deal of strain on the human eye. The way the computer creates an image is to flicker light very quickly. While we can not consciously detected the flickering, our eyes do. The muscles in our eyes flex and relax continually, causing excess strain. Some doctors have cited that the increase in computer use in young children has also lead to an increase in poor vision over the recent years. More recent games try to depict 3D images on a 2D screen. This can cause problems with our eyes adjusting to depth perception, one of the critical things tested in any driving license exam.

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