Abstract:

The main determinant of the information age is the spread of information and communication technology (ICT), which increases the speed and efficiency of information transfer. Life is today unthinkable without the use of various digital devices considered to greatly facilitate the functioning of human society. Technology has changed the world we live in for good (Corney, 2014). Parallel to the emergence and rapid development of digital technology, there are public discussions on their excessiveness on human lives, and special attention is directed towards the issue of digital technology and electronic media influence on children and youth. The approach to digital technology and its active use is part of children's everyday life from the day they were born (Palaiologou, 2014). It is, therefore, to be asked what influence digital technology has on the entire development of children since researches have shown that it is already suppressing the traditional resources of entertainment and learning and it dominates children's growing up. In line with the above, the use of digital technology increases the influence of the media on the family and changes the quality of family relationships. An important role in the use of digital technology devices and media contents is held by parents who should be aware of the benefit as well as the risk of their use.

The work shows the results of the research performed on a sample of primary school age children with the aim of examining some of the aspects of digital technology impact on the overall development of children. The research was realized on an appropriate sample of 226 parents. There was only one criteria in order to fulfill the survey and it was that the participants were to have one child attending from first to fifth grade of primary school. A questionnaire was drawn up for the examination, and it was made up of three parts. The first part related to basic sociodemographic data of the parents and their child, the second part covered questions concerning children's use of digital devices, while the third one covered the parents' assessment on the Likert scale of 26 statements connected to limiting the use of the devices, parents' knowledge of the content that children search for, and the opinion of parents on the effect technology has on the cognitive, physical and social functioning of children.

The results indicate that parents are aware of the negative connotation that the excessive use of digital technology on children's development, and that they limit the time of use (70.48%), have an insight into the contents (77.97%) talk about them (78.85%), and set the rules on their use. Furthermore, parents confirm that the use of technology and media influences the development of some cognitive capacities for they talk about new topics (85.02%) and consider that digital technology helps a child to adopt materials better and more easily (83.7%). In using digital technology, parents only partially see this as a negative factor of the social and physical development of a child (40.97%).

Keywords:

Children, digital technology, holistic development, media literacy, parents.