WSET.com - ABC13Wired In: Kids Growing Up With Technology

Reporter:  Danner Evans l  Videographer:  Daniel Heffner

Lynchburg, VA - You worry about your kids online -- the sexual predators and the bullies.  But there could be an even bigger problem with the Internet and technology with long-term consequences.

On average, children ages 8 to 18 spend more than 7.5 hours a day using entertainment media, according to a Kaiser Family Foundation report released last year  If you count each content stream separately, like when they text while watching TV, they are logging almost 11 hours a day.

All of that technology can be great in different ways. But new research is emerging showing it also comes at a price.

It's almost like they're born with a sixth sense for technology.  From the very beginning, our children know what to do with the latest gadget.  They're trading in their blocks and books for I-Pads and smart phones.  This is one generation that's wired in.

That technology is providing a new platform for our kids to learn, and Amherst County Schools is just one district embracing the change, according to David Childress.

"Our kids are immersed in technology from the cradle until the grave essentially," Childress said. "We believe in it so much.  It is an important way to reach out to our kids."

Childress is leading the learning revolution for Amherst County, developing apps for students to use in and out of class.

"We are taking devices, such as iPods, iPads, iPhones and we're actually creating custom apps here in the division so that teachers can control the content of what goes into those apps," Childress said.

They go beyond apps too.  Students here are using the Internet to create poster boards on Glogster and blogs on Moodle, appealing to their savvy sense of technology too.

"It's sort of like YouTube where you put it out there and it gets views and readings and stuff like that," said eighth grader Todd Higgins.

Classmate Madyson Johnson said since it's out there for everyone to see, it pushes her.

"It makes me want to work harder for it and make it look better," Johnson said.

Dr. Bianca Sumutka, an associate professor of psychology at Lynchburg College, said the classroom applications are fantastic, but beware because there are some consequences at home.

"I do see a lot of benefit in technology in terms of learning," Sumutka said.  "The question is can we actually keep sustained attention to a particular task or from trying to multitask on these devices."

And that is a problem according to Sumutka.

"The research in this area is still emerging and I think at this point we really don't know how being plugged in for extended periods of time to technology is going to affect the brain," Sumutka explained.

Sumutka said the research so far does show as our children multi-task -- checking things like Facebook while studying -- they don't absorb the lesson as well and make lower grades.

In addition, many young Facebook users tend to me more narcissistic and less empathetic.

"Because it is very easy to write something very hateful on Facebook, a virtual medium, and not really feel sorry for them because you do feel detached," Sumutka explained.

However, you can turn the technology tide in your family.

"I think they need to teach their children to be good consumers of technology and set restrictions," Sumutka said.  "The other issue is that parents have to be good models themselves.  If you don't want your child to constantly be on their device then you need to not be on your iPhone or Blackberry."

In the long-term, being wired in so much could become an Internet addiction in your children.  There are actually treatment programs for that these days.

One thing you may want to do with your family is take the Internet addiction test to see if there are any warning signs. 

Get more information on Internet addiction.