COMMENTARY: Kids and technology go together like a keyboard and touchscreen; but is there a virtual downside?

It took me a few minutes to figure it out.

My great nephew, Elliot, who's only 2, kept touching our television screen while watching an animated movie. I thought it was cute that he reached out to his favorite characters, though he seemed oddly disappointed every time.

A couple minutes later I noticed him doing him doing the same thing during a commercial, then again during other programming that had nothing to do with kids. He kept tapping and touching it.

"I wonder if this little guy thinks those images are actually inside the TV," I wondered while watching him watch TV.

Finally, it dawned on me. Elliot was attempting to interact with the TV like he does with all the other electronic devices in his life - by touch screen. He was trying to control the TV screen as he would the touch screen on an iphone or ipad or kid-sized tablet.

I shared my brilliant realization with his mother, who's my niece, as if I discovered a Wi-fi signal on the moon. She already knew what he was trying to do. Duh.

At the same family gathering I watched my grandson Landon, who's only 3, taking digital photos with his new kiddie camera, a Christmas gift from his uncle. The small device is similar to a smartphone with a tiny viewfinder. After each photo he snapped, Landon immediately showed his images in the viewfinder to the person he shot, just like he has watched adults do his entire life. "Look at you!" Landon told them joyfully.

It was fascinating to watch these two toddlers interact with technology without hesitance, confusion or frustration, as many adults do. Let's face it. If you give them an electronic device, they'll figure out how to use it within seconds, not hours. When I hand Landon my iphone, he can immediately open up apps to entertain himself. And he can swipe left and right through photos and other apps like a longtime Tinder user.

I can't imagine how technologically advanced kids of their generation will become as adults. Or by their teenage years. This is all so normal at their young age. They will be light years ahead of older generations of technological Luddites such as myself at every phase of e-learning, digital education and online development.

Most students today have Chromebooks, tablets or other forms of computers they use on a daily, if not hourly, basis. This quickly evolving technology has become an extension of their body, their mind, their creativity and basic functioning. But will there be a downside to such constant immersion of technology and their advanced skills?

Attention span problems. Increased risk of obesity. Delayed social development skills. Heightened behavioral issues. Screen time addiction. Avoidance of playing outdoors. Social media dangers. And the conflict of living in two different worlds - the virtual world and the real world. Not to mention privacy concerns.

These are all valid worries for parents and grandparents who watch children in amazement yet with worries about their other future skills in life. Today's kids are programmed to live in a world of instant digital gratification. How will they respond when having to wait - whether it's days or weeks or months - for real world rewards in life?

I remember having similar concerns with my kids when they were young, especially my son, with watching too much television. Show after show, cartoon after cartoon, movie after movie. It turned out that all that video programming helped introduce the world to them. It expanded, not constricted, their world. I have similar hopes for today's generation of children with technology.

However, I used to believe that the vastness of the internet and its instant accessibility to factual information would combat ignorance and stupidity in the world. Ha, stupid me. All of that information and technology only revealed our shortcomings. Will it have a similar effect on our children and grandchildren despite their sharpening high-tech skills?

Sure, we can go online for the answers. Simply type "kids and technology" into any search engine and you'll get hundreds of stories, studies, warnings and predictions. Or we can watch these kids in action, studying how they're growing up and interacting with the world. Are they too immersed in the virtual world? Do they have too much screen time? Are they disconnected from learning traditional skills that will also be needed as adults? As with everything in life, it's all about finding a balance, I say.

At that family gathering in my home, I kept watching Elliot and Landon for signs of such a balance, even as toddlers. I was tickled to see both of them play with old-fashioned toys that didn't come with a touch screen or desktop apps or virtual worlds. In fact, the imaginative world of "playing pretend" entertained them the most. I realized that these high-tech kiddos are still little tykes with simple pleasures, interests and curiosities, as all of us once were.

At one point, Landon made Elliot a pretend double-scoop ice cream cone, using a plastic toy kit he got for Christmas. Landon proudly put a towering ice cream cone together and carefully carried it to his younger cousin.

Elliot tried licking it. I quietly smiled.