Electronic Gadgets and Children - Everything Parents Should Know!
Posted on July 21, 2022 by Elena Rethorn, One of Thousands of Family Coaches on Noomii.
I hope this will be helpful for many parents who are stressed out seeing their kids showing addiction to gadgets and not engaging with family members.
Electronic Gadgets and Children – Everything that Parents Should Know!
We often see parents providing all kinds of gadgets to their children at a very young age. Kids use gadgets for various purposes like playing games, watching videos, listening to songs, chatting with their friends, and browsing different websites. You will even see everywhere a toddler watching screen while eating.
“What to do if my child is addicted to gadgets?” is a common question every child-related professional receives. Whose fault is it? In the modern era, we see two-year-olds handling gadgets as cool as an adult. Let’s first analyze what gadgets are doing to everyone irrespective of age.
1. Influence on our brain – In a positive way, it gives us cheerful emotions and creates the happy hormones adrenaline and dopamine. On the other hand, staring at an electronic screen for a long time causes anxiety and distress. I am sure many of us have felt it!
2. Educational Information – The light, animations, graphics, and music on the screen create curiosity and develop imagination. But, over-exposure can create over-excitement and aggression. These kinds of feelings may lead to unsteadiness and faster heart rate. Children who are suffering from anxiety experience nervousness, shyness, and fear. They try to avoid people, places, and activities.
3. Attention and interaction: A gadget is available all time and everywhere, unlike a human friend, partner, child, or neighbor. Overuse of the same gadgets creates dependency. And this dependency is building stress and anxiety in the inner mind.
How to know when it is time for action as a parent?
1. Observe your child’s behavior
Pay attention to the time he or she is on the gadget. Look for signs: behavior, emotions, friends, expression of words.
2. Limit your own screen time
Monitor your time spent with gadgets, your spouse, family members, friends, relatives, etc. You cannot complain that a child is addicted to gadgets if you are scrolling your phone without self-control.
3. Physical / Cognitive Activities
Engage your children in physical activities, home chores, physical games, planning and execution of family decisions, trips, parties or functions, etc.
4. Pro Tips
Pets! Allow kids to select their favorite pet. Ask them if they are interested to join any clubs, or positive friends groups. And help them to identify their hobby(obviously not the screen) and develop it. The best medicine is love, unconditional love.
I know many parents who successfully controlled the overuse of gadgets by their kids from the above suggestions but some parents had to attend my coaching sessions to limit the usage of gadgets without causing trauma to kids. My request to the parents is that our kids should be more active in playgrounds and parks, not on social media or the latest technologies. Take action before it’s too late
