I remember several years ago when I paid a visit to a friend, I saw the son sitting down in front of the television with his headphones on, screaming at the top of his voice to his supposed fellow players while holding the gamepad in his hands. I thought, well – he’s just having fun. To my surprise, he sat there for hours and was there even till I left. Then I asked the mother, ‘is that how your son plays games always?’ she said no, she was even convinced that he was being social, at least he was playing and interacting with others as well.
She added, that he receives exceptional reviews at every parent-teacher conference, sleeps at least eight hours a day, and was able to look adults in the eye when speaking with them. I still gave in to the fears parenting in the digital age engenders. But with all these she was still worried, even though to her, the boy does not look addicted to gaming – she is just worried about the boy’s future.
Healthy and Unhealthy Patterns
So many people throw around the word “addiction,” but true addiction to technology will not be a problem for the majority of children. To the mother, the boy was not addicted, which lessen her worry. Sure, he loved playing video games and played them nonstop, but he was still having dinner with his family, he interacted with friends at school, and was physically healthy.
Signs like a willingness to eat and an ability to care about things beyond the virtual world may feel a little wishy-washy. But this is one place where every child is different. Many factors might come into play, including their age and stage of development, so paying attention to your own child and the data is essential.
READ MORE: Screen Time: When Is It Too Much For Kids?
Unhealthy use of technology on the other hand can be said to be the total opposite of what is explained in the paragraph above. If you notice these technology use patterns among your kids, you can say that they have an unhealthy relationship with technology.
- Screen time addiction. Your kids want nothing else than just to be with their phones, on the computer, or in front of the television every time.
- They begin to lack real-life social skills.
- Lack of focus on school work, and loss of interest in house chores.
- Lack of interest in physical activities. They would rather prefer to sit indoors playing games, than go out for exercise.
- Staying up late at night to use phones and watch movies results in irregular sleeping behavior.
- The moment addiction sets in, they develop poor eating habits and lack of proper nutrition. Sitting in front of the television with no exercise can lead to obesity.
7 Tech Tips for Parents
When children have issues, social media is often the first scapegoat adults point to. Violent video games are blamed for school bullying, and social media and smartphones are blamed for the mental health crisis. During the pandemic, social media was a lifeline for those who felt isolated or bored at home. And for young people, connecting to their friends, whether in-person or virtually, is appropriate to their stage of development.
It’s good to know that a few key actions can help your child thrive in the digital age;
- First, come up with a policy that will govern how gadgets are to be used at home. If any of them violates it, reduce their access to phones, television, gaming devices, and laptops.
- Do not fix television or computers in their rooms, and if there is any, remove them. You do not want to risk your kids getting exposed to inappropriate content that is beyond their age; drugs and sex most especially. They even stand the risk of getting obese when they spend too much time sitting in front of the Television.
- Be aware of the amount of time your children spend using their devices. If left unchecked, some kids can access adult-rated content like pornography.
- Put desktop computers in areas where you can easily monitor their activities.
- Do not allow the use of cell phones at dinner. Family time is sacred and it should be respected. For you, the parent, keep your phones away during this time. If you do the same, you will be able to correct your kids when they do the same without having them talk back at you.
- Take away their phones before bedtime so they can enjoy their night’s sleep.
- Encourage physical activities. If you ask your kids why they are always on their phones, the excuse they give is that there is nothing else to do.
Why not keep them busy? You know, like to spend quality family time – exercise, cooking, cleaning, board games, etc., are some of the activities that will benefit your child physically, socially, and mentally.
The technology and screens will always be here, so rather than allowing these to change them, we should teach them that these screens can also help them when used moderately.
