Tablet computers and smartphones have become a part of everyday life. Along with adults, up to 90% of children also regularly use these devices. Tablets can bring not only benefits, but also serious harm to babies and adolescents. There are 10 reasons why a child should be protected from them.
The modern world is called the information age. It is impossible to imagine our life without smartphones, tablets and computers.
According to research, the number of children who regularly use tablets in developed countries reaches 90%! Along with the undoubted benefits, they bring colossal harm to children.
In Russia, gadgets have become widespread relatively recently, therefore, the study of their effect on children has just begun. Whereas in the West, in particular in the United States, such studies have been conducted for a long time.
According to child psychotherapists, many parents give their child various devices from the age of 2, and even earlier. At 3-4 years old, these children prefer tablets to other toys.
How does excessive use of smartphones and tablets harm a child? 10 reasons to block communication with gadgets:
1. It is harmful to physical health
- When using the tablet for a long time the child's eyesight deteriorates. Constant gazing at the screen leads to myopia, and eye strain - to their dryness. This threatens subsequent inflammation and infection;
- Because the child is in one position for a long time, with his head bowed down, posture worsens, curvature of the spine may develop (the cervical spine is especially affected);
- As a result of long holding the gadget in the hands, monotonous movement of the fingers across the screen, pathologies of the hands may occur: sprains, tendon problems, especially the thumb;
- Possible impairment of coordination between brain signals and hand movements;
- This can cause obesity. With prolonged use of the tablet, the child decreases his physical activity. Often, sticking to the tablet, he likes to feast on something tasty. According to research by American scientists, children who are allowed to access the Internet from their bedroom are 30% more likely to be overweight.
2. It affects the relationship between the child and the parents
Scientists say that between birth and two years of age, a child's brain should triple. New neurons are formed faster if the child constantly communicates with parents, hears their voice. Thanks to this, connections are established in the brain, which in the future help to establish emotional contacts with other people.
When parents give their child a tablet, freeing up time for other things, the time spent with the baby is inevitably reduced, communication between them suffers.
Children who spend hours sitting at gadgets have problems with the formation of nerve connections in the brain. This negatively affects their ability to concentrate on another person, lowers self-esteem. Therefore, they may have difficulty in establishing personal relationships as adults.
3. It can be addictive
Psychiatry professor Gary Small calls a remarkable property of technology: it constantly makes it possible to do and receive something new in the virtual world. This is very difficult to refuse, especially for children.
It's so great to get the result you want with just one touch of your finger on the display. Kids instantly get used to it. Unlike adults, they do not know how to restrain their impulses and control desires. Wanted - received. Tablets and smartphones do not teach children self-control, but, on the contrary, make it possible not to limit themselves in their desires. This causes addiction, similar to drug addiction.
4. It makes children's tantrums more frequent.
The tablet very quickly turns into a child's favorite toy, which he does not want to part with. When you take it away from him, outbursts of hysteria and indignation are inevitable. The kid cannot come to terms with this, and in every possible way demonstrates his rage. Therefore, think well when handing a gadget to a child: is the temporary respite worth the tantrums that follow?
Dr. Jenny Radesky emphasizes that devices are not the best way to calm and distract a child, because they do not provide him with the opportunity to form internal mechanisms of self-regulation.
5. It worsens sleep
Playing on the tablet and smartphone before bedtime excites the baby's nervous system, leading to difficulty falling asleep, to restless sleep at night.
The light emitted from the screen suppresses the production of the hormone melatonin, warns neurologist Ann MariChan. This leads to a shift in the circadian rhythms of a person, knocks down the cycle of sleep and wakefulness. Do not allow your child to play on the tablet in the evening, and especially before bed. Replace them with calm joint games, reading books.
6. It causes learning difficulties
Research confirms that children who are overly addicted to devices learn worse. Their attention is getting worse, they cannot concentrate, they are constantly distracted. There may be problems with memory, imagination, fantasy.
The free thought process suffers, which is replaced by ready-made virtual reality answers. The child does not feel the need to comprehend the events of real life for himself. This affects the speed of development of sensorimotor and visual-motor skills, without which learning is impossible.
Finally, the desire to learn, to acquire knowledge oneself simply disappears. Decreased motivation for learning.
7. It doesn't develop communication skills.
With the active use of smartphones and tablets, live communication is supplanted by virtual communication, especially among adolescents. When communicating online, you do not see a person's face, his facial expressions, gestures, postures that can say a lot about emotions. This makes it impossible to develop the social skills necessary to successfully interact with people.
Virtual communication deprives the child of the opportunity to see the reaction of another person, which means that it does not give the opportunity to think about the consequences of his words and actions.
8. It can cause mental disorders
Psychologists warn that a large amount of time spent by a child on a tablet or smartphone contributes to mental disorders. Children may experience depression, neurosis, increased anxiety, lack of attachment to parents.
Information readily available on the Internet that is not age-appropriate for a child can lead to psychosis, behavioral disorders, and early sex drive.
When communicating on social networks, there is a high probability of stumbling upon mentally ill people, pedophiles.
9. It increases children's aggressiveness
The modern world is aggressive and cruel. Children who are not restricted in their use of gadgets become even more aggressive. After all, computer heroes do not feel pain and suffering, they do not need to empathize and sympathize.
A huge number of games provoke childish cruelty, reduce sensitivity to violence. When blood flows like a river on the screen, it begins to seem that this is normal. Many children transfer this attitude into real life. They begin to mock their peers, beat the weaker ones. To date, there are many cases when teenagers take up arms and shoot people.
10. It leads to social anxiety.
Excessive passion for computer devices does not provide an opportunity to develop the ability to communicate, improve communication skills. This leads to the fact that children begin to experience anxiety in situations that require live communication. They do not know where to start a conversation, how to maintain a conversation, behave in the company of other people. This often causes fear, self-doubt, nervousness. Teenagers begin to avoid such situations, plunging even more into the virtual world, where they do not need to communicate with a living person. It turns out to be a vicious circle.
So is it worth giving your child a tablet or smartphone? It's up to the parents, of course. The advantages of such devices are also undoubted. They can help in learning, develop certain skills, and enrich the child's knowledge. But adults need to use such helpers very carefully. Because very quickly, from a good friend, the tablet can become their worst enemy.
- Influence of modern gadgets on children (pros and cons)
- How the Internet affects a child
- How We Lose Our Children
Children in the tablet. Gadgets cause psychological addiction in children. How to avoid it?
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Masha Kurochkina and Marta talk about how to build a healthy child's relationship with gadgets. And Masha also makes a small review of children's game applications.
