ELECTRONIC GADGET ADDICTION IN CHILDREN, EFFECTS AND SOLUTIONS

ELECTRONIC GADGET ADDICTION IN CHILDREN, EFFECTS AND SOLUTIONS

Children of today’s generation are being grabbed by smart phones and many other electronic gadgets. Their lives have been captured by technology and taken away from actual taste of life of being young or teenage. Losing their health, their interest in physical games, the entertainment of being with the family, relatives and friends. No doubt these gadgets provide a beneficial education and entertainment but children are being made addicted by their parents, providing them with androids phones specially. It is important for parents as they are the actual caretakers of their children need to understand that excessive usage can damage their children not only physically but also ethically and morally, if they are not given these gadgets in a controlled way. Parents must understand and learn about the side effects of addiction, plan strategies and implement to eradicate it.   

SIDE EFFECTS:

Although the easy access to technological gadgets have fastened the learning process, how to increase their knowledge, how to get solution to their subject matter problems in school and their exam preparations but the uncontrolled availability or access to these devices have a negative impact too which need to be addressed:

Academic Deterioration: Children start to use the gadgets for their academic solutions but gradually they divert toward the miss usage of it, spending maximum of their time on unnecessary sites.

Physical Health Problems: Spending maximum of time on these gadgets can directly impact health creating deteriorations like muscular pains, vertebral pains, other body bone pains, disturbances in sleep schedule, poor postures and obesity.

Mental Health: Mental disorders are crucial to be addressed that cause due to electronic gadgets. Their excessive usage can create attention deficits, weakens social involvement and skills, increase the level of depression and anxiety. Even children start get irritated if they are restricted or when denied access to their gadgets.

Emotional Issues: Children become even emotional weak and at some aggressive when get into relations on social media and involve themselves to activities which are not acceptable to their age level. In resulting they task such steps which create problems for themselves and as well as for their parents too.

Cyber Security Issues: The frequent usage of the gadgets lets the children to online material which may be inappropriate and risky. Children get access to unethical data on which they could not resist themselves to visit if there is lack of supervision.

SOLUTIONS TO GADGET ADDICTION IN CHILDREN

After understanding the signs of gadget addiction and side effects, there are many solution steps which can be implemented in different phases. These practical methods can help us to minimize and later on eradicate completely the gadget addiction in children.

Rules of Usage: This is duty of parents to set clear rules and educate their child about the implementation of the rules. Educate in such a way that even in the absence of parents the child should not pick or use any gadgets except the time schedule.

Set examples: Set a proper time of usage. Connect your devices to the children’s devices and create healthy and meaningful activities in online and offline sessions and let them use the gadgets in purposefully and deliberately and parents must demonstrate in front of their children, the way they want their children to use.

Promote Co-curricular Activities: Activities whether outdoor or indoor, children need to be given and exposure to them for their health benefits. Sports like playing football, volleyball etc have a key role in improving the health of children physically. Indoor games are also essential for their mental nourishment. Interaction with friends and other people in society has a large impact in socialization of a child and also interacting with family and relatives, foster social and emotional development.

Parental Guidance in Monitoring Gadgets: Gadgets that are in use of children are to be monitored with parental control features available on devices and such software to be installed to manage and monitor. Proper time limits should be fixed for usage and restrictions to be made to inappropriate content. Their online activities to be tracked and ensure their safety.

Communicate with children: Always try to arrange an open and unannounced session with your children to discuss the benefits and drawbacks or risks of using electronic devices and visiting random websites. Children need to be educated about how to be responsible citizen and behaviors of being with others online. It is also important to teach them about the balance of time spending with online communities and physical ones.

Gadget – free Bedrooms: Rest is the essential part for children health and better sleep hygiene. It is necessary to designate a certain part of house to make a gadget free area to rest properly and be away from screen usage in late night. Maintain a proper timing for bedtime that should be gadget away to keep free mind from social media thoughts so as to improve the sleep quality.

Getting Expert advice: Parents must get advice from experts about how these gadgets impact the routine of a child and as well as an adult. What are consequences of using them randomly and untimely and it effects the Health. Seek information and guidance from pediatricians, therapist and counselors who have specialization in digital addictions.

Family Time:

Every week there must be an arrangement of short family get together to discuss daily life routine where there must not be electronic gadgets around. This may be like arranging a picnic to a park or hill station nearby or family game night or cooking, bonfire or gardening. Make these events enjoyable and make children to realize the actual happiness of real life.

Allocating Time According to Time Table: Allocating time for daily routine makes your life disciplined. Create a proper time table where there should be a specific time for screens, Education, recreation and social aspects. Even during using gadgets allocate time for each activity, for educational, fun, audio and video calls with friends and relatives. Parents are supposed to stick to the schedule and perform so as the children will also follow the routine.

Offline Activities: There are a number of offline resources through many activities can be generated. Books from libraries, puzzles, arts and calligraphy. Provide the resources and let the children to explore their interest through practical approach.

Empower in making decisions: During healthy discussions in family involve your children and ask them to give their response and ideas about gadgets use and let them to make a good decision. Teach them to evaluate their time spent on screens, how productive was their screen time.

Celebrate Successes: Successes in physical activities to be acknowledged and celebrate. This makes a positive impact in reducing gadget dependence. Appreciate them in front of family and friends in their physical achievement and their engagement in such activities and degrade the excessive usage of gadgets. Such comments motivates the children to reinforce their behaviors and motivate them to take part in offline activities and making good decisions for their better future.

Conclusion:

No doubt electronic gadgets offer valuable help in educating, earning and entertainment. Their over usage is considered to be an addiction with very harmful effects on children’s physical and mental health. It also affect them emotionally. Taking special measures like setting boundaries in usage of gadgets and provide alternative sources of engagements will help to reduce the addiction. Nurturing communication building and involving in productive and healthy decision play a vital role in curbing this harmful addiction. Decisions in dividing the time schedule for educational purposes and promotion of offline activities for the development of children’s daily routine will ensure a success in their future educational goals. In this way we can reduce and ultimately eradicate the gadget addiction and help a child to balance his physical and digital world.