How to Protect your Kids from Overuse of Technology

source: familyfriendlyhq.ie

We have been discussing the effects of increased use of technology on our kids from a long time now and it is absolutely true that excessive use of anything can create an impact on their childhood, emotional development or even the behavior.

Parents always keep wondering about the good and bad effects of technology on their kids and to some extent they are also aware of them, but it is nearly impossible to keep our children completely away from gadgets as we are totally surrounded by them. Right from our pockets to the cupboards, there is a technological gadget everywhere that are somewhere helping us in making our lives easier.

But, the major concern arises when it comes to limit the use of technology for our kids, how much exposure of technology or gadgets is not harmful to the children?

First, take a look at the bad effects of technology on our kids that will help you in understanding this problem more precisely.

The Bad of Technology

• Technology is affecting the concentration span of children and reducing it drastically.

• It affects the physical health of children by making them sedentary, it becomes a major reason for child obesity and deficiency of vitamin D in the next generation.

• Not spending enough time outdoors reduces their capacity of fighting with infections and also disturbs their sleep cycle by affecting the production of melatonin hormone in the body.

• Overuse of technology reduces the concentration power of children.

• Gadgets produce a bad effect on children’s eyesight with the emission of harmful blue light.

• Overuse of gadgets suppresses the emotional development of children as it prohibits their interaction with their peers on a personal level.

• It also affects the way kids socialize with others that creates a huge impact on their mental and emotional well-being.

• So, overuse of technology is affecting every aspect of a child’s development either physical or emotional.

• Technology can help parents to keep an eye on the location of their children, but it can also be a big security threat to the children, as anyone can track their position anytime with the use of technology.

All these things indicate that there is a big responsibility on the parents’ of today’s generation to maintain a safe distance between the technology and their children. A balance should be maintained between the use of gadgets and other activities so that they can stay ahead with the use of technology without compromising on their physical and mental growth. So, read out some ways that can help your children staying away from the overuse of technology:

Ways to Avoid Overuse and Protect Children from Technology

• Set the limit on the use of technology gadgets for children each day such as a few hours by keeping in mind the reasonable usage and their daily schedule.

• Also, make them aware of the negative effects of overuse of technology, communicate your concerns and this will also let them understand why setting a boundary is important on the usage of technology.

• Encourage them to take part in physical activities, plan outdoor activities with them to help them bring closer to nature.

• Monitor their use of technology, always keep a check on what things they are using online, as the internet is just like an ocean of all the good and bad things. Try to incorporate healthy habits in them of internet usage, try to keep them focused on things that are useful and beneficial for them instead of just looking for unnecessary things on the internet.

• Talk about the online security threats to your children, make them aware that what they should and what should not share on the internet like the personal information, pictures, phone numbers, and credit card numbers, email addresses etc.

• Tell your children that if someone harasses, bullies or makes them uncomfortable online in any way, then you are there for help, they should talk to their parents, siblings, teacher, or any adult they trust.

• Avoid Using Technology to Calm down Children. We often use media and technology gadgets to pacify the aggression of our child, this practice should be completely prohibited. Instead of making our children the slaves of technology, try to teach them the ways of handling such strong emotions. Come up with interesting activities to manage boredom or breathing exercises to manage calm.

• Say no to TVs for kid’s room, this can help you in both ways, first by cutting down their screen time and secondly, it let you monitor the content they are watching from a more public location.

• Provide options, it’s hard for kids to follow your instructions simply if you say no, provide them with options that apart from not watching the TV or using any electronic device, what else they can do, such as they can play an outdoor game, they can visit the park with friends. Also, let them learn some new skills and proficiencies at the given time.

• Set a Good Example, it is an extremely important point for all the parents if they want their children to follow a good habit of using e-devices. They have to do it first for their children, as children tend to follow what they see instead of the set of rules you ask them to follow. So, show your children that you are using technology only for the limited purposes such as for doing work or for some entertainment. Completely stop using your mobile phones on the dinner table or while spending time with the kids.

How Much Screen Time is allowed for your Baby

Now Comes the most important part, if you are still wondering what amount of screen time is appropriate for your child, you need to check out the latest guidelines issued by the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) for parents on limiting children’s media usage.

The academy has issued the guidelines for the children of different age-groups such as for infants, toddlers, and kids.

Just check the age group that your child belongs to and the respective screen time that is appropriate for her.

• Children below or 18 months of age – Absolutely no screen time

• From 18 to 24 months of age – Exposure only on the introductory level to a high-quality digital programming in a co-viewing setting.

• From 2 to 5 years of age – Screen time should be limited to one hour in a day, ideally alongside a parent.

• Children of 6 years and above – There is no time limit specified, but limits should be there on time and the type of media consumed by the kids of this age-group.

Conclusion

We need to understand that there are two aspects of everything, good and bad. Where on one hand, overuse of technology is harmful to the physical and emotional health of the children, there, on the other hand, the right usage of technology can help in evolving many new horizons for them. But, to achieve this, everything that is required is the appropriate use of technology.

As children are not much aware of its good and bad effects, it is a big responsibility on the shoulders of their parents to keep a check on the timings and the kind of activities their children are doing online. So, keep utilizing all the good things about technology while eliminating all the scope of it doing any bad to your children. After all, the imagination of your child needs wings, not the sedentary life of e-devices.