Parenting in the Smartphone Era: Effects on Child Development

“My child doesn’t eat without watching videos on the smartphone”, “he cries and throws a  tantrum if I don’t give him the phone.” These are common statements we hear at family dinners by the parents. In a world where our smartphones fulfil our entertainment our groceries and every other need it becomes difficult to completely disconnect them from our children. What starts as an advantage that helps us to make our lives easier and brings the world to our fingertips can very quickly turn into an addiction, completely controlling our lives. It is important to not cross that line between utility and over-dependence. Let’s get more into detail about parenting in this age of smartphones.  

Impact on children  

As smartphones have taken over our lives our screen time has touched the skies. We have become more and more dependent on technology and Covid-19 has added fuel to this fire of technology. What sometime before was a luxury has now become a necessity. It is hard to manage children and it became increasingly more difficult to keep children entertained in the covid-19 when going out was not an option. Smartphones have become saviours in these times. But, this is just one side of the story.

These screens are not just entertaining your children they are also creating problems for them. From affecting attention span, and social skills of children allowing excessive exposure of smartphones to children can negatively affect their foundational age but at the same time, completely distancing them from smartphones is not a very practical solution to the problem. What we need is balance.  

Read More: Cyberpsychology: The connection between human mind and technology

Social skills 

I was recently travelling by metro; my destination was still a few blocks away so like everyone else I was staring at my phone scrolling away without any purpose. After a few moments I looked up to give my neck a break and what I saw made me think for a few moments. The metro was filled with college and school children and not one of them was looking out of the window or talking to the person next to them, almost all of them were staring at the devices in their hands living in a virtual world completely oblivious to the reality. 

This is not something uncommon; we see these kinds of scenarios almost everywhere around us, at dinner tables, parks, bus stops, etc. Excessive dependence on smartphones can take a toll on children’s social skills. Children start to prefer their phones over conversations with their friends and family which over time decreases their social skills. They can get more invested in virtual reality slowly disconnecting them from the real world; this can lead to an increase in their feelings of loneliness.  

Physical health  

Along with having an effect on your mental health, smartphones can also affect your physical health.  Sitting in one place scrolling through the phone we do not realize how 10 minutes turn into 1 hour easily. Sitting idle for such a long time can cause strain on the eyes, sleep deprivation, back problems, headaches, etc. Increased exposure to smartphones is also said to negatively impact children’s cognitive development, restricting their creativity and problem-solving ability.  

Read More: Academic Pressure and Its Effect on The Mental Health of Students

Attention span  

Mansi received a new smartphone as a gift from her parents for scoring well in her 10^th board exams. She was thrilled to receive such a great gift and immediately started learning all about the new features, games and social media apps of the smartphone; most of her time was spent with her gift. Her parents thought that it was just initial excitement that would fade away in a few days. But that did not happen.

Mansi started spending more and more time engrossed in the phone,  she wouldn’t even stop scrolling through her phone during meal times. When her parents pointed this out she would get irritated and leave the room. Her academic performance had also taken a hit, whenever she would sit down to complete her assignments she wasn’t able to concentrate for more than 15 minutes. She felt the constant urge to check her phone which wouldn’t let her properly concentrate on her work.  Her attention span had reduced considerably. As a result, she did not score well in her final exams.  

This is just an example of how slowly smartphone starts creeping into your life, affecting your attention span concentration and every other aspect of your life. Children slowly start getting overly attached to their smartphones. Staying away from their phones makes them restless and irritable, which slowly starts impacting other aspects of their life like academics and relationships with friends and family.  

Benefits  

We cannot just make smartphones the villain of our lives. We cannot deny the advantages they have provided us with. Smartphones have brought the world closer, connecting people from around the world. All the services are just a click away, they have revolutionized communication, and it is because of these phones that we can see the person sitting in the U.S. from India and talk to them. Not only this, children can now watch interesting YouTube videos and study from them. Smartphones have made learning more fun. Smartphones are not bad guys, if used for the right reasons they can help us in so many ways. You just need to be able to manage it properly so it does not entirely consume your life.  

Strategies  

It is complicated and things cannot change overnight but taking steps in the right direction will slowly bring a positive change. Here are some techniques you can try to help your children manage their screen time.  

• Try setting a proper daily routine that involves physical exercise every day.  
• Try engaging children in activities that involve screens like playing outdoor games, gardening, drawing, etc.  
• Encourage your child to do different activities with you like going for a walk, cooking together, playing family games, etc.  
• You can set a daily screen time. This will help in limiting smartphone usage and help in setting up time for different activities.  
• To keep your child away from inappropriate content on their phones you can use parental control features, this will help the children only consume content that is appropriate for their age.  
• No phones during mealtime–you can set a rule that no one will use phones at the dining table. Try having conversations with each other during meal times; spend quality time with your children.  

Read More: Study: Excessive smartphone use may put teens’ mental health in danger

It is important to note that children learn from whatever they see. Parents should follow certain rules like no phones during meals so children can follow them. Setting a good example is the first step towards managing your own and your child’s screen time.  

Lives have grown increasingly complex over time. These days, nothing can be categorised as entirely good or bad; smartphone, despite all the issues they may raise, are an essential part of our lives. It is up to us to strike the right balance between excess and inadequate. Try letting your kids interact with others and establish new connections by spending more time with them away from their mobile phones. Try to maintain a good balance between virtual and real life. 

FAQs  

How do smartphones impact children? 

Excessive usage of smartphones can hurt children’s social skills,  reduce attention span and cause problems in concentrating. It can create problems of loneliness among children.  

Can smartphones affect physical health? 

Too much phone usage can cause health problems like headaches, sleep deprivation, back problems, eye strain, etc. Sitting idle in one place staring at the screen for a long time can negatively impact a person’s physical health. 

What are some of the advantages of smartphones? 

Smartphones are not entirely bad they can prove to be a great advantage to us. They have brought the world closer to us, you can connect to any person from anywhere in the world, and whatever you want from groceries to clothes everything is just one click away. If used right away smartphones are very useful devices.  

What are some strategies to manage screen time? 

You can try techniques like no mobile phones during mealtime, and engaging your child in different activities like drawing, cooking, etc. You can also set a fixed screen time daily to limit smartphone usage.