It is not a surprising scenario to watch kids clinging towards a smartphones and watching videos and playing games these days. It can be put in a way that it has become a part of day-to-day functioning. With changing times, behaviour, habits and ways of adapting are also evolving. Changes have got people updated in many aspects with these modern ways. It has not just got to adults but kids have also altered their means of playing and deriving fun and happiness. There might have also been changes in the way they think, perceive and behave.
We might have even observed parents talking about their 2-3-year-old kid’s ability to operate smartphones and accessing these gadgets easily. It can be a good thing that your child had the ability to learn something that quickly, but it needs to be critically observed. There can be a few things that should be questioned.
What the child is watching? What the child is playing? What kind of games he or she is playing? What all are the things that he or she has been accessing all this time? How it is impacting the kids? What are the things that the kids are learning from it? It can be an easy task to give them smartphones, but for sure taking it back is not at all easy. Let us see what can be various factors that kids will be developing while growing up with a heavy influence of gadgets and what it is teaching them.
Having access to these gadgets and technology can change the entire process of learning and acquiring behaviours for kids. Earlier it was not the process. Going outdoors, playing with friends, forming relations and acquiring behaviours from being in touch with the off-screen world was mostly how it was done. Even though there have been many factors that have changed this habit but smartphones are one of them.
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The primary sources for kids of learning on the initial stage are through observing and imitating. Being exposed to games and videos that are violent in nature can significantly influence the behaviour of the kids. Online games have the potential to implicit a lot of emotions. Sometimes they can be harsh on sensitive on kids as they develop irritability and anger. Even the cartoons can teach some different expressions. As kids do not have entirely developed cognitive abilities, so they do not know how to evaluate and critically process the information that they are receiving.
Children have this habit of imitating others or we might have seen kids becoming their favourite cartoon characters while playing. When they will watch violent things or bullying, then they will enact that behavior which can not only harm them but other kids also. It can be seen that kids have become more irritable and stubborn with having their own ways of making their parents do what they want. It could be unclear to trace from when it all started but it has begun and is showing a considerable change in the behaviors of kids and their lifestyles. It could be a point that we live in a world with heavy digital influence where most of the things are available and the things which were present in physical form are now virtually available.
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No one can deny the convenience it has brought into our lives, but there has to be a limit to it. A simple thing as a book is available digitally; kids can read those books on their gadgets or even listen to them. Yes it is an easy way of reading as it can be taken anywhere and it will not occupy much physical space but how will the kids experience that pure joy of holding a new book, smelling the fresh new pages and having it with him or her in a physical form? It might not be preferred by most nowadays but this is how it was done authentically. It is ironic that kids learn about nature through screens and not by actually coming in contact with it.
All these things have different values but the experiences derived from these small things have teachings of emotions. There has been a decline in outdoor physical activity and it is important to know that there are things which are required for kids to be a part of. Kids often experience loneliness, but from where is that loneliness arising? The way they form relationships and how they contribute to those relationships is also being affected. There is a completely different set of social skills that they have and are created by their means.
The obsession of doing things virtually is increasing so much that those means are preferred more than real relationships. Kids learn as they develop and the understanding of concepts that they form during those developmental years holds the potential to shape their perspectives on things in future as they grow up. For them, it is a vital time to explore, to fall and to stand up by themselves. Having restricted exposure impacts their creative things and imagination. When kids play with toys or with their friends, they learn to make things, look up for solutions, think about ways of playing differently and entertain themselves.
It is understood that technology has a positive side as well but when it is to kids then it should be the responsibility of the parents or primary caregivers to give them just the right amount of access which can help in shaping their behaviour in a better manner rather than impacting it negatively.
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Parents try to practice this but it could be a possibility that there could be no change even after that. What is going wrong? Why is it not happening or why are the kids not listening? You want kids to read books, play games or for that matter read newspapers, but what is your role? Is it just about telling them this? Actually, there is more to it.
How can you ask your kids to not to use smartphones all the time when they see you doing the same thing? This is something that should be given a thought. What if they question you and that might have happened with some of you? That is where you as an adult also need to become the role model that you wish your kids to be. Try to sit with them and make them understand.
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Read with them, play with them and be there for them when they do not have friends so that they do not have to make smartphones their friends. It could be a bit difficult but it will have a positive impact on the kid as well as the parents. It will have a positive impact on their relationship and understanding of each other. As adults only we can take the responsibility of not letting kids to be involved too much with smartphones and technology. Not only it has the capability to influence them in long term but it also makes them vulnerable to developing negative behavior that can be harmful for them as well as for others.
Also, they can be exposed to a serious risk of developing a mental health concern. Children need to be educated with what is important and how much of anything is important. It can be difficult but it is not impossible as there will be some change after a period of time which will be positive.
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