We live in a world now days where almost everything is done with the help of technology. From finding our way home to booking plane and movie tickets, from communicating with friends and family, to simple shopping, everything can be done through our phones, tablets or laptops. While all this truly makes these advancements in technology very appealing, there is one serious negative impact of this – The effect it has on children.
Many children have become seriously addicted to technological devices like cell phones, tablets and laptops. As parents, having a child who is spending most of his or her time in front of a television screen, a cell phone or a tablet, should be a very alarming thing. It has been discovered that children who spend multiple hours in front of a screen (be it that of a computer, tablet or cell phone) suffer major negative consequences such as increased social anxiety to low self esteem. These findings become more disturbing keeping in mind the findings of a Nielsen report that stated that 7 out of 10 parents let their kids play with their tablets.
As parents, it becomes important to do everything we can to make sure our children are not addicted to these tech gadgets. Here are four tips you can use to ensure that your child does not become a tech addict and instead follows a more healthy and balanced lifestyle
How to deal with children addicted to technology –
We live in a world now days where almost everything is done with the help of technology. From finding our way home to booking plane and movie tickets, from communicating with friends and family, to simple shopping, everything can be done through our phones, tablets or laptops. While all this truly makes these advancements in technology very appealing, there is one serious negative impact of this – The effect it has on children.
Many children have become seriously addicted to technological devices like cell phones, tablets and laptops. As parents, having a child who is spending most of his or her time in front of a television screen, a cell phone or a tablet, should be a very alarming thing. It has been discovered that children who spend multiple hours in front of a screen (be it that of a computer, tablet or cell phone) suffer major negative consequences such as increased social anxiety to low self esteem. These findings become more disturbing keeping in mind the findings of a Nielsen report that stated that 7 out of 10 parents let their kids play with their tablets.
As parents, it becomes important to do everything we can to make sure our children are not addicted to these tech gadgets. Here are four tips you can use to ensure that your child does not become a tech addict and instead follows a more healthy and balanced lifestyle –
Keep exposure time limited –
The very first thing that parents need to do is to limit their child’s exposure time vis-à-vis television and tablets. It is recommended that kids under the age of 2 should not have any interaction with TV, tablets or smart phones. Preschool age kids should be only allowed a total of 30 minutes every day whereas kindergartners should be allowed 45 minutes of screen time.
Use these gadgets to your own advantage –
Parents should use these gadgets as motivator to help them handle their kids. Instead of limiting access to these gadgets for acting poorly, parents can instead reward their children for doing something good by giving them limited access to these gadgets. This doesn’t mean that kids get access for every instance of good behavior, but rather get occasionally rewarded from time to time.
Embrace the tantrum –
Tantrums are something that is simply unavoidable. When it comes to kids, throwing tantrums comes naturally. Tantrums are a form of rebellion and pushing back that need to be dealt with accordingly. In these cases, scolding your child is not the right way to go. You should embrace the tantrum and make your kids anger the mutual enemy.