Dilemma of Gadget Addiction Towards the Children of the Newest Generation
- nicole laquihon
- Jan 21, 2022
- 4 min read
Updated: Jan 22, 2022
By Lance Gabrielle Tavera on January 21, 2022
Image Source: https://cdn.cdnparenting.com/articles/2018/09/Very-Important-Things-Parents-MUST-Do-To-Prevent-Gadget-Addiction-in-Kids-1.jpg
The issue regarding technology addiction is very rampant in the recent years, specifically that technologies nowadays dominate our daily routine as a human being. It goes without saying that we all depend our lives in the modern technologies, even the entertainment and gratification of our children.
We should always take it into consideration that the toddlers and kids are not immune to technology addiction, even the toddlers and young ones also depend on their daily routine to these technologies.
They tend to explore the media every time.
Back in 2018, there were a few reports saying that few children ages from 5 to 10 years old were involved in the so called “Blue Whale” and Momo Challenge, that caused them to hurt others and themselves. However, that does not stop there. There were times that it caused them to commit suicide. The Department of Education and the Philippine National Police already did their work, and everyone is hoping for it to not happen again.
In 2016, statistics say that children ages from 8 to 10 years old spend around 8 hours a day. Technology eats one-third of their hours in a day, causing them to be exposed to technologies and radiation that is not good for anyone, regardless of the age.
In the same source, it says that 65% of the children ages 0 to 9 years old use YouTube and 21% of them use Facebook. If we look at it, we from the Generation Z (Born in the year 1997-2012), are only taught how to use modern technology almost around 10 years old but we still cannot live in a day without our mobile phones or any other gadgets.
What I am afraid of is the possibility that the youth in the future will depend on technologies. These statistics are still from 2016, the majority of the children from these statistics were born in our generation. The sad thing is, it could have been worse if the same research will be conducted again by using the children from the current generations as their participants.
From my personal observation (through my cousins), toddlers highly depend on their entertainment from social media and online applications already. It seems like they cannot live their day without scrolling in YouTube and TikTok, without playing Minecraft and Roblox, and the worst things is, it is alright for them to continuously do that for the rest of the day. When their parents and older relatives tried to steal the gadgets from them, they will explode like a bomb in tears and cry like they will never be happy anymore without their gadgets.
Even without the health outbreak, before the pandemic, we can’t already see the children play some outdoor activities. We were not able to see them smile genuinely because of the happiness that they felt when they are enjoying the company of their neighbors. Even before, they were not going outside to play with their friends like basketball and any other games. It seems like the children of the newest generation are not affected by the pandemic after all.
These are the few major dilemmas of abusing the usage of technology. Yes, you read it straight from here. Even children are now abusing the use of social media and modern technologies, without them even realizing.
Because of this, parents started worrying about the health of their children. That is why we are here, to give many recommendations on how these will be solved little by little. Here is the list:
Expose them to some games and activities that can be conducted at home. Build and provide even a small area for them where they will be enticed to play some physical activities like basketball, badminton, table tennis, and even just running.
Practice them to spend a limited time on gadgets, let’s say a maximum of 6 hours at first then little by little it will be reduced to at least 3 hours a day.
Always remind them not to skip their meal. Eat at the right time and right amount. Consider the food that they are going to eat, make sure that it will be healthy.
Make sure that the children will get enough sleep, children should get 7 to 8 hours of sleep regularly.
Monitor what sites they are going to, what videos and apps they are playing, and teach them what are the applications that should not be clicked.
Have some family bonding time to have a healthy relationship with your children. Spending quality time with them makes them forget about gadgets.
It is not bad to be strict sometimes. Crying can’t kill a child. If children already spent most of their time, it is not bad if you will stop them with force.
Be a responsible parent. Know what is the best for your children and do not abuse the use of modern technology yourself. Be a role model to your children because they tend to follow the actions of anybody older to them.
Give some sanctions every time they will abuse the use of their gadgets. Confiscate it for days if needed.
Practice them to read books and let them learn the lessons that they should learn as a child.
Modern technologies have made our life easier, indeed. No question about that. But we should always be a responsible individual, still practice the accustomed traditions in terms of entertainment and having some fun.
As a parent, as an older brother or sister, and as a concerned citizen of our community, we should teach them that exposure to outdoor activities is much better than exposing the children to technologies.
But due to the pandemic, outdoor activities are not advisable anymore. What we should advocate is to have a safe and secure place in their household so that they will be able to be physically healthy and safe from any technological harm.
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