Babies come to the world utterly undefended, totally open as small sponges of being. Your baby will need a couple of years for its emotional buffer to be in place. The boundaries which can guard them against the complete emotional impact to interact or communicate with significant others will take some time. A baby being completely open can easily pick up anything that happens around them both energetically and emotionally alike. Along with intensely feeling their own feelings, they can also, at the same time, intensely feel their parents’ feelings. They experience the vibe within the home. Today the technology tsunami overwhelms them. As a parent, it is your responsibility to prevent them from drowning in it. It is up to you to use technology for kids to good effect.
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Impact of technology for kids on the 21st-century babies
Today our families are very different than those of the yesteryears. Families have long been held together by certain values which are being challenged today by technology. The impact of technology on modern families, unfortunately, is fracturing the very foundation and disintegrating these core values. Today parents, including homemakers, heavily depend on technology to make their lives more efficient and faster. This includes the use of technology for communication, transportation, and information, and many more aspects of daily life.
When your child will develop and build their identity, they will often be incapable to discern as to whether he is a lonely and shy child looking for a friend or is a killing machine that is seen on video games and television.
The entertainment technology for kids which includes TV, video games, the internet, and iPods of late has advanced rapidly. It has advanced so much so that families rarely noticed the noteworthy changes. We do not notice the impact it has on our lifestyle and family structure. Smartphones and tablets are effective gadgets to keep kids busy, engaged, and quiet. According to an article on CNN Health, kids under 9 spend more than 2 hours a day on screen. Today, mothers are using gadgets as a good bribery tool. They use gadgets to make their little ones eat, behave, do their potty, or quietly sit in the car ride. However, we are not realizing that too much screen time for kids is likely to have its trade-offs. Read on to find how exactly technology for kids takes a toll on your little ones.
Overuse of technology is injurious to a baby’s health
Technology for kids
Up to a certain limit, technology is fine. But its overuse or over-dependency can be injurious for your baby’s health. According to a report of Common Sense Media, time spent on mobile screen in children 8 years and younger, has increased from about 15 minutes a day in 2013 to 48 minutes a day now. They also found that 42% of children in the same age group now have their own tablet devices. This is a sharp increase from 7% in 2017 and less than 1% in 2011.
Results in Addiction
Too much dependency on technology can jeopardize your child’s overall development. When you engage your little one in different activities, the Smartphone can turn into a source of addiction. Such addiction will engage his/her mind and thereby captivate them for long maybe even to adulthood.
Get Less Sleep
Using a Smartphone in your bedroom will bring about comparatively less sleep, more fatigue, and later bedtimes. Your baby needs adequate sleep and his brain needs to rest for the following day’s activities. Screen time before bed will not help your child attain this. Therefore be sure to avoid gadgets away from the sleeping area. You can use bedtime to share experiences of the day or narrate a nice story to your kid. This also helps you bond and decreases stress in your kid.
Disturbed Brain Activity
Smartphones function primarily on an electromagnetic wave for every type of communication and this also includes internal as well. The human brain has its electric impulses that perform communication within the neural network. The waves coming from the Smartphone can penetrate easily into the little ones’ brain’s interior parts. This is because the little one does not possess a strong shield. In fact, speaking on a Smartphone even for 1-2 minutes can change the electrical activity present inside your child’s brain. There are many other adverse screen time effects. This includes behavioral tendencies, inability to focus properly, trouble learning new things, and a problem with mood patterns.
Weaken EyeSight
Exposure to Smartphone use excessively during your little one’s tender age will trigger screen time eye strain. Their eyes will have to adjust to the phone’s screen. This ultimately may lead to myopia and poor eyesight. This kind of eye strain may also lead to migraines and headaches at a young age. Remember that it is difficult for you to recognize eye problems in toddlers and young kids. If your child gets excessive screen time then be sure to get the eye checked.
Falls sick more often
A Smartphone after using it the entire day may contain germs especially on its display. This is more than that present in the toilet seat. Your baby can get those germs in his/her body as they touch the mobile frequently. This will increase the danger of germ exposure. Your kids will fall ill more often as your little one’s immune system will not be as strong as that of an adult.
Aggressive Behaviour
As per a study it has been proved that Smartphones can make kids more aggressive. Children today get annoyed, frustrated, and angry very easily. The worse part, they will not pay any heed to what others say. This is because they are too engrossed with the Smartphone. Your child may also stop interacting with you or other family members altogether. Being glued to the Smartphone screen for a long may impede your child’s social, emotional, and language development. This may also affect their development of insights, connecting with relationships, ways to know themselves, and also empathy.
Future Heart Disease
As per the American Heart Association, screen time can contribute to your little one’s future heart disease. Spending surplus time with the Smartphone will make your child sedentary that is related to being obese and overweight. This obesity will continue even in adulthood thereby turning into a risk factor. Your kid will have an increased risk of high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and other serious ailments.
Keep screen time on check
With the little ones connecting higher and higher with technology, you will experience your child disconnecting with you. They will also connect less with other family members and nature. Your toddler must be physically active and actively explore his environment. Help him tear away from the virtual world so that they may learn to appreciate the real world more. No wonder the American Academy of Pediatrics is against the use of screen time for children below 18 months. Even beyond 18 months media exposure should be limited to high-quality media of educational value.
The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recommends that parents develop a family media plan taking into account the health, education and entertainment needs of each child as well as the entire family.
What can you do as a Parent?
As a parent, you should know how much screen time for kids is ideal. Because when screen time limits face-to-face interaction, it will negatively affect your baby’s social skills. This may blind him/her to understand other people’s emotions. Emotional and social intelligence is crucial for your child to succeed in life. Overexposure to a smartphone or any screen device will have an impact on your child’s concentration, attention span, and also appetite control.
So, parents, it is a wake-up call for you. It is you and only you who can control your child’s excessive dependency on technology. Allow them to grow naturally. If you are a parent to a young child you should watch media together with your child. By doing so you can make your child understand what he/she is seeing and make sure that he is not exposed to something unacceptable. If you are a parent to an older kid or adolescent then also you have responsibilities. Keeping them away from media altogether is neither possible nor advisable. You need to help them learn to use social media and the internet responsibly. You can set expectations and boundaries so that your child has a safe and positive media experience.
Mothers if you have gone through such a phase with your child, then comment below. Let us know what have you done to limit your kid’s screen time. Let other mothers also benefit from your experiences. Share if you have liked our article.
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