Why giving your child a smartphone is dangerous?
Smartphones were invented to be smart and help us well informed, connected, and essentially be aware of what is going on in the world making the world a smaller place. It is a fact that smartphones changed our lives in a great way. But, in terms of using our smartphone, we don’t have to look at research and studies just look around you when you are on a train, public places even if you are standing in a queue everybody is going to be scrolling their smartphone.
But there are also ways that smartphone has impacted lives that you may be not aware of. You see, our brain has a natural chemical response to smartphones. It’s a release of the chemical in the brain called dopamine. Dopamine is the chemical that makes you feel good. But that’s not actually the case. Dopamine is the chemical that’s responsible for our seeking. So we look for something, and we find it, and we get a dopamine release. And we look for something else, we get another dopamine release. This is what’s known as, again, the dopamine loop.
How smartphones affect children?
Nowadays, children are addicted to using smartphones. They face higher health risks. Some of the side effects of smartphone addiction in children are:
- Headache
- Memory loss
- Pain in the eyes
- A decrease in their academic performance, and so on.
Around 50% of teenagers in the world, 84% of which say it is difficult for them to imagine a day without their smartphone. Smartphone addiction is getting almost as dangerous as drug addiction. Not be able to see immediate health problems makes it more difficult to understand how dangerous it is. The side effects of smartphone use are usually underrated because we use them for many purposes on a daily basis.
According to research conducted by the Sand Diego State University, excessive use of smartphones affects the emotional wellbeing and mental health of children between ages 2 and 17. Spending too much time watching videos, playing games, texting incessantly, and accessing age-inappropriate content makes them live in a virtual world. Addiction to digital technology gives children a hard time to handle themselves in the real world and control their emotions.
Parents are the Main Culprit?
These days most of the parents are busy with their work and they hardly have any energy left when they reach home so the easiest thing to do is giving their smartphone to their children. Most parents use their smartphones as a distraction technique, but others believe it can make their children smarter. Giving a smartphone to children between ages 2 and 5 to keep them occupied and control their tantrums will make them dependent on these devices. That’s why taking away these devices can trigger symptoms similar to narcotic withdrawal.
they are giving smartphones during mealtime, night time, and in the evening also. It starts with 30 minutes and easily reaches up to 7-8 hours per day. Giving your child a smartphone is like “giving them a gram of cocaine”, a top addiction therapist has warned.
How to Help Children Get Over Smartphone Addiction?
1. Introduce the Old-School Games
Nowadays, children rarely go outside to play hopscotch, hide and seek, playhouse or sing songs. They are too busy playing Temple’ Run instead of tag, chess against the computer instead of playing with a real friend, or Legos on their tablets instead of arranging real blocks.
Children live in an age where everything has gone digital, but it’s your responsibility to introduce them to the old-school game tools you have at home. You can even ask other parents to join you and let children try them out together. It may take time and patience, but your child will feel the benefits of spending some quality time with friends or you as their parent. You can play cards with them and it may become their favorite activity just because they get to spend more time with you. Soon, they will start using their smartphones less often than before. Parents shouldn’t give their small children smartphones at all, but they can give them a tablet-only at set times of the day.
2. Talk to Your Children
It’s important to talk to your children about the side effects of smartphone addiction. They are not aware of how dangerous it can be, so sit them down and explain to them that they may have a difficult time relating to real people and friends later in life. Encourage them to spend more time with their friends and play physical games.
3. Be an Example
Make sure you limit the use of your smartphone in front of your children to teach them to do the same thing. Don’t let your child play scrabble or arrange Legos while you scroll down your Facebook wall. Keep in mind that your mental health is also affected by the way you use your phone.
4. Screen Time Schedule
Arrange a specific time of the day when your child is allowed to use digital gadgets and smartphones. Older children should spend up to three hours a day on their phones, while little children should spend a couple of hours a day on video games or tablets. Get hold of digital gadgets and smartphones and release them only at the specific screen time schedules.
It may take some time, but you’ll notice your child falling into a healthier lifestyle and not touching a smartphone for five hours. You couldn’t ask for more in the digital era we’re living.