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Technology and electronic devices can be a double-edged sword for children. While it offers a variety of benefits, such as improved learning opportunities, it can also pose a few dangers. Therefore, it becomes the responsibility of the parents and caregivers to monitor their children’s technology time, use their online presence and assist them as they navigate the digital space.
Educational Psychologist Yasmin Omar suggests limiting screen time and setting boundaries which will allow children to interact and reconnect emotionally with the natural world and people in their surroundings. Additionally, parents spending time with their children teaches valuable social and life skills. Moreover, she advocates for parents to schedule monotonous activities such as chores.
The Effects Screen Time Has on Children
Screen time refers to the time spent using and looking at electronics such as smartphones, TV and computers. Though these devices are necessary for much of our daily lives, they can negatively impact the development and well-being of children and adults.
Omar said digital devices “bombard the senses”, a true statement for anyone who sits in front of a computer all day and experiences the effect the screen can have on the mind and body.
It is no different for a child who experiences the same levels of discomfort. Too much screen time can be dangerous for children. It can affect cognitive and social development and sleeping patterns, and behaviour.
“Your brain works like a muscle. The more you give it, the more it can take and adapt. If you are giving a child a digital [device] to sit and look at, your tablets and your phone, you are training the child’s brain to just look at that and not take in anything else. Then when your child complains that they are bored and cannot sit still for a very long time, you need to question what the brain has been accustomed to.”
Therefore, Omar advises children aged six to 17 have less than two hours of recreational screen time daily. Any child younger than six should have zero screen time.
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Find a Balance Between Offline and Online Activities
While technology is an essential part of daily life and offers a variety of educational, informative and entertainment benefits, excessive exposure can be harmful. That’s why parents and caregivers need to find a balance which can mitigate the dangers.
Omar said that if electronic devices are used for educational purposes, parents and children must practically engage with the lessons. Furthermore, they must not neglect their mental and physical health. They need to participate in sports and activities which stimulate creativity.
By its very definition, engaging with technology and electronic devices is a very solitary endeavour. Though children and young adults are part of online communities, Omar stresses the importance of developing acceptable social behaviour and skills.
“With a digital individual, they find it very difficult to engage with a real person. Social skills are learned from interacting with one another. We were not put on this earth to be in a room looking at a screen. We were put in groups in families in social settings so that we interact with one another and learn from one another … You do not get on the digital format that all comes from social interaction. Actual interaction with another human, not a digital [person] or a robot.”
