What are gadgets for children? A source of valuable information and a catalyst for development? Or a factor of destabilizing the psyche and undermining physical health? Children and parents perceive modern gadgets differently. However, this has always been the case.
There was a time when young people reading on the street and in public transport were accused of disrespecting their elders by turning their backs to their books. Modern grandparents heard more than once in their childhood about the dangers of reading while eating or lying down. But continued to read with a flashlight under the covers at night and with a bun in hand during the school break. Modern moms and dads still remember well the push-button phones with no possibility to watch movies and play at https://22bet.com, and they had to hide their devices from the teacher in class. And teenagers live with their screens tucked away on tablets and smartphones.
Progress isn’t static. Gadgets are in kids’ lives forever. It’s impossible to refuse to use modern means of communication. But how to find the golden mean between the complete rejection of gadgets (which in our time would not be the most reasonable solution) and gadget addiction?
First, it’s worth defining the concepts. What is the harm of gadgets for children? Is it possible to organize a child’s life so that to completely eliminate the harmful effects of gadgets on children, leaving only the useful component? By the way, what is it?
Gadget children with the help of Internet services master foreign languages, comprehend school science, prepare for exams, and create their first successful businesses.
But this isn’t always the case. Having a tablet in the hands of a teenager is not in itself a factor in his development. To achieve high goals, it’s necessary to define them and organize the corresponding work.
This is the most important criterion that separates meaningless “plugging” into a tablet from consciously useful work with it.
How to Make a Gadget a Source of Benefit
It’s necessary to set a rule: when taking a tablet in his hands, the child should clearly understand why he is doing it, what result should be obtained and when. If it’s listening to a lecture, it’s necessary to understand what questions should be clarified by the end of the video. And the child should be able to voice the answers! If it’s an interactive lesson, it should be clear what skills are being trained and what is to be achieved in this lesson.
With such an approach the child is likely to part with the gadget quite easily at the end of the planned time interval. Work requires effort. And after strain, one wants to relax.
And here it’s important that the rest for the child isn’t associated exclusively with a gadget too!
How Long to Rest
Entertainment content has a right to exist. But it’s desirable to control its content. Not every author of an entertainment channel broadcasts useful, healthy ideas. And secondly, watching entertaining videos should not be unlimited. And the older the teenager gets, the more the ratio should be in favor of educational content and active work on the Internet.
What is the time frame for interaction with gadgets for children and teens? It depends on the age.
Until the age of two, it is best for children to do without gadgets at all. There will be no benefit to infants, and damage can be done – to the eyes, psyche, and posture. After two years, a smartphone or tablet with cartoons or interactive videos can be present in kids’ lives for no more than 15 minutes a day. By age 5, this time can be increased to 1 hour in total during the day. By age 10, up to 2 hours. By age 15, up to 3.
Exceeding these norms, and especially uncontrolled viewing of content that does not require brainwork is fraught with negative effects of gadgets on children’s health and development: vision and posture are damaged, ability to concentrate weakens, memory suffers, development of thinking ability is retarded.
Once again, during the specified time a teenager shouldn’t use an electronic device only to watch entertaining (and often quite lowbrow) videos on YouTube or TikTok. The balance should be in the direction of developmental benefits.
Let Life Be More Interesting Than Gadgets
And yet – can children do without gadgets completely? Our practice shows that yes! In our camp we don’t take away smartphones and tablets from the kids, but they often stay in their nightstands for the whole shift. And parents sometimes even worry, about not seeing their children online most of the day.
But there is nothing to worry about. It’s time to rejoice! Teachers just found a way to get teenagers involved in different kinds of activities, and organize joint activities – and the gadget lost in this competitive battle.
We recommend the same method to parents. Joint family activities and weekends spent together in the fresh air are the best way to bring children back to real life from online.
Simply banning them from using a tablet is not the best way to solve the problem. But if adults manage to direct the teenager’s attention to alternative ways to fill his leisure time – visiting sports sections, participation in social projects, active outdoor games, board games with friends, the first experiments in earning money – then the benefit will be not only for the development of the child, but also to strengthen relationships within the family.
Parents who themselves lead a socially active lifestyle and involve their children in it become role models for the rest of their lives. Children sincerely respect adults with whom they can do useful things, with whom they can seek advice and share their joy.
Communicate with your children as much as possible. Take part in their life. Allocate time for this. And we on our part will continue to develop new programs so that every teenager could find in our camp something to his/her liking, which, probably, will become his/her life’s work in the end.
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