Now, it is a fact that screens are a very important part of our daily lives, and they are very impressive, so it is inevitable that our children learn about them very quickly, easily, and naturally.
Many parents' hands over mobile phones to their children
at a very young age to entertain them. We must have witnessed many such
incidents when a child may not even be one or two years old, but he knows that
swiping on the phone turns on the light.
Mobile screens very quickly make children addicted to
them, and due to this, such changes occur in the minds of children that we are
slowly learning about.
The habit of using mobile phones among young children in
the world, including Pakistan, has had many effects on their behavior. The
parent’s habits of giving mobile phones to children aged 12 and below has not
only affected their health but has also increased the factor of stubbornness
and mental stress in them.
A Pakistani woman is talking about her six-year-old
son request to get his own phone. She says, “He told me, ‘Mama, I want my own
phone.’ I not only forbade him, but I was shocked to hear it.”
She adds, “But it is no longer so easy for children to
say no to such things because when they see the same thing with their peers
around them, they feel that their parents are abusing them or that they do not
love them.”
She says that whenever she asks her son to stop
playing games on his mobile or take back his mobile, he gets irritable.
“He gets very moody. He would start crying. If you
take away the mobile or stop playing games, he will misbehave. He would get
angry.”
But this is not just a story of one family; nowadays,
all parents seem to be worried about the increase in screen time of their
children.
The Pakistan Pediatric Association said, 80% of
children between the ages of six and eighteen in Pakistan spend four to six
hours a day watching screens. These include mobile phones, video games, and
computers.
The report indicates that due to watching so many
screens, 30 percent of children have weak near vision, while 50% of children
complain of blurred vision, headaches, and eye pain.
Affecting Studies and Health, Mental Stress also Occurs
Dr. Nosheen Kazmi, a psychiatrist affiliated with
Shifa International Hospital in Islamabad, the capital of Pakistan, says that
addiction to mobile phones and games has created many problems in children, and
there are often cases where parents appear helpless and children suffer from
depression.
She said that children do not realize the time spent
on screens and their “study and health are affected, as well as mental stress.”
She says that “even if you take these mobile phones
and games away from children at this time, their sleep is still not very good.
In addition, their eyesight is impaired, their physical health is affected, and
their ability to focus on something is decreasing.”
Dr. Nosheen says that many children come to us with
depression, and it has been seen that these children have too much screen time.
During the Coronavirus epidemic, due to the increased
screen time of children, it has been seen that they have reduced socialization
by going back to school. There has been a decrease in the tendency to make
friends.’
She says, ‘I have two or three cases in which O-level
children became so addicted to games that they could not start their studies
even after going to school several times.’
Regarding the mental effects of increased screen time,
psychologist Dr. Pankaj Kumar says, ‘According to research, if children or
adolescents spend more than six to seven hours on screens, they can have
psychological effects. This can lead to problems like lack of self-control,
lack of curiosity, lack of emotional stability, lack of concentration, and not
being able to make friends easily.’
He adds that, however, it also depends on what they are watching on the screen, whether they are watching films, videos, games, social media, or reading something. “The effect may vary from child to child.”
Researchers have found that students who send or
receive text messages during class do worse on exams and are less able to
perform well on tasks that require attention.
Children learn to use their phones from their parents.
According to a European report on the use of digital technology in children
from birth to eight years, this age group does not understand the risks, but
children are imitating their parents.
Nowadays, many parents are quite worried about whether
they should give their children smartphones or keep them away from them as long
as possible.
Although we do not have any confirmed and clear
evidence that access to smartphones or social media generally hurts children's
mental health, however, most of the research so far has been conducted on
teenage boys and girls. The evidence suggests that children are more vulnerable
to the negative effects of smartphones and social media during certain months
and years of mental development.
Most experts agree that when deciding whether your
child is ready for a smartphone, we should keep all factors in mind and also
think about what we as parents should do after giving a smartphone to a child.
According to European study on the use of technology
in children from birth to eight years of age found that children of this age
have ‘no or very little understanding of the dangers of the Internet’ and if we
talk about the clear effects of smartphones and social media on children older
than this age, then we also have no solid evidence in this regard.
Dr. Nousheen Kazmi says that it is the responsibility
of parents to know how to use technology themselves.
This means the child should be told which app he can
use and how long he can use it. If the parents do not give the child free rein
from the beginning, then there will be no problem. If the six hours of screen
time cannot be reduced to two hours over time, it is better to keep this in
mind from the beginning. A password should be set, a timer should be set, and children
should be allowed to create social media accounts, keeping in mind the age.’
Dr. Nousheen says a big problem is that, according to
the child’s age, he should be allowed to view or access content. She believes
that internet safety should be discussed in schools and at home so that
children are aware.
We have also had cases where young boys and girls have
seen inappropriate content that was disturbing to them, and they are facing
depression. They have faced bullying for talking to the wrong people.’
Are you
addicted to your smartphone?
Experts say that if you are concerned that you are
addicted to your mobile phone, here are some early signs:
·
Constantly
looking at your phone for no reason.
·
Feeling anxious
or restless at the thought of being without your phone.
·
Prioritizing time
on your phone over social relationships.
·
Waking up in the
middle of the night to check your smartphone.
·
Decreasing
academic or work performance by spending too much time on your phone.
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