Parenting the Digital Generation
How many times have we spotted a kid with their head down, back hunched, and eyes glued to the screen of a smartphone or a tablet? Before the kid begins to throw a tantrum or shows signs of boredom, they are given the device to distract themselves and have something to keep themselves busy with!
This scenario is quite commonplace in today’s world. Not only is digital entertainment becoming a convenient excuse to curb children’s frequent mood swings, it is also a cause for their growing disinterest in the world outside of their screens. There is a term for this and it’s called “digital addiction”, a common 21st century phenomenon that parents are experiencing with their children being “digital natives”; owing to the current technology being the primary means for communication, learning, creative expression, connectivity, and more.
However, it must be kept in mind that technology itself is not the enemy. Gadgets and devices are not necessarily bad, considering how useful they are as sources of learning, research, entertainment, keeping abreast with everyday affairs, trends, and development, collaboration and so on. However, as with everything, balance is the key word here. Akin to most other resources like food for example, moderation in usage, and also a focus on the kind of media content being consumed is what ultimately accounts for the effect of screen time on a child’s overall well-being.
Researchers across the globe have touted the consequential effects of digital dependency on children’s mental health and personality development- stating that both ends of the spectrum i.e. high and low exposure correspond to their well-being in an “Inverted U-Pattern”. This data points towards striking a “middle ground” in digital consumption as being optimum when it comes to utilizing media to the advantage of our children; their cognitive growth and behavioral patterns.
When introduced at the right age and in the right way, digital media can help your child connect, educate himself and also form friendships through networking. They can develop varied interests in sports, music, games, art, other hobbies by getting inspired through online tutorials, socializing, getting encouraged to express themselves creatively, and also discover more confidence by associating with peers who have similar interests.
Sometimes, children may hold more fascination for the real world and show little to no interest in digital media. Unless their reluctance and disinterest to socialize virtually on the internet is coupled with issues of low self-confidence, social anxiety and loneliness- parents need not be concerned. It might just be that your child’s curiosity is more inclined towards the natural world, and that is absolutely wonderful! However, parents need to be better aware of their child’s behavior if their reason for avoidance or low usage of social media is stemming from a deeper cause such as feeling like a ‘misfit’ among their peers, being a target of cyber bullying or even simply being uneducated about the digital landscape altogether.
Whilst low usage of digital media that is healthy enough to serve its purpose is most favorable, an absolute disconnect with the internet may not be an ideal learning environment for your child. A reasonable amount of interaction with the online world is non-negotiable today in order to navigate the current digital world effectively; to be at par with the technology that defines the future of our reality. Discovering people and sources of inspiration from all over the globe, becoming more culturally educated and refined early on through online exposure to diverse content, and becoming more informed and aware of the world in general are all conducive to broadening the vistas of your child’s mind and educating him beyond what he or she learns at home or in the classroom.
However, whilst all these positive effects of social media are enough to ensure an all-rounded personality development, it is very easy for children to cross the line and start becoming negatively impacted by an increased or ‘wrong’ exposure to the same. Inability to stay focused, mood swings, insomnia, poor vision, bad posture, headaches, loneliness, being dishonest about the extent of their screen time, being sedentary, etc are a few of them. Long term and excessive usage has also been reported as damaging to certain parts of the brain. When digital dependency starts interfering with a child’s normal behavior and interest in the outside world, people, and events- that’s when it starts becoming counter-productive. Then, instead of promoting creativity and knowledge in children, it starts encouraging mediocrity.
Luckily, as parents we can teach our children to learn ‘healthy internet behavior’ and help them become more digitally knowledgeable instead of digitally enslaved.
- Set certain house rules regarding timings and locations that are ‘digitally restrictive’. This can include not using any gadgets during meal times or any other recreation time with the family. Also, spaces like the dining area, and bedrooms can be established as ‘non-digital’ spaces for the children to consciously interact with family members and find other means of entertainment like books, music, indoor games, etc.
- Encourage use of digital media in a way that it promotes their creative learning abilities, in a healthy moderation. It is also prudent to teach your children to enjoy activities that do not involve any screen time so that their idea of fun and distraction is not solely limited to digital entertainment. Parents must lead by example and demonstrate healthy ways to cope with feelings of boredom and show how ‘free time’ can be used constructively performing other activities as well.
- As parents we must have a consistent dialogue with our children about what they see or hear on the internet. We cannot always keep a watch on what they come across, so educating and informing them along the way is absolutely advisable. In case they see anything absurd or disturbing, we must point it out to them as harmful, and likewise we must also bring to attention any example of good behavior or actions that they view on the screen as something to be encouraged and followed.
- Lastly, educating your child about ‘digital citizenship’ as they grow up and the safety rules and regulations therein will always ensure that they are respectful to others both online and offline and are also careful about their own conduct.
It must be kept in mind that technology is an environment to facilitate all kinds of activities today- ranging from work, to socializing, to entertainment. Exposure to it is not only inevitable, but necessary even-all within a certain limit.
If we succeed in breeding awareness in our children about what technology really is- and how it is intentionally designed and engineered to serve the user- we have better chances of letting our children ‘manipulate’ these devices to their own advantage, rather than becoming addicted to them.
Therefore, we can conclude that the digital devices themselves aren’t the sole reason for an increased dependency on them. It is more so the behavior and habits adopted by our children towards them, including their understanding of the role that technology ought to play in their lives. Digital dependency in excess is what results in having technology take over control of our lives beyond the purpose that it was originally meant to serve. However, teaching our kids to be digitally dependent in the right amount, for the right reasons- is to be “digitally literate”. This is the optimum balance we need to strive for!