Gadget entrapment threatens children’s golden age

Nowadays, gadgets are often used as parents’ “main weapon” to calm their children. Content delivered in the most attractive way possible on a gadget effectively attracts children’s attention. The child is calm, the parents are happy. However, if allowed, this habit can have disastrous consequences for children’s development. Especially for a child who is in his golden age. Back to the typical VOI series of articles. In this edition of Let’s Give Your Children a Golden Age, we’ll discuss how to optimize your children’s golden age development.

Some time ago, a thread appeared on social media spread by Doctor KS Denta (@sdenta), who specialized in children. He revealed his conclusions about the slowdown in children’s development after learning about gadgets. Not only did he slow down, some couldn’t even speak, didn’t want to play with other children their age and had tantrums.

Denta explains that screen time through gadgets is more personal and causes children to focus almost 100 percent on the screen. Unlike the TV screen, which can be watched by the family, so control remains in the hands of adults.

According to Denta, current content is made as attractive as possible, which helps keep children’s attention on it. “The parents are happy because the child is calm. They buy a tablet and get cute protectors,” he wrote.

In fact, children under five years of age should need a variety of stimulation. Not only visual elements, but also sounds, smells, diverse and dynamic contacts with the environment in two directions and include physical and social activities.

Indeed, the number of children actively using devices is not small. Moreover, device use by children has increased during the Covid-19 pandemic.

As noted by the Central Statistical Office (BPS) on December 16, 2020, many young children already use gadgets. For example, toddlers aged 1-4 years reported that 25.9% of them actively played with gadgets, and even 3.5% of children under one year of age also started to become familiar with gadgets. Children aged 5-6 had the greatest access, 47.7%.

There is no denying that the benefits of using technology are so enormous for children. Originally used wisely and is still under supervision. However, like a double-edged knife, if the use of children’s devices is not properly controlled, it will cause various negative effects.

Negative influence

It should be noted that the very sensitive period of children’s growth is between 1 and 5 years, the so-called golden age. All aspects of intelligence such as intellectual, emotional and spiritual have undergone tremendous development.

In this golden age, information will be absorbed quickly. Children become followers and smarter than adults think. Moreover, this period is also the basis for shaping character, personality and cognitive abilities.

Research published in the journal Gadget Use in Early Childhood: New Challenges for Millennial Parents shows that when children start using gadgets, complaints arise. As many as 40 percent of children throw a fit if they don’t get a device.

Additionally, some research confirms that children who use the device for too long have speech problems, limited vocabulary, unclear articulation and problems with emotional development. Children and parents’ interaction is a key factor in stimulating children’s speaking ability to improve speaking fluency. When children use gadgets, communication with parents is limited. Therefore, lack of communication and interaction between parents and children can delay a child’s ability to speak fluently.

However, the same magazine described the purpose for which parents give their children gadgets. As many as 22% want children to be smarter, 21% want children not to be fussy, while most of them are different, 34%.

Parents who have no idea about the long-term effects of using the device allow their children to continue playing with it as a lure so that the child does not become picky. This happened to one of the children who was the subject of a study published in the journal The Effect of Gadget Toward Early Childhood Speaking Skill by Nirwana, A. Musda Mappapoleonro and Chairunnisa. Diary research showed that the child had limitations in communicating with the environment around him, including his parents. According to parents, a child can play with the device for up to 10 hours in one day, and it will last for two years. When a child reaches the age of 2.5 years, parents feel that his or her ability to speak is impaired.

“He is not like other children his age who can communicate with their parents. His reaction to those around him is also reduced. He lacks the ability to acquire language. In 2018, the child turned 3.5 years old and still had difficulty speaking. His vocabulary consists of only two words in one sentence,” the daily quotes.

Guidelines for the use of children’s devices

Gadget use these days can be hard to avoid, but that doesn’t mean it can’t be policed. The UK is the first country to introduce guidelines for parents to supervise and control their children’s device use. The Royal College of Pediatrics and Child Health describes how to manage screen time.

First, remain vigilant, but do not interrupt or judge your use of the device. It’s important to know what apps and networks your kids use, how they work, and what content they’re most likely to like. Moreover, children will learn more from examples than from instructions. This means that parents themselves also try to stop using the device for a while when they are near the child and continue interacting with it.

If you’ve really managed to get a handle on your kids’ devices, don’t let them get bored for too long and make them start looking for gadgets again. Moreover, children need regular play and interaction, so we hope that parents will provide space for them or encourage them to be more active through play and regular space to talk. Maybe parents could provide more interactive toys so that kids’ attention isn’t just on the device. Toys that can be used include building blocks, Legos or puzzles.

The guidelines also suggest that children should not be exposed to smartphone use an hour before bed so that their brains have time to rest and are not stimulated by screen light. Some devices have introduced a “night mode” that emits less blue light, but there is no evidence that this is effective. That’s why these guidelines insist that children stop using their devices completely one hour before bed.

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