It is certain that our age is the age of technology. The use of electronic devices such as televisions, tablets, computers and mobile phones has increased accordingly. Of course, it cannot be ignored that what is learned is more permanent because it makes our life easier in many ways, makes learning more enjoyable, especially when used for information purposes, and is supported by visuals.
In addition to its positive effects, excessive use of electronic devices also has negative effects on children’s cognitive, social-emotional, language development and even physical development.
Dear parents, it is possible to use all electronic devices correctly and under control.
As a parent, it is your responsibility to supervise the use of the child, to know the content of the programs, cartoons, games played and to direct them to more educational programs. Just as you do not leave your child alone in a room with a stranger, you should not leave them alone with an electronic device.
From time to time, the child who prefers to leave the child in front of the television to get things done, rest, or “I can’t take the tablet from your hand, what should I do?” Parents who expect their children to provide their own self-control are also frequently encountered. However, it should not be forgotten that preschool children do not have the ability to control themselves and impose limitations.
Negative Effects of Technology on Children
While they should spend more time interactively with their parents, children who prefer watching cartoons, which is a passive activity, do not interact much with the outside world. This situation affects the communication within the family negatively.
It can cause him to move away from creative activities and limit his imagination.
Normalizing violence is seen and increases the tendency towards violence. Children reflect the behaviors of the characters they identify with in their daily lives and naturally in their games. As a result, children who have harmful or disturbing behaviors towards their friends are frequently encountered in their games. It should not be forgotten that no child will want to play with another child who harms them.
It can cause attention and concentration problems depending on cognitive functions. Since the visuals on the screen are very fast, they can become bored and uninterested more quickly than children with limited television and tablet use in their activities and studies, because daily life does not have a fast-moving visuality.
It also negatively affects the ability to interpret and think.
In addition to existing developmental fears, children who are affected by the games they watch and play may cause fearful dreams, nightmares, and difficulty in sleeping.
Since preschool children cannot distinguish between dreams and reality, they are more affected by the characters in cartoons or games, and by scenes containing violence and aggression. In addition, wanting to experience the unrealistic features of some characters in his own life and mistaking himself for that character also poses serious risks for the child.
It negatively affects the language development of especially young children. Children who spend a long time in front of the television or tablet may have a delay in speech or the enrichment of their vocabulary is prevented.
Advice to Families
The television should not be on all the time at home. The television should be turned off, especially during the meal, in order to strengthen the communication within the family and to be aware of the food eaten.
Children under the age of 3 should not be allowed to watch television even for a limited time.
The television or tablet should not be used as a tool for the child to eat and sit quietly.
It should not be forgotten that especially young children need plenty of physical activity, not sitting still in front of the screen, in order to develop their muscles and release their energy.
Educational television programs should be preferred when the child will watch television. Even if it is educational, there should be a time limit.
Television and computer should not be placed in children’s rooms. The use of these electronic devices should be provided in the common area.
A time limit should definitely be set and this time limit should not exceed 15 minutes for tablet and computer use, 30 minutes for television or a maximum of 1 hour in pre-school period. The child should not be left in front of the television for hours.
The child should be accompanied by an adult, if possible, for cartoons watched and games played on a tablet/computer. Thus, even if there are negative scenes, the child can talk about the negative scene at that moment, and the child does not accept the information he receives from the television directly, and can construct the concepts of good-bad, right-wrong correctly. But when you leave the child in front of the screen without an adult, you never know exactly what he or she is exposed to.
The child should be guided and assisted in finding another occupation in his spare time. Physical games, playing puzzles, building and building games, various table activities (painting, playing with dough, etc.), helping parents in the kitchen, small responsibilities according to their age, creating a chat environment about how everyone’s day is going in the family Reading, books are ideal pursuits to spend free time.
What the child can and cannot watch, what games he can play should be discussed in advance and a determination should be made in this regard. It is of great importance for parents to be informed about the content of the cartoons they watch and the games they play.
The television should be turned off at least one hour before going to sleep.
In order for parents to be the right model, it will undoubtedly be beneficial for the child not to watch television all the time, and not to be interested in tablets and computers all the time.
Applying to a Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Specialist will definitely be the beginning of the biggest step that can be taken to eliminate this important problem.
