Last week, I wrote about digital addiction and some behavioral measures in adults. Let's deal with this issue specifically for children
Digital addiction develops insidiously because technological tools are always at hand
What the neurobiological harms of cigarette, substance and gambling addictions are, the harms of digital addiction are the same.
Uncontrolled use of digital objects can serve as a seed for future addictions in children. The child may switch to substance or other addictions in adolescence and adulthood.
Children cannot make sense of abstract concepts, they can make sense of concrete concepts. This is so until the age of 12-13. For this reason, children perceive what they are with in the digital object as truth. They may think that those who die in war games are real death. When this is repeated, neurotic problems may occur in children.
It is also thought that one of the reasons for the increase in attention deficit and hyperactivity disorders and autism disorders recently is the increase in children's relationships with digital objects.
First of all, we should not allow our children to be constantly involved with digital objects in their hands, but if we want to take something from the child's hand, we have to give something else.
As Bruce Alexander said, "It's not a substance that causes addiction, it's the lack of something else."
1-The use of devices to console and calm the child:
We should raise our children patiently and not give digital objects into their hands to gain time or make them do what we want.
2-Domestic unrest:
p>If there is unrest in the family, the child will seek that peace in the digital object. We should create a warm family climate in our homes.
3-Unconscious parental attitudes:
We should not be the relaxed parent type. We should know how to set limits for our children and apply it.
4-Unknown methods of spending time efficiently:
An activity list can be prepared by asking the child's opinion. We have to sit down and talk with the child. If we give the child the role of active participant our work becomes easier and as a secondary gain, the child gains self-esteem and develops a sense of belonging.
5- Areas of use:
Children should use digital objects in common areas. We should never let them use it alone in their rooms
6-Lack of self-esteem:
If children cannot gain their self-esteem within the family, they may tend to seek it in games. The child who succeeds in the game gains a false self-esteem. When you fail the game, the probability of having self-confidence problems increases. We should definitely respect our children as individuals and make them feel that they are a part of the family.
Since we are at home during the pandemic period, we can turn to traditional domestic games in order to prevent digitalization a bit. We can play games that entertain while making children think.
We should include chess and intelligence games. Games can be played from the age of 4-5 in order to control metacognition and executive thinking skills.
We should program our family's routine during the day and take care to implement activity lists. We can organize events such as 1 hour of play, 1 hour of class, 1 hour of book reading activity, in which all members of the family will participate. The first caregiver is the mother, but the father should also be involved in the process. One of the most important elements of a competent parenting attitude is the correct implementation of parental roles.
In short, let's be conscious parents and conscious families about the spiritual development of our children and the dangers that await them, let's not push them to diseases with our own hands.
Patience is our greatest strength in raising children!
I wish you a healthy week.
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