The effect of the tablet on the child: 10 reasons to say “NO” to the tablet!

Tablet computers and smartphones are well-established in everyday life. Along with adults, up to 90% of children also regularly use these devices. Tablets can bring not only benefits, but also serious harm to kids and adolescents. There are 10 reasons why you should protect your child from them.

The modern world is called the information age. It is impossible to imagine our life without smartphones, tablets and computers.

According to research, the number of children regularly using tablets in developed countries reaches 90%! Along with the undoubted benefits, they also bring tremendous harm to children.

Gadgets have been widely used in Russia relatively recently, so the study of their effect on children has just begun. Whereas in the West, in particular, in the USA, such studies have been conducted for quite some time.

According to children's psychotherapists, many parents give their child a variety of devices from 2 years old, and even earlier. At 3-4 years old, such children prefer tablets to other toys.

What harms the excessive use of smartphones and tablets for a child? 10 reasons to protect communication with gadgets:

1. It harms physical health.

• With prolonged use of the tablet the vision of the child is impaired. Constant peering at the screen leads to myopia, and eye strain leads to their dryness. This threatens with subsequent inflammation and infection;
• Because the child is in the same position for a long time, bowing his head down, posture worsens, spinal curvature may develop (the cervical region is especially affected);
• As a result of a long holding of the gadget in the hands, the monotonous movement of the fingers on the screen, pathology of the hands may occur: sprain, tendon problems, especially the thumb;
• Possible impaired coordination between brain signals and hand movements;
• This can cause obesity. With prolonged use of the tablet, the child decreases its motor activity. Often, sticking to a tablet, likes to feast on something tasty. According to research by American scientists, children who are allowed to access the Internet from their bedroom are 30% more likely to be overweight.

2. This affects the relationship between the child and the parents.

Scientists say that in the period from birth to two years, the brain of a child should increase three times. New neurons form faster if the child constantly communicates with parents, hears their voice. Due to this, connections are established in the brain that in the future help to establish emotional contacts with other people.

When parents give the child a tablet in their hands, freeing up time for other things, the time spent with the baby will inevitably be reduced, communication between them will suffer.

Children who spend hours sitting on gadgets have problems with the formation of nerve connections in the brain.This affects their ability to concentrate on another person, reduces self-esteem. Therefore, they may have difficulty establishing personal relationships in adulthood.

3. This can be addictive.

Psychiatry professor Gary Small calls a remarkable property of technology: they constantly provide the opportunity to do and get something new in the virtual world. This is very difficult to refuse, especially for children.

After all, it’s so cool to get the result you want with the touch of a finger on the display. Kids instantly get used to it. Unlike adults, they do not know how to restrain their impulses and control desires. Wanted - received. Tablets and smartphones do not teach children self-control, but, on the contrary, make it possible not to limit themselves in their desires. This causes a drug-like addiction.

4. It speeds up children's tantrums

The tablet very quickly turns into a child’s favorite toy, which he does not want to part with. When you take it from him, explosions of hysteria and indignation are inevitable. The kid cannot reconcile with it, and in every possible way demonstrates his rage. Therefore, think well, giving the child a gadget: is there a temporary respite for the subsequent tantrums?

Dr. Jenny Redeschi emphasizes that devices are not the best way to calm and distract a child, because they do not provide him with the opportunity to form internal mechanisms of self-regulation.

5. It makes sleep worse

Games on the tablet and smartphone before bedtime excite the baby’s nervous system, leading to difficulty falling asleep, to restless sleep at night.

The light emitted from the screen inhibits the production of the hormone melatonin, warns neurologist Ann MarieChan. This leads to a shift in the circadian rhythms of a person, slows down the cycle of sleep and wakefulness. Do not allow your child to play on the tablet in the evening, and especially before bedtime. Replace them with calm cooperative games, reading books.

READ ALSO: 10 signs of children's addiction to computer games and the Internet: harm from a computer

6. It causes learning difficulties

Studies confirm that children who are overly addicted to devices learn worse. Their attention worsens, they cannot concentrate, they are constantly distracted. There may be problems with memory, imagination, imagination.

The free thought process suffers, which is replaced by ready-made answers of virtual reality. The child does not feel the need to comprehend the events of real life himself. The speed of development of sensorimotor and visual-motor skills, without which learning is impossible, suffers from this.

Finally, the desire to learn, to acquire knowledge itself simply disappears. Learning motivation is reduced.

7. This does not develop the ability to communicate.

With the active use of smartphones and tablets, live communication is supplanted by virtual, especially among adolescents. When communicating on-line, one does not see a person’s face, his facial expressions, gestures, or poses that can say a lot about emotions. This makes it impossible to develop the social skills necessary for successful interaction with people.

Virtual communication deprives the child of the opportunity to see the reaction of another person, which means that it does not allow him to think about the consequences of his words and actions.

8. It can cause mental disorders.

Psychologists caution that a large amount of time spent by a child on a tablet or smartphone contributes to mental disorders. Children may experience depression, neurosis, increased anxiety, lack of attachment to parents.

Easily accessible information on the Internet that does not correspond to the age of the child can lead to psychosis, impaired behavior, early sexual desire.

When communicating on social networks, there is a high probability of stumbling upon mentally ill people, pedophiles.

9. It increases children's aggressiveness.

The modern world is aggressive and cruel. Children who are not limited in their use of gadgets become even more aggressive. After all, computer heroes do not feel pain and suffering, they do not need to empathize and sympathize.

A huge number of games provokes child cruelty, reduce sensitivity to violence. When blood flows on the screen, it starts to seem like it's normal. Many children carry this attitude into real life. They begin to mock peers, beat the weaker. To date, there are many cases when adolescents take up arms and shoot people.

10. This leads to social anxiety.

Excessive enthusiasm for computer devices does not make it possible to develop the ability to communicate and improve communication skills. This leads to the fact that children begin to experience anxiety in situations requiring lively communication. They do not know where to start a conversation, how to maintain a conversation, to behave in the company of other people. Often this causes fear, self-doubt, nervousness. Teenagers begin to avoid such situations, even more immersed in a virtual world where you do not need to communicate with a living person. It turns out a vicious circle.

So is it worth giving your child a tablet or smartphone? To decide, of course, to parents. The pluses of such devices are undoubted. They can help in learning, develop certain skills, enrich the knowledge of the child. But adults need to use such assistants very carefully. Because very quickly from a good friend, a tablet can become their worst enemy.

READ ALSO:

• The effect of modern gadgets on children (pros and cons)
• How does the internet affect a child
• How do we lose our children

Children in the tablet. Gadgets cause psychological dependence in children. How to avoid it?

[sc: rsa]

Masha Kurochkina and Martha talk about how to build a healthy relationship between a child and gadgets. And Masha does a small review on children's gaming applications.