In today’s world we are blessed with many things, modern technology being the most obvious among them.
With smartphones and other digital devices, people’s lives are no doubt made easier, but it is also possible to get lost in all these givens of modern age and forget how to live without them. For the first time in history, it can be said that older generations are at advantage and younger generations are those who could suffer from digital innovations without knowing what it means to be free and functional without them.
The dangers of uncontrolled smartphone use
Unfortunately, more and more kids are considered to be smartphone-obsessed. While smartphones, tablets and other gadgets can serve an excellent purpose when it comes to education and learning motivation at early age, if left unattended with complete freedom to use these gadgets as they like and for how long they like, kids can become socially awkward by the time they hit school age.
If the period of social development is spent indoors with smartphone as an only friend, kids will have a lot of trouble with social anxiety and readiness to communicate and open to others, thus missing on experiences that represent the core of being human.
Evident problems nowadays
It is obvious that things have already took a bad turn, with youngsters fighting over popularity on Internet, using social networks, selfies, number of likes and followers, etc. as a way to get acknowledged and accepted by others who feel the same as them. For example, taking a selfie should be something fun to do in a moment of joy, but now its existence has outgrown itself, making people and, worse, young kids feel pressured to show off how interesting their life is to people they do not even know. If not treated as a means of fun and useful tool in general, smartphones can lead a young and insecure person to the life of pretence and inability to express feelings and opinions freely.
Even if one is not aware of this, the stress is bound to accumulate because it is basic human need to show individuality.
Preschool services can help
Parents who are busy with their work and do not have time or energy to spend every free hour with their kids or do not have a way to control them when they are at work should definitely think about benefits a child could have when enrolled at child care centres that are actually there to help children cope with different situations, focus on improving social and communication skills and work tirelessly to provide kids with a way to find something they like doing. If it gets clear that a child is spending more and more time with his/her smartphone, professional teachers are there specifically to show and involve kids with other ‘old-school’ activities and prepare them for a life full of social interactions.
Never have there been a better way for a person to grow than through meetings and talks with other people.
There should be time for everything
No parent should try to ban their children from using technology, since it is all around us and it is very likely that children will need to use it in their schools and later in life at their jobs. Therefore, in order to avoid complete withdrawal from social interactions and the false feeling that a smartphone is all they need, parents have to devote time to their children and provide them with enough opportunities to experience the beauty of spending time with other people and exploring the world out of the safety of digital device, while constantly explaining what smartphones should be used for.
For example, even games on tablets and phones can prove to be educational and therefore it is necessary that parents do their research. Fun pastimes such as Funbrain games, Babble, World geography games and so on can actually help encourage children’s learning of numbers, letters and world around them as well as boost their interest in certain subjects.
As mentioned before, technology should not be an enemy of today’s society. But it should be what it really is – a helpful, fun and useful tool of modern civilization. Like with everything else in life, moderation is the key for a healthy lifestyle when it comes to digital devices as well. Therefore, it is essential to teach kids the values of experiencing real life and building different relationships without pressure and overly strict rules that could only have a negative effect.