For a child to use the new technologies responsibly, what to do as a parent?
Using new technologies responsibly can be difficult for children if they are exposed to them very often. How can we, as parents, help them find balance?
When we were children, new technologies did not exist, or at least they did not have the protagonist role they have now, and we were crazy to go to the streets to play. After school, all we wanted was for us to leave to look for our friends to go to the park to run from one place to another. One ball was enough to be happy and take advantage of our free time.
But nowadays the situation seems to have changed. On many occasions children spend hours stuck to the screens. They start watching television when they leave school and continue playing with their parents' tablet or phone. And it is all the time like this ... What can we do so that children can use the new technologies in a responsible way? Continue reading to learn some tips!
"We live in a society deeply dependent on science and technology, in which nobody knows anything about these issues, this is a sure formula for disaster." -Carl Sagan-
The dangers of being continually glazed on the screens
On many occasions, when we have difficulty making a child do something (like eating, for example), we turn to the Internet or television. We put a design so that it does not protrude and remain quiet in the meantime. If we achieve our goal with that, what's wrong with using it? The problem arises when there is excessive use, in a way that creates dependency.
Thus, in the case we explained before, you can reach a point where the child makes beer whenever you go to eat, if you do not have a screen in front of you. In this way, you will decide not to eat if you are not drawing a picture. What to do now that the solution was worse than the problem?
The truth is that a misuse of new technologies can make children spend hours on screens. In this way, they will devote less time to other activities, such as playing with other children, talking with their relatives, resting or studying. Therefore, the quality and quantity of their interpersonal relationships can decrease significantly, reaching to isolate and lose social support.
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The same happens with their school notes: they are clearly worsened by the lack of time the child devotes to study. Finally, as indicated by tantrums, the child's behavior can become complicated and harmful, so that he may begin to show behavior disorders.
"Technology is just a tool, people use the tools to improve their lives." -Tom Clancy-
Parents have the key to change: use the new technologies responsibly.
The key to avoiding all this is in the parents. At home they can encourage responsible use of new technologies, since they, by themselves, do not need to be harmful if they are used to the appropriate extent. In this way, we will arrange for children to have access to the screen, but in a balanced way.
To be able to use them as good information, learning and entertainment tools that are the first thing that adults have to do is to know what their children like. Surfing the Internet or playing a video game together will help us connect, know and communicate better with them. In this way, we will know first hand what things they like and why they are interested.
Thus, we can propose other activities to spend free time. For example, we can invite them to read, suggesting that they look for a book on an issue that we know arouses their interest. This is a good way to motivate them more to vary their way of having fun. The same applies to the sports offered for practice or excursions: We can do it according to your tastes.
The norms around new technologies
But not only that, you also have to control the time that children use new technologies. As a guide, it is recommended that the use of television be limited to one hour per day and that of video games to three or four hours per week. Therefore, parents should establish a defined timeline for those activities, communicating to the child when they can do them and when they can not.
As for the television location, video game console and the computer, it is better that they are in one place in the house accessible to all, and not in the child's room. Thus, we will know what websites are visiting on the Internet or the content they are watching on TV, making sure they are appropriate for their age. But not only that, we will also avoid that they can be isolated from the rest of the family or sleep little use of these new technologies.
Finally, we usually use different material things (or not) in the education of our children, either as reinforcement or punishment so that the children modify those behaviors that we consider inappropriate. In this sense, it is better not to use new technologies for this, since we can make them assume a more protagonist role for children and that their anxiety increases, if they do not have access to them.
