Childhood in Digital Age

It is a fact that the world has experienced tremendous change in our way of life over the years, with the invention of technology, life has been made easier in so many ways, sometimes when I reflect on my childhood days compared with children of nowadays, I consider them lucky in so many aspects, then imagine comparing them to the days of our grandparent, but with all these benefits come the disadvantages of too much exposure, laziness, and addiction.

The use of smartphones an instance, in my days there was nothing of such, children spent more time playing with each other outdoors, blending with nature itself, and that was how most of us learned how to socialize in a good way, a child was not trained by just the mother but by the whole neighborhood.

But these days it is not uncommon to see a child as little as one already having a smartphone and hardly do they come out to play as they are always indoors after school, I believe this generation will breed more introverted children.

Though parents have different genuine reasons for buying these devices for their child, examples include it being a source of distraction and entertainment to them while they get busy with house chores or for parents that work from home like me, I'm also guilty of getting my kids an Ipad to keep them busy while I work, there is also the parent who gives their kids phone for easy monitoring especially when they aren't always around, these are not so bad reasons to give them a smartphone.

The problem is when there isn't a balance of time usage and fewer restrictions, as we all know smartphones are addictive, and not setting boundaries for your child if you decide to get them one will eventually become a problem for them, there was a period my first daughter who is seven years old now became fond of waking up very early before anyone just to play games on her Ipad, this happened even on a school days, the moment I noticed this behavior, I made sure to seize the Ipad for a month as a punishment, letting her know the consequences of her action, though the games and video installed are educational ones, still, she needed to learn that there is time for everything if as a parent you can't set boundaries and keep to it, like setting rules for them to turn off their devices at a certain time before going to bed, or as in this case when not to carry their devices, then, you shouldn't get them one because you still have a continuous role to play.

We can't deny the fast-evolving world and put age limits as to when a child should own a device because we can't deny the usefulness of these devices either, my 2 years old daughter learned how to read the alphabet and count her numbers before starting school with the help of the Ipad I got her. Another key point is putting restrictions and checking every content of the device one by one, making sure there isn't any file that isn't age-inappropriate for a child to view, do you know that some cartoons are not meant for kid viewing, so check, don't just conclude it's cartoon.

Also, depending on the child's age, they shouldn't have any access to the internet talk more of having a social media account, this is a personalized notion though, I know some people use their children for content and make money online, still, let children be children, the parent can do all the social media handling until they are mature enough to handle the pressure from the internet.

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Thank you for reading.❤❤