Why you don't need to protect children from gadgets

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

A couple of months ago, one of the authors of Lifehacker wrote an article that children under 13 should be protected from gadgets. I strongly disagree with him. Let's discuss this.

Let's figure it out first with the concepts. By children, I will refer to people between the ages of two and 13. Few people leave a child under two years old alone with gadgets, and after 13 they are no longer children. We will talk not only about gadgets, but also about computer games, since these two things are related to each other. And I will not touch on the topic of social media. They do more harm than good. Although blogging (if you attribute the same "Live Journal" to social networks) is quite a useful activity.

First of all, it should be said that each parent chooses his own method of raising a child. Someone allows the child to be more independent, someone fills his schedule 100%. Some are calm about the fact that their child is watching TV, others do not even buy TV - not because of lack of finance, but for ideological reasons. Therefore, everything that has been said below is not a call to action, not rules and not instructions for raising a child. Just my thoughts and recommendations.

Modern world

We live in the age of technology. It so happened that the modern world is no longer possible without computers in any form: payment terminals, smartphones, laptops, game consoles. And if you do not know how to handle technology, half of the specialties are closed for you, and maybe more. And the sooner and better you learn to manage it, the more competitive you will be in the labor market.

So why shield a child from this very technique? I will take myself as an example (I will do this more than once in the article). A computer appeared in our house when I was 12 years old, I think. I was not restricted in access to it. I tried Counter-Strike - some kind of dregs, I tried "Cossacks" - already more interesting, but still boring. In general, I never found a game that I liked. But I did enjoy digging into HTML and CSS. In computer science classes at school, I was in awe of the Pascal programming language. So I chose what I want to do in life.

Influence of gadgets on child development

I spent and still spend a lot of time at the computer. I did not become dumber from the fact that at the age of 12-14 I was sitting at the computer for 4-6 hours a day. Rather, the opposite is true. I was looking for things that interest me, read many articles, tried to study the layout, learned how to flash phones. I assure you, it develops. Now it will not be difficult for me to deal with any operating system and any device. It took me 15 minutes to figure out what's what in Ubuntu. Before that, as far as I remember, I had never seen anything other than Windows XP / 7.

This is not narcissism now. This is just an example of how spending a long time at the computer can affect human development.

Choose your content correctly

Who said a tablet should only have games like Angry Birds and GTA? There are a large number of useful, logic and educational games in the app stores. So, we did it on Android for the smallest children. For older guys, you can find a suitable application by using the search on our website. Just enter "Smart Games" and you will have a large number of games that are useful for your children. You yourself can choose the content that you think is necessary for your child. You can also limit the time that the child will spend at the tablet or smartphone. Fortunately, modern smartphones make it very easy to do this.

In this case, it is worth considering the characteristics of your child. Some children are very mobile, others are calm, some like big companies, others choose loneliness. And do not think that if your child likes to play alone, this is bad. I am an example of such a child. Believe me, I make acquaintances and communicate with people without any problems. Although as a child, I could spend hours playing with stuffed toys or reading books. I especially liked children's detective stories and fairy tales by Gianni Rodari. And I was very angry when my parents climbed up to me, wanting to play. At the same time, I calmly walked on the street with friends and was not an outcast either in the kindergarten or at school. But I’m already distracted.

Some psychologists believe that gadgets have a bad effect on the child's psyche and the development of babies. Let me give you an example of my cousins. The older one had little interaction with phones and computers. Tablets were not common at that time. But his brother from the first years of his life was constantly playing with a smartphone and laptop. And a comparison of the psyche and mental abilities of these two boys will not be in favor of someone who grew up without gadgets. But, of course, it all depends not only on technology. I am inclined to believe that gadgets, when used correctly, do not have a negative impact on the psyche and development of the child.

You should not choose for the kid what he will do on a tablet or computer. Give him some freedom, let him watch stupid cartoons or play the same games. Limit this pastime, but do not prohibit it. The Forbidden fruit is sweet. If you are worried that your child will not come off gadgets, enroll him in some kind of circle. A good sports section takes so much energy that there is not much energy and even time left for gadgets.

You have the floor

And again: everyone chooses for himself how to bring up his children. What do you think, is it worth protecting children from gadgets? Leave your opinions in the comments.