Did you know that the children of the Silicon Valley brains behind Google, Apple and Yahoo , among others, choose to take their children to schools without technology? Curious, right? Well, for a reason …
Experts argue that children under 12 should not be in contact with screens and there are many reasons to agree and avoid developmental and behavioral disorders.
Many of us find it outrageous that children so young have a mobile phone or almost unlimited access to the internet. But the reality is that we are seeing all day how children of all ages live almost with a screen in front of them, and if they do not take it, we give it to them without measuring the consequences to entertain them or simply so that they do not disturb.
It is convenient that we learn about the negative aspects of educating our children so close to technology and reflect on it. Take note of the reasons the experts give us:
Brain development is affected
Up to the age of 21 the brain is developing rapidly, specifically up to two years it triples in size. Imagine how important it is that they get the right stimuli. Indiscriminate exposure to either tablets, mobile phones, television or computers conditions their behavior, making the child more impulsive, putting their cognitive development at risk and making it difficult for their self-control, for example, when moderating a tantrum.
Physical movement is limited
The use of technology almost always limits movement, something necessary for the child to be awake, well developed and therefore ready to learn. If there is no body movement, it is more difficult to obtain good school or learning results.
Great risk of obesity
30% of children who have devices in the room are candidates for being obese. The little ones must run and jump themselves, not press buttons for dolls to do it. So if we let them fill their time with video games we are putting them at risk for cardiovascular problems and diabetes.
Sleep reduction
If we do not control, or directly deny the use of technology, logically children will sleep less because it has been shown that it affects them when it comes to falling asleep, so they will perform less during the day and therefore affect their academic development and their character becoming more sullen and negative.
Propensity to suffer from mental disorders
There are studies that show that exposure to digital devices of any kind being so small is a key factor in suffering from depression, anxiety, psychosis, bipolar disorder and / or attention deficit.
Imitation of violent behavior
Access to aggressive and violent content that is often not suitable for their age, together with the child’s inertia to imitate everything, is an explosive cocktail that makes us see excessively violent attitudes towards other children and even adults.
Difficulty attention
The speed of digital content makes the child see his attention span diminished and the fact of concentrating and memorizing becomes complicated.
Create addiction
If adults find it difficult to turn off the phone, imagine a child, who has less will and less judgment. The risk of addiction is alarming among the younger population. And the most dangerous thing is that this excess goes hand in hand with an inevitable estrangement from family and friends with the risk of ending up in critical antisocial behavior.
Radiation hazard
Digital devices are a source of radiation according to the World Health Organization. And children are more sensitive to these radiations than among other risks, they are related to the future development of cancer.
They overexpose the child
A child on the internet is a bait for abuse of all kinds . Your privacy, your data, tastes and opinions are available to too many people. As if that were not enough, they are judged by likes, and not having them means not being popular. It is up to us to delay access to social networks as much as possible and, in addition, to talk with our children about these dangers and how to avoid them. If necessary, we must turn to a professional who knows how to guide us on these issues.
We agree that it is almost impossible to isolate children from the digital world, but what if we set an example that there is life beyond the screens? Every now and then let’s turn off the mobile and talk, play games, go out to see the street or the trees, cook, run, look at the sky, teach our children real life, the one that really excites us. And always remember that, “children are our future, but there is not much of a future for children who abuse technology.”
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