Hello steemianos, today I will bring you an interesting topic, for all parents, who have small children ... and they use or have at their disposal a mobile device ...
Children spend an average of three hours a day watching audiovisual content from smart devices, whether smart TV, mobile phones, tablets or computers. However, only 1 in 5 children receives minimal attention from their parents so that their interaction with the digital world is safe. In addition, less than 20% of the devices with which minors connect to the Internet have sufficient protection measures to guarantee a private and safe navigation before prying eyes.
The excessive use of digital screens leads to significant health problems in children. Among others, they emphasize aggression, irascibility, eating disorders or sleep disturbances. In addition, the use of these devices without adult supervision can cause children to become victims or the perpetrators of cyberbullying, robberies, scams, blackmail and extortion.
Addiction to mobile devices
The other big risk that these devices have is their ability to turn children into addicts. But how do you know if your child is addicted to your smartphone? and, above all, how to avoid being overused and ending up becoming an addict?
How to know if my child is addicted to mobile?
In many ways, being a father in the digital age is more complicated than before, as there are fewer and fewer occasions to spend time with children. For this reason, during holiday periods and especially during weekends, we must take a good look at the adolescents' mood.
State of mind; If changes occur in your mood and you become irritable or even violent when your mobile is removed, you have to start thinking about a possible addiction.
If children always find the perfect excuse to get away from family conversations on their mobile phones, there are also signs of possible addiction.
The time they spend with their smartphones affects personal hygiene or normal daily activities (especially sleep). Lying, hiding and breaking family rules to spend more time on a smartphone, are also signs that can prove an addiction.
What to do to avoid it?
The first risk of a mobile addiction is that children lose the difference between the real world and the online world. In this way, they prefer that their world develops more on the virtual plane. Therefore, they accept all kinds of friendships on social networks and look for a Wi-Fi connection almost all the time.
Cybersecurity measures
Install security devices in your mobile, generating a private, secure and encrypted network to keep hackers, ransomware, cryptojackers, spies and others who are too interested in your personal information.
Talk with the children and explain the dangers they have by being freely browsing the internet.
Do not disguise the dangers and their possible consequences, by giving free access to friendship invitations from unknown people.
Make a plan with them and fulfill it
Current parents should take the time to talk about the proper use of the Internet with their children. They should establish guidelines and reach a family agreement before the children get their first phone.
If it is not done from the beginning, it is most likely that afterwards new rules will have to be imposed that the children will have trouble accepting. Family agreements can include rules about when and how the phone can be used or what content can be viewed or not. And we must always make clear what the consequences of breaking those rules will be.
Monitor the use of your mobile
Mobiles are part of our lives. As adults spend hours connected to these devices, it is essential to make an effort to understand how, where and why children spend time on their phones. That is, the fact that they are looking at them is not bad, but sometimes it is the way they have to communicate and you have to understand how they do it to see if it is something negative or not.
After all, watching a television series on a smartphone when you are in bed due to illness is not the same as being more aware of social networks than of what happens at home.
