In today's digital age, children between the ages of zero and five are in greatest need of care.
Once I was traveling by train, shortly after the train started, I heard a loud scream from a three-year-old girl. The girl's parents had taken away the mobile phone that she had been holding since starting of the train. Then she was moved from the seat to the other side, but the girl's screams did not stop.
Now, if we think about this incident, we can see that:
Why do children get so used to mobile phones?
Parents started giving mobile phones to their children at a young age because they wanted to take time for themselves, so parents feel that by giving their children mobile phones, they are succeeding in taking time for themselves.
This momentary success is dangerous and this habit is unknowingly instilled in children, so that they can easily get a mobile phone if they ask for it. This problem is seen in almost every family today, where parents are more responsible than children.
The biggest damage caused by excessive use of mobile phones by children is to their eyes. Holding the mobile phone close to the eyes for hours and the intense light causes immense damage to the delicate eyes due to constant strain, which is very dangerous for the future life of the children.
We have discussed the problem, now let's also think about the solution to it.
Parents should exercise discipline over their own mobile phone usage and set a good example for their children by:
1. Spending as much time as possible with their children and engaging them in various games or activities. If children are not eating and while eating if they are asking for a mobile phone, never give them a mobile phone. If they are hungry, children will automatically ask for food but don’t handover mobile to them
2. If children eat something while looking at their mobile phones, they may either not eat mindfully or eat less or more than they are hungry, which can have an adverse effect on their digestion and affect their health.
3. While eating parents should completely stop use of electronic media such as Television, Mobile, Tab, and Laptop and instead have a chat with their children and praise them for the good work which they have done so that the children are encouraged to do the same.
4. Most importantly, parents should reduce their own mobile phone use as much as possible, otherwise parents' mobile phone use can become a hindrance to keeping their children away from mobile phones.
5. Giving mobile phones to children when parents are busy with some work is a very wrong practice and this practice should be avoided. At such times, engage children in activities which they enjoy, such as Coloring, Drawing, Singing, etc. so that children can become proficient in such activities over time.
In the next blog, we will elaborate further on children and their mobile usage.
