Technology Use and its Impact on Your Child’s Health

Being a parent of a teenage kid, from the very beginning I tried to introduce him to the world of electronics in a sustainable way.

Today, with greater or lesser success, I managed to reach the moment when my son can say “enough” to devices, go for a long walk with the dog, without fear that he will miss something in the virtual world.

Of course, I could write entire volumes about the number of failures I experienced during the 14 years of my son’s life. So I am curious about your experiences? Do you experience situations where the number of hours spent by your children in front of the screen causes of insomnia? Or maybe there are sudden aggressive behaviors when you try to take the tablet from your 2-year-old? I’d like to read about your experiences.

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I’m a father of two pre-school kids. They don’t have the freedom to use computer devices on their own yet - we limit their screen time to 1 hour of cartoons a day (up to 2 hours on a rainy weekend).

We already see that their peers are fully into playing mobile games and having their screen-time extended to 3+ hours a day of games/cartoons unattended by their parents. My son comes back from the kindergarten and tells stories about games he hasn’t played just because all of his colleagues are playing Minecraft or Brawl Stars.

I’m sure that pretty soon he’ll need to enter this world not to be marginalized :slightly_frowning_face: What I could use is a tutorial for parents who want their kids to be digitally-literate but access this literacy “Mudita-style” if I might put it that way :slight_smile:

I wonder whether these types of resources or tutorials already exist? :thinking:

Anyway, thanks for the blog post - it motivates me to think more about the issue and pay more attention to how parents need to be role-models when it comes to using our screen devices :bowing_man:

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@Wojciech_Cichon You touched a very interesting subject. At one time, when my son was still in preschool age, he had a friend who was absolutely forbidden to watch TV, games were dosed on a computer or phone up to a maximum of 20 minutes a day. What I noticed was incredible. My son was able to play and watch TV. I agreed with him that we were watching, for example, 3 cartoons of 10 minutes each. Then we stuck to the arrangements. Similarly, he could play games for up to 1 hour a day or 1.5 hours a day. But everything was preceded by our agreement that he would play until a given hour and no more. First, I helped him keep the time, then he kept it himself.

What was my son’s friend doing at the same time? - acted like he was released from the wild. In my home, it was hard to get him away from the TV. He wanted to play every game throughout his stay with us because he was not allowed at home.

I shared my observations with the boy’s mother. We both came to the conclusion that absolute restriction of TV or games is not a method for children of Gen Z or Alpha. What was a technological novelty for us is the norm for them.

That is why it is worth getting to know these two generations closer and see if we are not forbidding or improperly dosing them with something that is a natural part of their lives.

If I can recommend you, it is worth reading the document Understanding Generation Alpha. Also EVERYTHING YOU EVER WANTED TO KNOW ABOUT GEN Z.

I hope that it will help you. :smiley:

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I have a stepson who is woefully addicted to their Chromebook (YouTube Kids) and their Cell Phone (Games).

Screen time is a very large part of his life.

This is something I’m wanting to change & inspire change in. This is actually a big reason why I’m switching to the Pure - I want to show him that it’s just not needed.

I’m moving myself more & more towards “If I want to use technology, I’ll get onto my computer” mentality.

I’m hoping that it’ll help encourage him that screen time is not needed.

I also have a newborn son, and his life WILL NOT be ruled by screens.

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Fantastic resolution! I hope you will manage to persevere in it when it comes to your little son. :slight_smile:

When it comes to older children, it is worth setting an example yourself.
I believe that prohibiting them from using technology and abusing it yourself is not a good example.

For example, what my son will think, seeing me scrolling through Instagram, when at the same time he is forbidden to do so. As a parent, I must show my child that I also follow similar rules.

But as a parent, I can reveal that it is sometimes worth hiding and sneaking through e-mails rather than showing the child that the rules have been broken :wink:

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Indeed & totally makes sense.
I left all Social Media earlier this year, and it’s the best thing I’ve ever done. I would like the rest of my family to follow suit, but I think the fact that most have uninstalled all their Social Media apps is a really great start :slight_smile:

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For sure it’s a good start!
:slight_smile: I really keep my fingers crossed for you. :slight_smile:

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Thanks, and same to you! I think that the vast majority of the population really had a wake-up call of sorts with ‘The Social Dilemma’.
I can happily say I told my family “This is why I left!”

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Fantastic! :sparkles: You are an example to follow. :slight_smile:

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