We still remember our grandfathers and fathers curiosity for reading newspapers after getting out of bed. Newspapers were the most essential thing to start a morning with; but the time has changed today technologies have dominated the entire world. Today’s generations do not search for newspapers but they are curious for their smart phones just after opening the eyes in their bed.  

Unlike the previous generation, children in this technology obsessed world, have a decreased ability to imagine and create, which is minimizing their cognitive buildup and expressive abilities.Unlike the previous generation, children in this technology obsessed world, have a decreased ability to imagine and create, which is minimizing their cognitive buildup and expressive abilities.

As per a study, children between the ages of two to four years believe that everything on TV was an actual event happening in front of them. Children, unlike adults, are unable to identify what is on screen. They need contextual backing to differentiate virtual from reality and this will only be possible if they are allowed the time to look at the real world.

Most kids today are connected to some type of screen for hours every day, they constantly keep on gazing the screens and this is enough to make them anxious, depressed and emotionally unbalanced.

 As per the experts the children as young as two years old are suffering from restlessness, detachment and anxiety, owing to the deep-rooted connection with their smartphones.

It is found that children are very colourful and imaginative in nature; giving smartphones limits their creativity and slows down their mental senses. Since smartphones takes away their focus from their surroundings, their capability to interact and communicate keeps on decreasing. It diminishes the importance of relationships and human interaction as they are safe and comfortable in their own virtual world.

Sleep deprivation is yet another big problem for children who use smartphones. The blue light emitting from the screens tricks the brain into believing that it is still daytime and thus changes the module of the body function, resulting in late sleep and no rest.

Addiction is another major drawback of smartphone usage. When a child is hooked on, they do not feel the need to explore other areas of life and curiosity diminishes. This hampers their overall development such as earlier children use to read lots of books for gaining knowledge but now children turns towards internet for any queries. The reading habit is missing due to the internet. Also Internet causes loss of sensitivity towards emotions, especially violence. Today, social media platforms and a constant interaction with smartphones have lead to an acceptance where children have considered negative behaviour as a part of life.

As we all know it is a technology prone world it is not possible to keep away from these technologies but parents should limit their children screen time to not more than one hour in a day and in case of teenagers, two hours should be the maximum limit. They should monitor their child’s online activity and instead of scolding  them; children should be explained  the risks of using the internet wrongly. Parents can also set some rules, such as no phones during dinner or before homework. Children should be encouraged to play outdoor games or solve puzzles etc.

  children, health, mobile phone, technology