KOCHI: There was a time when gadgets were alien to people but now gadgets play a superior role in their lives. From television to the tablets, from smartphones to smart watches, from portable bluetooth speakers to wireless home audio systems the list goes on. But anyone has ever considered about the impact it has on children? While these gadgets have brought in convenience to our lives, there is something else that they have brought in which is especially dangerous to children and adolescents. That is addiction to gadgets!
This addiction is taking on dangerous proportions. Recently, a nine year old boy was in news for slashing his forearm with a knife on being denied access to a smartphone. With both parents working, he had been given a smartphone since he was an infant, first to make it easier to feed him, later to keep him occupied but this developed into an obsession. The problem is not limited to India. Research has shown that smartphones have become a common way for parents to keep children distracted. Gadget addiction can lead to many problems in children and adolescents but most importantly with their emotional development, social and personal skills.
Emotional Development
It affects children and adolescents in their emotional development. Parents use gadgets to keep their children busy and their interaction with their children reduces. This is particularly seen in nuclear families. Children come back from school and college and are immediately busy with their gadgets. Adolesence is an especially important phase, characterised by rapidly fluctuating emotions as the teenagers navigate new and uncharted territory. Involvement in social media like Facebook, WhatsApp, Twitter lead to social relationships and interactions outside the family. Over a period, this addiction can lead to emotional detachment in children and adolescents with increase in incidences of aggression or depression.
Social and Personal Skills
Children have taken to messaging through the various messaging apps like WhatsApp, SnapChat effortlessly. This has led to their being an expert at communicating through a text message, but deficient when it comes to communication skills with someone face-to-face.
Gone are the days of board games, role play with action figures or puzzles. Games on tablets and smartphones with touchscreens are the rage today. Children end up being experts in games played on a gadget, but are least interested in outdoor games.
Adolescents no longer discuss issues they face at school or college with their parents. They instead turn to and get their information from their peer groups on messaging services like WhatsApp or from the internet. And this information may be wrong.
Gadget addiction needs to be treated seriously. It may not be addiction to drugs but the psychological impact is similar. Sudden withdrawal from a gadget can lead to anger, depression and stress. Limiting the time spent on gadgets is important. Children and adolescents need to be given alternatives for occupying their mind and keeping them busy. Hobbies, sports, music are the avenues that can be explored. And nothing can replace simply spending time with the child, listening to him, and taking out time for simple things like the whole family having their meal together.
(The author is the Senior Consultant - Child & Adolescent Health,Aster Medcity )