Tech and Children

A couple of weeks ago, I was at a local shop. The shop-owner couple has a school-going child of around 8-9 years. While I was there, the kid was on a phone constantly watching some entertainment videos with little to no distance between her face and the phone.

Her father who needed his phone at that moment took it away from her for a couple of minutes. I was shocked to see the child becoming restless without a phone in hand. She waited for less than 10 seconds before grabbing her mother’s phone and again proceeded to go on YouTube and find some videos to watch.

I was left completely stunned to see her desperation to get hold of a phone. It looked as if she could not breathe without a phone in hand.

Technology has become such an important part of our lives, no doubt. Life has become easier for all of us, for sure. And children are no exception! Especially during the Covid-19 Pandemic when the entire world was under lockdown, children had to continue their classes online.

While it is great that education is a lot more accessible with technology, it is concerning to see how children are becoming dependent on them.

Usage of cell phones or any other electronic devices at such a young age, with little to no monitoring by the elders, can pose serious threats to the health and well-being of the children. Prolonged exposure to gadget screens can cause vision problems and even sleep disturbances.

The internet, being extremely accessible can even lead to children accessing websites that could harm them (remember the Blue Whale Game?).

Here’s an infographic that I have designed stating a few facts about tech usage among children in India, specifically.

What makes it more disheartening to witness now is that I see very few children reading physical story books and comics. Also, have you noticed that the number of children playing outside in your neighbourhood has reduced drastically?

I feel old when I say this, but I got to use a cell phone for the first time after I turned 17, that too the most basic model meant only for making calls and sending SMSes.

Childhood, for me and for most of you was about story books, comics, colouring books, and playing outdoor games and sports with our siblings, friends and neighbours.

Children these days are smarter than we could ever imagine. Their future is bright and full of potential, provided they are allowed to bloom the way they should.

Children should be encouraged to engage in activities without the use of technology. This can mean getting them a lot of physical books to read, engaging them in a sport or art of their interest and encouraging their creativity and thinking.

By no means do I mean that they should not be given access to the internet. A lot of good educational videos, stories and cartoons are available online and can be great tools for learning for them.

But allowing them access to phones and social media without monitoring can be problematic.

What are your views on the impact of technology on children? Let me know in the comments!

Until next time, stay blessed!