How To Get Children To Make Responsible Use Of New Technologies?

When we were children, new technologies did not exist, or at least they did not have the leading role that they have now, and we were crazy to go out to play. After school, we just wanted to be allowed to go find our friends and be able to go to the park to run around. The spinning top, the marbles or a ball were enough for us to be happy and enjoy our free time.

But today the situation seems to be that it has changed. On many occasions, the little ones spend their idle hours glued to the screens. They start watching TV when they leave school and continue playing with their parents’ tablet or mobile. And so all the time … What can we do so that they do not make excessive use of new technologies? Keep reading!

The dangers of being constantly glued to screens

On many occasions, when we find it difficult for a child to do something (such as eating, for example) we turn to the internet or television. We put some drawings on him so that he does not protest and be still in the meantime. If we achieve our goal with this, what is wrong with using it? The problem comes when it is overused, in a way that creates dependency.

Thus, in the case that we explained before, it can reach a point where the child takes a tantrum every time he goes to eat if a screen is not put in front of him. In this way, he will insist on not eating if he does not have his drawings on. What to do now that the remedy has been worse than the disease? Here is the crux of the matter.

The reality is that a misuse of new technologies can cause children to spend hours glued to the screens. In this way, they will spend less time on other activities, such as playing with other children, talking with their relatives, resting or studying. Therefore, the quality and quantity of their interpersonal relationships can decrease significantly, leading to isolation and loss of social support.

The same goes for your class notes: they can be clearly made worse by the lack of time devoted to studying. Finally, as I indicated with the tantrums, the child’s behavior can become complicated and disruptive, so that behavior disorders can appear.

Parents hold the key to change: promoting responsible use of new technologies

The key to avoiding all that is in the parents. From home, a responsible use of new technologies can be encouraged, since these in themselves do not have to be bad if they are used in their proper measure. In this way, we will encourage the little ones to stick to the screens, but in a balanced way.

To get them to use them as the good information, learning and entertainment tools that they are, the first thing we adults have to do is find out what our children like. Surfing the internet or playing a video game together will help us connect, get to know each other and communicate better with them. In this way we will know first-hand what other things they like and worry about.

Thus, we can propose other activities to spend free time. For example, we will move from inviting them to read in general to suggesting that they look for a book on a topic that we know particularly piques their interest. This is a good way to further motivate them to vary the way they have fun. The same happens when proposing sports to practice or excursions to do: we can do it based on your tastes.

The rules around new technologies

But not only this, you also have to control the time they use new technologies. As a guide, it is recommended that the use of television is limited to one hour a day, and that of video consoles to 3 or 4 hours a week. Therefore, parents should establish a defined schedule for these activities, communicating to the child when they can do them and when not.

Regarding the location of the television, the game console and the computer, it is better that they are in a place of the house accessible to everyone, not in the child’s room. Thus, we will know what sites they are visiting on the internet or what content they are watching on TV, making sure that it is appropriate for their age. But not only that, we will also prevent them from isolating themselves from the rest of the family or from getting little sleep by using these new technologies.

Finally, in the education of our little ones we usually use different things (materials or not) both as reinforcement and punishment to get the children to modify those behaviors that we consider inappropriate. In this sense, it is better that we not use new technologies for this, since we can cause them to take an even more leading role for them and that their anxiety rises if they do not have access to them.

Images courtesy of Pan Xiaozhen, Jeshoot.com, and Tetsuya Tomomatsu.