In this day and age it is nearly impossible to keep your child away completely away from technology. Let’s be practical. They have to be exposed to it for them to survive the rat race.
But what we can do is limit their time in a day to the iPad, computer, smartphone and other devices.
Here are some reasons why you should monitor their time spent with technology:
1) Social media makes kid less social
Kids tend to think that the way to communicate and socialize with friends is in cyber world. They don’t realize the fact that their life is on planet earth where you have to directly communicate with others face to face.
When you let them spend a lot of time on these networking websites they will not share anything with you in person and opt to share things with their online friends.
Unless you have no time to spend with your kids you should keep them away from social networking sites so that you can bond with them.
2) They can suffer from ADHD
Using technology is addictive and this can lead to kids developing short attention spans. Kids tend to store short memories that are recollected by keywords and URL’s.
3) They lack empathy
Humans are different from animals due to this main character trait. But research has shown that for the past 10 years the levels of empathy in kids have been on the decline.
Spending too much time online or with technology causes kids to live like zombies without any emotions.
4) Develop unhealthy self-image
Sometimes over exposure to the internet can cause kids to develop the wrong self-image. They have tiny impressionable minds that cause them to suck information that cause them to think that being perfect is all what they see in advertisements and other media images.
They might ape these advertisements and even later develop low self-esteem due their inability to mirror their unhealthy goals.
5) Reduced physical activity
Obesity statistics keep showing increased number of kids suffering from unhealthy weight figures. Kids getting internet causes them to stay indoors and spend hours in front of the computer or other handheld internet devices.
Being physically active plays an important role while growing up.
This lack of activity will kill their sense of imagination and literally rob them of their innocent childhood.
6) Bad performance in school
Technology is a distraction to kids. If used for more hours than is required it can hinder a child’s interest and concentration in his or her school work.
I guess these reasons are more than sufficient for you to make them disconnect their screens and pay more attention to the real-world.