Mobile phones have become a necessity in today’s generation. This world is full of internet. Life without a mobile phone seems very uneasy for children or many. It has become one of the important parts that every individual carries with them at all times.
Most of us even keep our phones by our side even when we are sleeping which is harmful for us. In today’s world, children are spending hours on mobile phones every day. We have many significant benefits of having smartphone technology but also has some side effects as well. Internet addiction is a growing concern in modern society as people are increasingly using digital platforms for communication, entertainment, and studies.
It can impact children’s mental and physical health, which is a big problem for them. We are seeing a phenomenon where even young children and toddlers are starting to use phones at a very young age, chatting, sharing, and posting pictures on social media, watching videos on YouTube, or playing games.
The studies estimate that kids and teens between the ages of 8 to 19 spend 44.5 hours in front of a mobile screen.
How Do Mobile Screens Impact Positively And Negatively On Kids?
Positive Impact on Development
Cognitive Development
As we know, mobile phones have the potential to improve education and learning. Research has suggested that electronic books, learning apps, and websites may improve young children’s early reading skills and creative thinking capability. They also increase children’s ways of thinking and knowledge about different things.
Language Development
The early childhood years are crucial for acquiring language skills and children’s development from various aspects of languages, including vocabulary, accent, and phonology. These skills are majorly acquired through interaction with adults. Children can learn different languages through online videos, apps, etc.
Social-Emotional Development
The way we use screens these days is pretty complicated. There are so many electronic devices out there, and everyone’s using them more, especially young people. But all this screen time means we’re spending less time hanging out with people in person. It’s not great for kids’ mental health and overall well-being. We’re all meeting up virtually now—chatting, video calls, voice calls, you name it.
Social Connection
Mobile phones can help children to stay connected with family, relatives, and friends. It helps to know the availability of a person easily and helps them to share any kind of information on an immediate basis. Children easily can chat, and talk on voice and video calls with family, friends, and unknown people. The usage of social media can create a social network for the children.
Access to Information and Support
Smartphones can help children to get easy access to information and resources related to anything. It helps to get information related to study, what happening around, news, etc easily.
Convenience
Mobile phones can offer convenience in terms of communication, access to educational information, and entertainment which can contribute to the overall well-being of children or teens.
Signs Your Child Is Suffering From Screen Addiction Issue
There are many negative impacts of increasing screen time on children are mentioned below:-
Physical Health Issues
By using more screen time children may have physical health issues like eye strain and visual problems like dry eyes, headache, and blurred vision. This happens due to blue light emitted by the screen which leads to an increased risk of nearsightedness in children. Children often adopt poor or wrong posture while using mobile phones like looking down at the device for a long period. This can lead to neck, shoulder, and back pain which potentially causes long-term health issues such as cervical pain.
Sleep Disturbance
Using mobile time, especially before bedtime can disrupt sleep patterns. The blue light emitting from the screen affects melatonin production, a hormone responsible for regulating sleep. It reduces sleep quality and may lead to daytime drowsiness, irritability, and negative impacts on academic performance.
Lost Face-to-Face Connections
Spending too much time on mobile phones can reduce the development of social skills. Children may struggle in face-to-face communication with other people which makes it difficult for them to build friendships and relationships in physical meetings. They may prefer spending time on phones instead of engaging in social activities potentially leading the feelings of loneliness and difficulty relating to peers.
Reduced Academics Performance
Using too mobile phones leads to poor academics and reduces the problem solving, creative thinking skills. Due to the excessive use of mobile phones, they are not able to think out of the box and take help always from the internet just to complete the work which makes them lazy.
Screen Addiction
Children may become addicted to their phones, spending hours on screen which can result in a loss of interest in other activities like outdoor play, reading, or engaging in their hobbies, and it can make them disconnect from the outside world. It also makes it harder for children to disconnect from phones when it is necessary because they are addicted to them.
Emotional and Mental Well-being
Excessive use of mobile phones can negatively impact a child’s emotional state. It may contribute to or increase feelings of loneliness, depression, and low self-esteem which leads to anxiety and irritability.
How To Help Your Child To In Reducing Screen Time And Find Joy Offline
There are various ways to support your child to reduce screen time and find joy, fun, and connection from their devices including more below:-
Encourage your child to play outside
Always encourage your child to play outside with their friends and engage in different activities like basketball, cricket, skateboarding, soccer, or cycling. It helps them to be healthy and fit.
Promote a wide range of home activities
Instead of giving your child a smartphone, give them some toys or choices that fit your child’s age and preferences like paintings, drawings, playing board games or cards, reading books, writing, listening to music or podcasts, cooking or baking, crafting, solving puzzles, dancing, practicing meditation or yoga so that they can play and create a healthy environment for themselves whether with siblings, friends and independently. By keeping them engaged in these activities, you can help them avoid turning to the screens time.
Set screen time for your child
Using too much time on screen has been linked to reduced cognitive development and a negative impact on a child’s ability to learn new things and grow naturally.
Setting the screen time and having screen-free days at home first helps your child adjust to the change. You might give limited screen time to your child for daily use so they must choose other activities when their time is up.
On weekends, spend family time together as a group to grow your bond.
Getting involved in their Lives
You should get involved in your child’s life which helps you to know their interest, learn about their dreams, and help them take steps to meet their life and career goals.
Find ways to involve your child in programs they’re interested in and give them what they need to make their dreams come true.
Try therapy
If your children are significantly struggling to reduce their screen time or you want professional guidance, you might consider therapy.
It helps your child or teen connect with a compassionate therapist face-to-face and solve the problem.
Studies show that online therapy is especially effective in supporting parents in emotional regulation. A study of parents reported an increase in quality of life, improved ability to handle stress, and improved mood after meeting with an online therapist, enabling them to better support their children.
How PsychiCare Help You With Your Child’s Screen Addiction Issues?
At PsychiCare, we’re all about helping kids beat their screen addiction. Our child online counselling is designed to support children in overcoming their reliance on screens.
Our team offers a variety of activities and therapy options, including individual sessions, group work, family counseling, coaching, mindfulness, and trauma support.
We’re all about creating personalized plans to help kids understand why they’re struggling and make positive changes.
With our help, kids can boost their self-awareness, develop healthier ways to cope, and find a better balance with technology.
