@George_Dee
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Danger: Kids, smart phones and the Internet.
I couldn't make a post yesterday due to some construction work going on at the farm, I needed to be there to help the laborer. I was about to read a few posts and interact with few members as well before crashing on my bed after taking a chilled can of my favorite drink.
I shared the little time I could engage between noise.cash and read.cash because I might not have a sound sleep without doing those two things and I came up with the idea of this post while I was engaging last night.
I was reading a comment on one of my posts last night and someone mentioned her kids' addiction to smart phones. For some time now, I have been observing this among children and I see it having a negative impact on their knowledge because as time goes, it would become the normal way of life for every kid. The lockdown we are experiencing globally as a result of Covid19 has even made it worse because lots of kids are done with reading, some wouldn't check their books at all since they have no assignment. They will rather stay glued to the TV screen, use the Internet or play games on mobile and some parents are making it good for the kids because they don't bother telling them to go and read their books anymore. Some parents don't see any wrong with it because it is nothing since adults also use smart phones very well, you are right but you should understand getting rid of a child addiction is very difficult and it can cause a huge distraction when the education sector is back to normal around the world.
I have a neighbor whose 13 years old daughter goes to school with an Andriod worth about $200, she hangs around me a lot for assignments and there was a day I asked her what she uses it for at school. She said, "I do use it to listen to music, chat, play games, and something movies in our free period. I have friends that use an iPhone at school and I have told my dad to get one for me as well". I was shocked because I was thinking how would you expect a kid with an iPhone in class to concentrate in school? Gone are the days when teachers seize phones in school due to the distraction it causes but now, school authorities don't bother scolding those kids because they don't want their parents to withdraw them from the school and this makes me ask, what are we preparing the kids for? Technology has made lots of things quite easier for us and we keep getting improvement daily but if care is not taken, that same thing making people great can pull others down. As it stands now, you can learn anything through the internet as an adult because we are old enough to make decisions and concentrate by ignoring other things the internet and smartphone are offering us but how much can you trust kids with the Smartphone and Internet? I have seen people set up restrictions on mobile forgetting how smart this generation can be, they learn new things and try them on their devices just to bypass their parent's restrictions. Excess freedom to the Internet and smartphone can be very dangerous to children until a certain age, I used the word "EXCESS" because it is not about depriving them of access to smartphones or the internet but you must be very sure of everything they are doing with the privilege they have and it mustn't in any way affect their academics. I have a younger one who is twelve, his Facebook login details are with me and I easily check up on him without his knowledge because if you stalk them too much, they will just find their way around you and you will be completely blind to what they are doing virtually. I mentioned how smart these kids can be earlier in the post, they can pretend to be reading through the Internet while they are doing something else. In as much as we believe that the virtual world is cool, there are things and people who are ready to harm others just like they do in reality. Every invention has its advantage and disadvantages while considering the fun attached, we must but how it can harm us into consideration as well.
The biggest problem I see that could become a threat to the future is "**reading**".
Image source https://unsplash.com/photos/hPKTYwJ4FUo If you don't see that as a problem, how would knowledge be pass on from one generation to another? What if the future is not what we think it would be? What if the Internet becomes a rare thing that we could hardly come by, would there still be anything called knowledge we can boast of? I have seen intelligent people become unintelligent just because they don't have access to what makes them intelligent which is their smart phones and the Internet. Imagine going camping and you can't get a network, would your kids still be that smart and lively kid without the Internet? I would love to break the post into two parts, remember to check-in for the concluding part tomorrow. Lead image. https://unsplash.com/photos/BMBdiTaY6Mg
20 comments
I totally agree with you, it's dicey. I am not against children having access to the gadgets because it helps them to think faster but as you have rightly said, excess is the issue. I snatched a phone from a child in Church yesterday during Wednesday service. I am glad the mother supported what I did too. If it is not properly checked they won't be able to read again because all they do on the phone is music, games and socials. Nothing educational that can improve them. Their excesses should be checked from time to time.
Yeah, you can't completely strip them off the phone because they will always find their way to it with or without you knowing. I prefer watching them and giving them rules to it and if conditions like 1hrs a day and if you do better at school, it would increase by 15 minutes at the end of every term (just an example).
This is good. A lovely motivation to make them strike a good balance. This is smart...
Same thing with my younger sister, the last born of the house. My sister would only ask for data from me, only to use all to chat and enter Facebook. She doesn't have any other thing and to make it worse, she isn't watching things to improve herself either from YouTube. Parents should get to monitor their children and how they use smartphones or else, it will put them in danger in the future.
Lolz, Tiktok is their newest addiction. I don't encourage that, they have access to a data-enabled phones at night before going to bed and anyone whose grades are dropping won't use it until they get better.
In my school, students are not allowed to use cell phones just because of the way they may make use of it. We restrict them from coming with their phones and even went to the extent of telling their parents to seize or not to buy them a phone for now until they are out of secondary school. Parents are part of those who might cause problem for their children. The best is to tell them the harm it might cause them, including watching television which they may put unwanted movies. We should always watch our kids to the brim.
Some rich families think buying expensive phones is one of the best ways of taking care of their kids, they didn't know they are making huge mistakes. As parents, we out to know what's good, bad and best for our kids. Anything that would be a distraction should be avoided.
I'll show this to my relative so they can take care of their childs Like seriously in todays world when child able to talk parent just give them mobile phones to spend time seeing cartoons and stuff we're destroy our next generation mentally and physically
We are not preparing them well for the future if we keep allowing them spend more time on the smartphone.
This is very true, as I observe with my 2year old daughter, when she hold the phone to watch her nursery rhymes, then I ask her if she is hungry, she will said no, im not, even I know she is, So what Im doing is I get the phone and eat first then after take a rest and watch little time and stop. Parents have a big responsiblity with regards to smartphones discipline
You are right in connecting this to discipline, kids don't mind anything as long as they have their device with them. We usually find it funny until we see the truth about how addicted they are to it.
Yes thats the reality nowadays, and it should be controlled, and the parents have the biggest responsibilty qith these matter
I agree with you on that because they depend on their parent and whatever the parent say should be final regarding the use of smartphone.
Yes, parent should be followed not a follower to thier kids
My little siblings are addicted to it now especially that the classes are online.. And what I hate is they became addicted to mobile games..
That's the issue, they get to do other things that serve as distractions for them when studying on the internet.
Hello. Interesting post. As parents of underage children, we should supervise their activities. The moderate use of the internet falls under that supervision. We are facing a new generation of youth and adults, who became "addicted" to cell phones. A cell phone is a powerful tool, but if it is not used correctly and productively, it generates disadvantages in the cognitive development of any human being. Dangerous, as you rightly mention!
Yeah, that's true. As good as those device are, they can really be destructive as well if care is not taken. The kids need proper supervision.
We should do what we preach. As you mentioned above, kids copy what we do and they will use that against you unless you explain it to them what you are using it for. Don't let gadgets interfere with your family time or any important time so that they will emulate you and when you set them limits or rules in using gadgets, they will obey that.
Hello dear George_Dee, thank you for bringing this very important and interesting topic. As we have always said both here and in Noise, the real education begins at home, if Dad or Mom do not set rules and limits, unfortunately, they will be forming future empty children, children whose lives will only revolve around the technologies, and they will be giving a bad use, I do not agree with a boy or girl of 8,9,10,11,12 years old having a latest model phone and access to any social network, and less with so many predators, pedophiles, sick that are on the internet, starting there. Unfortunately, we have a new generation of glass as many colloquially call it, a generation that excuses itself with Freedom, when something is prevented, when something is denied, the schools are tied hands, if a teacher takes away a child's cell phone or scolds him, he is automatically recorded, uploaded and sent to the internet, Automatically they record it, they upload it to the internet and he loses his job for trying to take away the right to have a cell phone to that young person, and as you say, then come to the parents and withdraw their children from that school, the more technology advances, the more we fall behind. You have said it perfectly, we have a serious problem with reading, but that is not the most worrying thing, many times we think that the important thing is to know how to read, of course, but there is something more important than reading, and that is to understand if you read but do not understand what the text says, unfortunately, you will be behind all your life, That is why in the world there are alarms about the serious problem that exists with reading comprehension, young people are changing the meaning of language, by laziness to write well, by laziness to read something and understand it, hopefully, this has an early solution, and parents understand the magnitude of this problem, will come a pandemic worse than Covid, Ignorance, greetings.