Mobile addiction in children
According to UNICEF, one in three Internet users in the world is a child. And every day one lakh 75 thousand, that is, every half a second a child is being connected to the Internet anew. Twenty-five percent of Facebook users are under the age of 10, and 90 percent of all social media users, including Facebook, are between the ages of 18 and 29. According to the Journal of Youth Studies, 92 percent of American children and adolescents go online every day.
One in five teenagers wakes up in the middle of the night just to see if there are any new messages on their cell phones. In Canada, an adult spends an average of two hours a day on social media and children three and a half hours. This means that the child who is 6 years old today will spend 15 years of his life on screen.
With the spread of the Internet in Bangladesh, the number of users is constantly increasing, including children. According to BTRC's 2016 data, about 3.5 percent of children between the ages of 15 and 19 in Bangladesh use the Internet regularly, a large portion of which is associated with various social media sites.
Children who spend most of the day with computers, television, and video games are more likely to be mentally disturbed and depressed. In addition, children and adolescents suffer from autism, attention deficit, depression and severe depression with a direct link to video game addiction.
According to a survey by the Canadian Association of Mental Health, students in grades 6 to 12 who spend more than two hours a day on social media are more prone to anxiety, depression and suicide. Telecommunications company Telenor conducted a survey of 18- to 64-year-olds in several Asian countries, including Bangladesh, India, Malaysia, Myanmar, Pakistan, Singapore and Thailand.
According to the survey participants, children of the family are also being subjected to cyber bullying while playing online games. In addition, abuse, racism and sexual harassment on social media, which is having a severe adverse effect on the physical and mental development of children.
Interestingly, the technology makers have kept their children at a safe distance from the spread of technology all over the world. The children of Bill Gates, the world's richest man and the founder of Microsoft, do not have access to computers for more than 45 minutes a day. Not only that, before the children reached the age of 14, Bill Gates did not buy a smartphone, let alone a mobile phone.
When the iPad hit the market, Steve Jobs was asked if his children liked it, to which he replied that they did not use it. Because the boundaries of how much technology children will use are tied to them. In other words, the hartakars of technology have kept their children at a safe distance from the aggressive addiction of technology. Because they are well aware of its harmful aspects.
The child cannot be accustomed to eating by playing TV, smartphone, tab, YouTube and only educational programs can be shown to children aged one and a half to two years in the presence of parents. Allocate only one hour a day for two to five year olds and teenagers, which must be before 11pm. In this case, to be a role model for the child, they have to follow the rules themselves. Of course, a child cannot buy a smartphone before the age of 18.
The child should be given time so that he does not have any time to become addicted. Encourage and engage in housework, reading books, sports, chatting with family and creative work. In addition, child-friendly browsing features can also be turned on, that is, children can not go to any site that is harmful or age-appropriate while browsing the Internet.
The biggest thing, however, is the behavior the child follows; So above all you have to keep yourself free from addiction. Remember, if we do not knowingly pass on the harmful aspects of technology to future generations, the dire consequences are inevitable. So we have to decide whether we will push the children into the dark with the spread of technology or give effective initiatives in creating awareness and practice.
Very informative article. Thank you.