When technology becomes “babysitter”
Nowadays, technology is reaching every corner of life, even the children, exposing them to many risks from using digital gadgets, particularly cellphones and tablets, from the very early age. It’s now up to their parents to shield them from those risks.
Parents often give children tablets or smartphones to pacify them from having a tantrum. And so children are increasingly interacting with the gadget screens rather than with their parents. Therefore, using screen time as bribery or enticement becomes a trade-off with many inherent risks between parents and the technology “babysitter.” Dr. Mandy Saligari, a parenting expert in the U.K said that giving children smartphones is like giving them 1 gram of cocaine.
Parents should pay more attention to children using smartphones
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Furthermore, letting children play with phones exposes the phones to virus attacks and which implies risks for their mental development. “Worse, children may get access to “black” websites or websites with wrong information, negatively impacting their psychological development. In particular, children are exposed to the risks of being kidnapped or abused when accessing those harmful content over the internet.” said Ysreal C. Diloy, expert from Stairway Foundation, who has successfully organized the policy campaign to bring teaching lessons of “Internet safety” into schools in Philippines.
No parents can guarantee that they can supervise all the contents which their children access when using screen time. “Parents are not trained with skills to protect their children during screen time. They are not even learning those skills,” said IT Internet Safety expert Ngo Viet Khoi.
Many parents are shocked when their children become addicted to online games and social media. Experts at the seminar suggest they should spend time having conversations with their children and guiding them how to use the technology safely.
In addition, with over 1/3 the Vietnamese population using social media as of nowadays, experts suggest parents to be careful when posting their children’s photos on social media, as it might expose them to the risks of being abused. The government has issued a decree on people’s responsibilities in the social media, especially in protecting the children.
In the face of risks of the screen addiction for children, the Executive Director of MSD Nguyen Phuong Linh said that parents should take advantage of technology to help children become smart. Furthermore, whether or not children can stop relying on the technological babysitter is based on the supervision and education of parents.
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