Even young people confessed that they are too addicted to their mobiles and it has surpassed the boundaries. But the study findings on the technology effects on health still have no exact answer.

Teens do play too many game programs while devoting time to social media in excessive amounts. Their parents would even argue that this is a waste of time. As estimated by the Academy of Pediatrics in the USA, a toddler occupies himself with different types of screens 7 hours a day on average.

Even the children themselves consider this situation as beyond control: 54% of younglings aged 13 to 17 agree that they contribute countless hours for the phone, and 52% tried to control it. Schoolchildren give more time to their phone than being outside.

What are the health after-effects?

Scientists have linked excess screen time to bad consequences on intellectual and overall health. Here are some examples:

  1. The Journal of the American Medical Association in Pediatrics released in January 2021 featured an analysis, which examined details on 2,400 young people, found that excess amount of hours being with phones lead to worse ramifications for child's development at ages 3 to 5.
  2. Such risk factors as diabetes disease, insulin resistance, and body fat have gone up for babies who give three hours a day on mobile devices as per a study of 4,495 kiddies aged 9 to 10.
  3. Following the Lancet findings, children spending less than 2 hours having electronics in their hands, have a night of better sleep, are more energetic, have improved brain performance.

Regardless of the risks, technology is a keeper. Realizing how to put them into the lives of young people is as crucial as and try to restrict their use. Lincoln Larson, a North Carolina State University researcher who led the inquiry of village children, says: "We can't take it back. Can we create algorithms that will consider children's love for electronics and will not let them forget about outdoor activities?"

The positive impact of gadgets

According to research, moderate use of devices can have many positive effects on a toddler.

Improving motor skills

Motor skills are skills that involve the movement of muscles, specifically the lips, fingers, wrist, tongue, and toes. Therefore, when toddlers play games on a tablet or any other device, their fingers and hands are exercised. This is a useful exercise for children.

By using modern keyboards or other portable devices, they are not at risk of injury or any kind of threat compared to playing outdoors. As a result, their hands and fingers become more developed in a short time.

Improving cognitive skills

Cognitive skills are the ability to process information, reason, remember, and relate objects to other objects. These skills are directly related to memory and language.

Today"s technology is helping to develop cognitive skills in children faster and better. For example, interactive applications, video games, various tasks, and tutorials are available on different devices that interest them more than books.

More fun for kids

Kids love all technical stuff. They love gaming, whether it's puzzles, racing, shooters, racing games, kids have fun and understand simple reason and effect, actions and reactions.

Electronic devices have much more progressive educational opportunities for children in an entertaining way than paper books or other old methods.

Competitive skills

When children play games, they begin to distinguish between gain and loss. This activity can affect their aspirations and efforts. Little kids will be very enthusiastic about achieving the desired results.

The downside impact of electronic devices

In addition to the pros of phones or tablets, overuse is tantamount to a bad habit. The consequences range between mental, physical, and emotional problems.

Sharp brain development

In the first years of life, the brain grows by three in size and keeps growing till adulthood. An investigation has described that too many gadgets can dramatically affect a child's brain and even result in a lack of attention, delay in cognitive skills development, educating disabilities, heightened impulsivity, and a lessened ability to regulate oneself.

Lack of attention

ADHD is a mental disorder. Causes problems such as difficulty concentrating, being overly active, or difficulty controlling behavior. This can cause anxiety in children, inability to concentrate, and ease of distraction. This behavior change can bring troubles at school or home.

Learning problems

Our kids learn plenty by five. But if they keep themselves busy with phones too often, their time for having quality time with relatives and learning is limited. This ruins the traditional development of conversation skills and human relationship skills.

In addition, the use of devices is associated with delayed cognitive development and learning disabilities. Children need parents, not gadgets.

Anxiety

Anxiety, nervousness, shyness, and fear can develop from hours of playing computer games. Children who suffer from these symptoms try to avoid people, places, and activities. The child begins to show aggression or seems tense when he cannot go online, and this feeling magically disappears when his gadgets return.

Children’s depression

Childhood subdued spirits are a very common and serious illness that can negatively affect the child's behavior: how he thinks and acts. Overuse of gadgets leads to depression and mental health problems in children of a certain age.

It can also be influenced by social media that celebrate a flawless life and a good physique, which undermines children's self-esteem and self-confidence. If you want to know children's feelings, you should take a look at the feelings chart.

Bad influence on personality

These may be the biggest challenges in the growing world of technology. Children might use the internet to browse adult content than to find educational sites. This practice is bad for the formation of their personality.

Isolation from family and friends. The child has moved away from you, has become more withdrawn and secretive, sits for a long time in the room in front of the monitor. Rarely walks and socializes with friends.

Precautionary measures

Parents can take the following precautions and steps to keep their children free from addiction.

  1. Limit the amount of time children spend on their phones and other gadgets. Consider setting clear time limits so there is no argument about when to stop.
  2. Control the children’s search content on your phone.
  3. Increase the amount of time you are physically active outdoors. Young children are encouraged to spend an average of three hours a day outdoors. A more active lifestyle will prevent obesity, myopia, normalize sleep and distract from gadgets.
  4. Give children five-minute visual breaks every 30 to 40 minutes using the devices. It is recommended to do gymnastics for the eyes, if necessary, use eye drops.
  5. Make sure your child gets enough sleep at night. It is also not recommended to use gadgets an hour before bedtime.
  6. Encourage face-to-face communication that helps children develop their social skills and ability to communicate
  7. Have meaningful verbal communication with your child about the disadvantages of excessive smartphone use.

At the end of the day, it's up to us to decide how and when their kids can use tablets, iPads, etc. While parents can't ignore the scientists' findings, they can limit the bad influence of devices and make the best of the good impact.