Parenting must be included in one of the toughest job roles in the world. Looking after children, kids or toddlers doesn’t mean only seeing them growing up. From their physical growth to their communication skills to what is going on inside their mind as they consume any digital content, all these areas should be taken care of. Today’s online digital world is not only addictive but also misleading to children as there are all types of content online that they can consume before they know about all these things. If parents don’t pay attention to this thing in childhood itself, it can have a big impact on the mental health of children because of which they can face various difficulties and disorders once they grow up.
The thing with this digital world is that digital screens are addictive and hence, affect not only the physical side of the growth of your children but also their mental ability to think and function. Apart from this, the digital world holds limitless content that makes a person scroll continuously which snatch their ability to concentrate on a single thing for a long time.
But, as everything is digital in this technological-driven world- how can you navigate this digital world and save your children from the drastic impact of it? Let’s understand through this blog.
Understanding Why the Digital Landscape is A Challenge
There is no doubt that the digital world has made our lives easy- from ordering groceries and clothes online to getting the appointments for flight tickets done in minutes, the benefits are countless but at the same time, we can not ignore the drawbacks it comes along with.
- From addictive content to abusive and explicit content all over the internet, the use of digital devices goes beyond just making children addicted to these devices and causing them many physical problems like eye strain and obesity, it dramatically impacts their mental health. So, it is crucial to make a balance between leveraging technology for learning and ensuring our children engage in other activities to play the role of ideal parents in this technology-driven world.
- Childhood is one of the most crucial stages of the life of a person for the overall development. When a child gets addicted to online screens spending hours on digital screens, he is deprived of face-to-face interactions, emotional cues, and the development of essential social skills because of which a person gets the confidence to meet and interact with new people and face unprecedented challenges throughout his life. So, parents should encourage more and more real-world experiences during the childhood of their children.
- The more the online world is filled with benefits, the more challenges it comes with. As AI technology, Virtual Reality, and Augmented Reality are becoming the dominant part of the internet, there are threats to the safety of people with challenges like cyberbullying, inappropriate content, and the risks of sharing personal information which are very advanced for children. So, these things should be monitored regularly.
Best Parenting Tips to Navigate the Online World
Following are some of the best tips for parenting in the Digital Age:
- Avoid Using Digital Devices in Excess: As parents, you are the first and the best role models for your children. They will mimic things they will see you are doing. So, avoid sticking to your digital devices for hours and utilize this time by engaging your children in physical activities like games and solving puzzles and making them learn basic things that will improve their brain power, reasoning, and social skills.
- Making the Online Intervention of Your Children Safe: When you allow your children to use digital devices and screens, monitor which applications they are using and for how much time they are sticking to the digital screens. Make sure that you indulge them in other tasks from time to time to make sure that they don’t get addicted to digital screens. One great idea for this thing is that you can have a digital mobile phone for your children which only has applications based on math, reasoning and some games to improve their critical thinking skills.
- Practicing Digital Hygiene and Safety: Make your children understand that whenever they are active on the digital screens, they are open to the whole world. Make them understand how it can be dangerous for them by explaining the threats of phishing, scams, and the importance of strong passwords, and how to tackle such situations to save them from any fraud and threat whenever they come to the notice of an unknown and dangerous person. Apart from this, educate them about how digital screens get dirty with millions of germs and how they come in contact with their body. Teach them the best digital hygiene practices.
Conclusion:
There is no doubt in the fact that the digital world has made parenting tough. While parents in the modern world are also passionate about their professional lives, managing their toddlers and children can be a big challenge. But following the above-mentioned tips and tricks will make your life very easy. As childhood is essential for mental growth along with the physical development of a child, digital screens are a great hurdle in their development.
We help you manage your children in this fast-paced modern world. Follow Parenting By Anshu for more relative content.
