Is It Okay For A Child To have Screens?
Many of us today spend a lot of time scrolling social media, especially among the younger generation. We also seem to see that people have less of an attention span to read long-form content. Why would that be? Because we have been handing children mobile phones and tablets at such a young age. Due to this, many children seem to spend the majority of their time on a screen, rather than reading books. We also see that many young boys love to play video games over standard toys; it's like, what has happened to this generation? People can't seem to stop scrolling stupid content that offers pretty much nothing helpful, but brain rot. Not that video content or shorts from YouTube are bad; it's just that because we watch everything in short reels, we can't seem to sit and even watch long-form video. Like, it's crazy about that; it's not just with reading. Like, what happened to the days when we used to read a lot of information? It's like pretty much nothing more than a thing of the past.
This isn't everyone today, just the majority of our younger generation, and it makes us wonder how this all came about. Well, we see that many parents these days seem to hand a child a tablet at such a young age to stop their kid from being crazy. It makes sense, because a child will often calm down if you hand them a screen, but should this really be the way we raise our children? Most of you would probably think no, which would make sense because we all know that a child isn't really using much of their brain when they stare at their tablet all day long.
The biggest problem, though, is that yes, a child often goes through a crazy stage where they need constant attention. That can be exhausting for a parent, but at the end of the day, the only way to truly get past this stage is to allow them to play with toys and look at books. Basically, teach them to be independent thinkers and entertainers without the use of them needing to play video games to get that. We already live in a world surrounded by computers anyway, and there is nothing wrong with that. There just needs to be more of a balance between playing with toys, books, and most of all, screen time.
You might even want your children to have ambition, but how are they supposed to build that if all they do is play on the screen? You might want them to be able to read and be able to comprehend well. Of course, these are not just things a child learns in school; it's something they're going to need the rest of their life. You can't just rely on a computer to do everything for you. In fact, most children today in school have become too dependent on the computer to do their work for them. It's sad to see, but a lot of children won't even write their papers themselves anymore. Also, what happened to the days when we had our children coloring in books? A child needs to work on their fine motor skills. You're not getting that from a tablet.
A child should absolutely be handed a piece of paper to simply draw on. It's super healthy for the brain, and kids love to scribble on it. That is for sure something that should totally come back. Some people still do that, but again, it's something that has been dying. People don't seem to want to buy children's books anymore either, because they feel their child isn't interested in that kind of thing. Again, this is all due to just handing their kids screens, which is not in any way bad; they have made our lives better in many ways. Plus, you can educate a child on a computer, but it's also important for your child to be able to open a book with pictures and use their imagination to make the characters come alive.
As much as a child's growth in learning is important, we shouldn't just sit down and say that watching movies or using social media is something bad, but we should be careful with what our children consume and watch, because there is a lot of inappropriate information as well on the internet. Due to this, it is our job as parents to heavily monitor our children when they're online, because you never know what they might accidentally run into. Most parents probably already know, as we have had phones and computers for a while now, but it's always good to take the extra precaution as a reminder.
Another really sad thing we see among our youth is that you will see many teens sitting at lunch with their friends, and all they will be doing is scrolling TikTok on their phones. Almost no socializing at all. Sometimes you might wonder, why would that be? Maybe it's because they're afraid or feel awkward sitting with a group, and they don't want to be the first to speak up. A lot of times, deep down, a young teen might have a sense of insecurity and use the phone as a way to hide from others. I mean, think about it: you can make it look like you're busy when you really aren't. Some might even feel like they don't know how to speak because they worry about coming off weird to their peers. You might notice that your child is always trying to find a way to fit in with others. Plus, the majority often want to do what everyone else is doing, and that often means if everyone else is on their phone, they're on their phone.
At the end of the day, things like Instagram and TikTok aren't leaving us, but you can always set boundaries for your children not to consume that stuff. Obviously, there is not much you can do about it when they grow up, but how you raise your child and how their brain develops does play a big part in how they will be by the time they are grown. Anyway, if you have a child that you can't get off their tablet, it's okay to take it away. It might take a while for your child to adapt, but it's better to get rid of the habit early rather than later. Obviously, there is nothing wrong with watching TV with the family, but what matters most is: what do you think is best for your child? Everyone has their own ideas on how they want to raise their children, and that's okay, but it is important to think about these things, especially in the world today.
