If you have read my earlier blog written regarding COVID flight vs fight, I had mentioned my concerns in the March 2022 period. I had mentioned that during the COVID period, children may get hooked to screens of mobile, TV.
From June 2022 onwards we are increasingly finding such mobile affected children for admission inquiry. It is a hard decision for us to give admission to severely affected children along with normal children. There are common symptoms of screen affected children and can be identified very easily. The severity of symptoms increases with the duration of screen exposure given to children.
Symptoms:
- Delayed or No language development (Milestone for language development normally happens by 2 years’ completion).
- If speaking, then using limited vocabulary gained after watching selected YouTube videos.
- Also speaking in a foreign accent (British/Korean) which depends on the origin of frequently seen videos.
- Very high level of temper tantrum.
- No control over emotions. Not able to express emotions properly.
- Lesser sensations of physical injury.
- Very little or no attention/ reply towards the speaking person.
- Very little or no eye-to-eye contact with a speaking person.
- Induced Physical abnormality, for example, Myopia/ spectacle for eyes.
- Abnormal seating posture: The most comfortable posture used by the child to watch mobile for a prolonged time.
- Abnormal body movements: Moving around oneself, clapping of hands when found happy, jerky, intermittent limb movements of the body during a walk or even when standing in one place.
- 12. No mingling with peers.
In most of these cases, children remain physically healthy with normal height and weight. With the above symptoms, it makes hard to settle with their normal peers as their mental development is found retarded. In simple words, even a Junior K.G. eligible child needs to start with a playgroup. In such cases, we need to inform and raise awareness among parents about the ill effects of screen usage on a child’s mental development. Depending on the duration of screen exposure to a child it may take from 6 months to 2 years to normalise such child. Child may need to take speech therapy to improve linguistic skills. We have also observed that such children lag in their academic growth compared to their peers. It is very challenging for their teachers to develop various skills (Oral/ writing/ understanding concepts) required during regular study.
After conversations with such children’s parents, we have also found common behaviour and reasons behind such ill development.
- Ignorance from parents.
- Very busy with their work schedule.
- Nuclear family. No support from Grandparents.
- Immediate delivery of sibling (2nd child).
- Parents are also screen/ social media addicted. Using mobiles in front of the child (Child imitates you).
- Immediate surrender to the child’s demands. Not saying “No”.
- Not having awareness about the normal development of the child.
- Not given attention to age-appropriate physical and mental requirements of the child.
- Not talking or playing (indoor/ outdoor) with the child.
- Not accepting facts about their child at the right time.
- Highly worried when many normal milestones of development get missed by the child.
Anything in excess is always harmful. From that perspective, smartphones are more dangerous than cigarettes. The government made a compulsion to mention a statutory warning on every Cigar packet that “Smoking is injurious to health”. But no such warning is ever mentioned on any Smartphone / Laptop or by the internet provider company. Uncontrolled use of any type of screen connected to internet service which is bundled with numerous dopamine inducing content is a slow poison for almost all age groups. What about children up to age SIX? From birth to preschool age (up to 6 years) children are very fragile and sensitive towards these devices. There are always pros and cons to every new technology when embraced by societies. Soon we will have various products and services of Artificial intelligence (AI) for human consumption. What about natural intelligence and emotional intelligence? Shall we erode it with the storm of artificial intelligence and make our children emotionless machines?
It is the parent’s role to explore the living world (outside the dead screen) for their child using his/her five basic senses sight (eyes), smell (nose), hearing (ears), taste (tongue), touch (skin). Giving them maximum quality time where talking a lot and playing is crucial. Up to age SIX central nervous systems develop uncountable neuron connections using synapses all over the body at an astonishingly high rate. How does your child trap memory about pleasant smells when you didn’t give him/her the experience of smelling some flowers? How does your child remember about your surrounding areas like butterflies in the garden, flora in the mountains, a kingfisher near the river, or domestic animals near the countryside when you have not shown anything? If you do not try to sing lullaby/ lori / angai geet/ balgite moving your own lips and tongue, how will the child understand that moving lips and tongue together is the method of speaking your language? Singing a soothing cradle song and telling fairy tales is our ancient tradition and is commonly found across all human cultures.
In keeping pace with modernity we may have lost the meaning of simplicity. We definitely do not need high-end gadgets to teach basic skills to children. High-end gadgets are making normal children vulnerable to toxic chaos. The method of upbringing will not change with the speed of technology changing around us. We need to revise some basic concepts. If you are a first-time parent and have forgotten; ask your parents, how they had raised you in your childhood. Definitely, there were no distractions available at that time, but what methods had they used to make you a conscience human being? Or talk to your neighbourhood whose children are attaining all development milestones at the right time. If still confused, then take expert opinions from doctors and individuals working in this field. The earlier you wake up less your child will suffer.