Screen usage is a major crisis going on around the world today. The decadence of the influence of the mobile, tab, and laptop screens of the fourth screen is more problematic than that of the second screen (second screen) or television.
Although the screen problem has been pointed out earlier, the fact that the lockdown, which was adopted worldwide to prevent the spread of Covid-19, has greatly increased screen usage. In a way, a screen-oriented people, a generation, was rapidly forming ever before.
In the past (before Covid), it was often not easy for children to get a mobile phone. With everything being online-based, including learning, the world of the fourth screen has become more expansive. These online-based transactions have increased mobile density. The potential of high-quality technology is now growing dangerously high due to the overuse of this technology.
In the past, children’s screen dependence was limited to certain games, but now it has spread to children and adults alike in a large amount. It would not be wrong to say that the virtual world hides our biological relationship with a screen.
The shining layers around our children have become faceless enemies and are robbing them of their brains and minds. All controls of use are abandoned and technology makes them helpless who have lost health and vitality. They ask you what’s really wrong with using the screen, and they point out that you’re always on the phone. What answer can be given to them on our part?
They do not need to digest the arguments as to why you are using the square in your hand, because they have justifications. What can you say to change their addiction? The screens provide a greater experience than punishment and threats. You can not compete with the different experiences and pastimes that run through a screen in an instant.
Dependence on the screen shifts partners and family from adult to child, making it difficult for children to understand. Replace New Habits Control the use of the screen at a young age.
A screen is a useful object for communication, discourse, education, knowledge, and entertainment, but it should be imparted to children through exemplary behavior with the discernment that it should be controlled by individuals and not by individuals.
Addiction is defined as the dependence on opportunities for anything, learning, recreation, or engagement on the entire screen, and when it is not available, there are changes in their behavior and distress until it is obtained. Such dependence is more prevalent in children around the world.
What are the side effects of uncontrolled screen use?
Physical health problems
The eyes will get the most problems with the usage of the screen. Prolonged exposure to this blue light affects the cells in the retina of the eye, and this is detrimental to the development of vision. Natural light is essential for babies to develop their visual skills. For children to develop the ability to measure distance, and depth, and thus control their vision (focus), they need to interact with their surroundings both indoors and outdoors.
Over screen time can lead to problems such as double vision and blurry vision. One of the most common problems with looking at a screen is forgetfulness, which can lead to dry eyes, itching, blurred vision, and difficulty seeing distant objects.
If you stare at the screen for hours at a time, your eyes will get tired. Occasionally take a look out of the screen and interact with the surroundings and other objects. Experts say that you should look at objects from a distance of 20 feet from time to time without looking at the narrow screen. Thus, a healthy eye and vision can only be maintained if a combination of focused vision and broad vision.
Another issue regarding screen time is the increased body weight. It increases excessively due to a lack of movement and physical activity.
Fat accumulates in the body of young children and can cause many deadly diseases. The lack of locomotion and the same posture will affect the growth and health of the bones. Lack of exercise can lead to neck pain, spinal problems, and jaw joint pain in children. Unconscious movements of the shoulders and tremors are also reported in children.
Another major problem is the abnormalities in the baby’s breathing. With this reclining position, the baby’s breathing volume and the order can be disturbed. No one doubts how important the lungs, their function, and structure are to health and life itself. While man is a creature with a mix of organisms and abilities that can thrive by running, jumping, touching, falling, sweating, and interacting with the surroundings, the screen that is meant to be useful is eating away at the very biological condition of our babies. Their muscles, bones, and lungs are at risk from this unhealthy habit.
Infant movement and exercise are very important factors in growth. Children should reduce the length of screen use and play outside occasionally, running, jumping, and cycling. Such environments and circumstances must be included in their routine.
Mental health problems
Mental health is just as important as physical health. The mental health of children is a fundamental factor in their ability to acquire many skills, to learn, and to develop healthy habits and behavior. Wherever there is an obstacle in this, it is serious enough to affect the whole life ahead.
Uncontrolled excitement is a common problem seen in children with high screen use. Internet and mobile phone applications are in the form of high speed. When you feel like doing or saying something, you are not able to control it with your own ability. You might not get the desired speed when you need it.
Children who are immersed in the virtual world are accustomed to the immediate consequences of their actions. Everything happens there at the fingertips, and the reality of life from such an illusory world bores them, real life is not a platform to get things done in an instant. Its difference and its flavors make it an area where children have no habit or experience. Thus the minds of children who are unable to face, move forward, and control anything in real life are going astray.
Lack of memory and attention is another mental health problem seen in children. In the world of stability, they have to experience the conflict of not being able to do anything from the screen of instability where a lot of information disappears from the eye at the touch of a finger. They are unable to read a book or concentrate for at least three or four seconds on an activity.
Again the difference between the world on the screen and the real world becomes an issue that they do not grasp at all. The screen is a world where nothing in particular needs to be remembered. All you have to do is remember where to press and where to touch. No other information or wisdom comes to their minds. The human memory capacity will decay due to this.
Children begin to show behavioral changes when they do not receive a variety of stimuli from the screen. Those who have to play and laugh uncontrollably get angry, frustrated, and upset so far from it.
Social capabilities are essential for man to be able to live only as a social being. How can our children move forward without learning to communicate and interact with each other? Children lose many basic emotions such as love, friendship, and caring joy due to the loss of social abilities. They do not know how to overcome the crises they face in life. They easily give up on life and give up trying to solve problems. The most important factor affecting their ability to communicate is the fact that they communicate in the real world, not through their fingertips. Realize that man does not live in an imaginary world where things are done at his fingertips.
Learning difficulties are another problem that is directly caused by memory and attention problems. There are reports from around the world that children are finding it difficult to concentrate and remember what they are learning. It is not limited to young children, and academic difficulties are reported even at the university level too. Children’s ability to sit constantly and read ideas, to listen to the teacher in the classroom and to listen to the class without other distractions is lost due to excessive use of the screen. Their attention shifts very quickly and they get bored very soon in the classroom. They are unable to memorize ideas, apply them, experiment, or meditate. Difficulties in reading and writing are similar to those of learning disabilities such as dyslexia and dysgraphia, which are caused by excessive use of the screen. According to reports, literacy is one of the major challenges facing children who have to venture into the real world when the Covid epidemic is over.
Children born before and after 2019 have not yet had the opportunity to experience social interactions directly. We see that even adults who have really grown to the point where they are given more of these situations and opportunities are more likely to be dependent on the screen and struggle in life. So we need to take seriously how deeply this can affect children. After understanding the issues, it is important not to complain or ignore them, but to realize that many countries around the world have recognized this as an urgent issue and to take steps for the health of children and the health and survival of future generations. It must be dealt with without exception, considering it an urgent need.
Children need to be taught practical skills in life. Skills required for how to move forward in situations faced by an adult human being. They need to be taught all the skills known as life skills, such as cooking, washing clothes, cleaning the house, planting, sewing and swimming, controlling emotions, cultivating friendships, overcoming crises, and coexisting as social creatures.
At the same time, they need to be taught how to deal with emotional situations, how to overcome frustration, anger, sadness, and neglect, and how to move forward in a way that does not harm each other or others. To teach these things, the screen can be changed while engaging in activities, and games. Adults and children alike should control and limit the use of the screen. Create opportunities for children to spend time talking and interacting directly with people and other children of the same age.
This habit should come in the form of dependence and should not be allowed to push children into the kind of pits that endanger their own lives. The first thing to do is to explain to them the dangers of using the screen uncontrollably. Then adults have to live by their role models – how to control screen usage, how to adapt to technology, and how to keep life alive without letting it overwhelm us. Technology, like everything else, needs to be controlled and managed for use, and when it begins to control us, it must be prevented, and it must be taught to children.