In fact, technological progress has not only spread among young people and adults, but has also touched the lives of underage children, many of whom now have their own gadgets. Even today, many parents let their children play with their gadgets.
This condition of gadget addiction is called Screen Dependency Disorder (SDD). Around 70 percent of parents admit that they allow their children aged 6 months to 4 years to play with gadgets when they are doing household work, and around 65 percent do the same to calm their children when they are in public places.
Then one quarter of parents admitted to leaving their children alone with gadgets before bed, even though the bright screens on gadgets can damage their eyes and disrupt sleep. Most parents also stated that children under 1 year old tend to use gadgets to play games, watch videos and play applications.
Raising children in this millennial era is not easy. Their character, who is always curious, impatient and creative, seems to make parents a little overwhelmed. Technology makes children always want to be satisfied quickly. “What do you want, you have to get it now.” As a result, children become easily bored and cranky.
The generation of parents of children is dominated by the millennial group who are already familiar with technological developments. The attitude of children who receive information from the internet raises concerns in itself. Issues surrounding children’s growth and development and parenting patterns occupy the second position of the toughest challenges for parents.
“They already have a lot of information, but they are becoming more worried about children’s growth and development problems,” said Rina.
One of the characteristics of children with SDD is that they always take their gadgets when they wake up and eat at the table with their eyes focused on the gadget screen. Children also experience psychological problems such as being quiet, often alone, often feeling lonely because they spend hours without socializing with other people, becoming more easily angry and panicked, stressed, and even having difficulty focusing when studying.
Some of the negative impacts on physical health due to gadget addiction can cause dry eyes, impaired vision, shoulder pain, neck pain, and pain in the fingers and wrists.
There is even research which states that the E.coli germ that causes diarrhea is most often found on gadgets. This happens because of frequent contact with gadgets which are more at risk of infection.
Gadget addicts often stay up late so their sleep quality decreases. Sometimes because parents are busy taking care of work, the child becomes less affectionate and the child looks for an escape to entertain himself by playing with gadgets.
There have been many cases of children who are addicted to gadgets and they do extreme things if they are not given gadgets. This happens because parents are accustomed to pampering their children by fulfilling everything the child wants without thinking about the consequences that will be experienced later.
One example of a case of a child addicted to gadgets was experienced by a 37 year old woman who did not want to be named. He revealed that his child had been playing with gadgets since he was 2 years old. Even though the child cannot read yet, his way of playing with gadgets is by imitating what he sees when his parents play with gadgets.
The funny thing is that when the child opens the YouTube application, he doesn’t type the keyword he wants to search for but instead uses voice search. When the child entered school, oddities began to appear because he often rubbed his eyes and said that his eyes were itchy and hurt. “Could it be that my child has eye problems,” said the mother.
Finally, he took the child to see an eye specialist and to his surprise, the child was nearsighted and had to wear glasses at a very young age.
Fortunately, nearsightedness in children can still be cured. Even so, the mother still feels guilty for not being able to look after her child well.
But gadgets don’t always have a negative impact on our lives. There are still many positive impacts of gadgets on our lives, such as increasing knowledge, expanding friendships throughout the world, and training children’s creativity.
However, today’s parents have their own way of raising children who are always curious, namely by giving their children the freedom to express themselves or try something new. They also spend more time with their children by taking them for walks, playing sports, and much more.
Don’t get your child used to playing with gadgets too much. There is no harm in introducing children to what is called a process because it is important for the child to face his future so that the child gets used to facing difficulties independently, and does not easily give up in the face of failure.
As far as possible in front of children, parents should not be too busy with their gadgets. What is still the biggest challenge for parents today is limiting children’s use of gadgets.