Johanna Burgos
It is not a secret that today’s technologies are more advanced as time goes by. But what happens when electronic means are being used inappropriately, that is to say they are not being used correctly, because as we know with the arrival of the internet many doors were opened, it was a step forward in medicine, in studies, and the discovery of countless things that could not be seen before. We can say that today we cannot live without the internet (in quotes). But as I mentioned above, what happens when we misuse it, especially when children and adolescents have access to the internet without control or a person to supervise them?
In the world, more than 80% of children between the ages of 3 and 13 today have a tablet or cell phone, either for study or for fun. It is not bad to use it in both cases, but many times these children who are inside the YouTube application or installed games where ads are present can easily access these pages and then take them to another and so on, until perhaps they find a page or some content not suitable for children.
We call these electronic media technological babysitters because today, without a doubt, most parents, to avoid having their children entertained, buy a tablet or a cell phone, thus perhaps avoiding having bad times with their children and gaining more time to do housework. and fulfill personal duties, without realizing that their children may be victims of cyber bullying, they may see explicit content, they may access games that lead to violence and then put it into practice, and many acts that generate a bad attitude at home and in the school. Notwithstanding this, they can also generate confusion, alteration, have a different vocabulary. Let’s remember that children are a sponge and absorb everything they see and hear.
But how dangerous can it be that my son has access to the internet? If we talk about danger, the internet is the root where millions of cases of violence are generated, millions of frauds, contacts for people drug trafficking, arms drug trafficking and a lot of other things, to say that everything that happens in the world moves through of the internet. So, since all of this is on the Internet, our children can have access to it, even without realizing it. It can be through a video game, an advertisement generated by another web page and so on. The bad thing about this is perhaps not that it is on the internet or even that they can see it, the bad thing is that the children can practice, and continue looking for information about this, causing them more curiosity until they notice it in their behavior, where many parents do not know that it is due to the internet.
However, there are different applications where children and adolescents can download it and access it with an account, even without entering and seeing the content it contains, such as Tiktok, YouTube, Facebook, Netflix, among others.
One of the accounts most used by young people today on TikTok, a platform without a doubt that in a short time took over people around the world, either because of the time generated in the videos or because of the particularities that other apps do not have. , such as imitating some audio, some character with a phrase or some artist with their songs and dances. What is undoubtedly the favorite of many young people and children. But what happens on TikTok that doesn’t come to light? many videos that are on this platform do not have a filter, that is, anyone who has a TikTok account can see all the content that is public, which in most of them is, so children can also access it. There are many cases of adolescents who imitate the videos they see so much that they have even suffered an accident and where children have also lost their lives for doing the same thing as the video. A case that occurred in the Dominican Republic was a 10-year-old girl who, after having seen a video of how to commit suicide, was found dead and despite that, she was found in the same way that the video said on said TikTok platform. Below is the link to the news.
“The WHO recommends that in children aged three to four years, the time spent in sedentary activities in front of a screen should not exceed one hour.” In an interview conducted in the Heraldo newspaper, Domi Diez, who is from the Althia Foundation and collaborates with the San Joan de Deu Institute, explains that the interactions between parents and children have been changing for years, not with the mobile anymore, she explains, but also with the television on during mealtime, concluding that the child receives 200 words less than an adult. Pointing out that beyond children who “Share” their parents with screens have 10% more hyperactivity problems and have less language development. Ten also considers her brain receives too much visual information that it is unable to process and causes hyperexcitation at the brain level that makes children more irritable “,
Now, what are the factors that can affect my son due to the excessive use of tablets and cell phones?
There are many cases where children have controlled the use of these electronic devices, but many do not, which cause side effects and problems such as:
-Overweight: Due to the lack of physical activity and cell phone use, the WHO determined that a third of adolescents between 13 and 15 years of age had overweight problems, according to a note on the Tiempo Digital website.
-Sleep disorders: Where the use of the cell phone before sleeping can cause lack of sleep and lack of concentration in studies and even headaches according to specialists.
-Hyper stimulation, -Cramps in arms and hands, Social isolation, Visual deficit, Lack of communication, bad behavior – Bad way of speaking among others.
It concerns the same negative causes that provoke the excessive use of the cell phone , it is what is the addiction to this , where many times the children are blackmailed by their own parents so that they do the duty that corresponds to them in order to let them use those electronics.
In young people, many cases that frequently happen is that when they are connected to the Internet, they see themselves with various games that lead them to violence, even to mistreat others. As we have seen thousands of cases occurred in the United States by young people who suffer from mental illness and their parents do not even realize it, because most of them spend it on their cell phones. These children are grown up and want to make their own revenge for what has happened to them.
That is why it is recommended that your children monitor everything they do and see on the Internet, the most advisable thing is that they use these electronic media with an adult in front of them, to see the content that they have access to. Put an order and schedule of when you should use said electronic device. Set rules on how the cell phone or tablet should be used. Cancel all web page so that they do not have access. Do not allow children to go to bed with them. Teach practical values at home
We must remember that children are the future of tomorrow, and perhaps due to the misuse of an electronic medium it can affect their behavior, their health and the environment of how to express themselves, that’s why you should supervise everything your children do on the internet. Especially the communication from father to children, that advice and talk can prevent children from reaching adolescence with some trauma and from doing things out of control where innocent people can be affected.
Link Nina TikTok \ suicide \ Dominican Republic \ https://youtu.be/DLo5VZD6RpQ Child safety on the internet: https://youtu.be/WTHXsvlY4FY
Author: Amaury Abreu
