How to distract a child from the phone and tablet: tips for dads and moms

dolio.ru » Psychology » Children » How to distract a child from the phone: methods that work

At first, your child was too young to understand modern technology, but over time he began to watch cartoons, and then received a tablet with games from Santa Claus. And at first everything was fine: while he was playing with his favorite toy, you managed to cook, clean, and even quietly surf the Internet. But as soon as he went to school, you decided to make him happy by purchasing another very important and necessary gadget in our time - a modern smartphone with a bunch of useful programs and applications. This was the turning point when your child began to hang out on the Internet for several hours in a row, justifying himself by searching for an essay or communicating with classmates.

Dozens and even hundreds of parents can tell roughly the same story, with some modifications, who made the same common mistake - they gave their child an exciting gadget, but did not teach him how to use it correctly. And now many of them are thinking about how to distract their child from the phone before he turns into a real vegetable, lying on the couch for hours with a tablet in his hands.

Slow mental development

No matter how strange it may sound, a passion for computer games has a bad effect on a child’s development. First of all, this is reflected in his communication skills and academic success. Every third first-grader who spends a long time in Minecraft has difficulty concentrating in lessons and remembering new material.

Get your child a job

Let's say a child has free time, which he spends as he sees fit. And you, for example, could offer him an alternative - work for money. This should be some kind of additional burden, and not the usual duties. You can, for example, sort the garbage, walk your neighbor's dog, or run to the pharmacy. But first you need to discuss the terms of cooperation, payment and the results that you expect from the contractor.

This method helps to form a healthy attitude towards money (if you didn’t do it, you didn’t earn it; if you did it poorly, you got little) and cultivate determination. If a child wants to earn more, he can offer additional services on his part.

Development of aggression and unstable psyche

Have you ever looked closely at what your child is playing? Some games are distinguished by an abundance of blood and noticeable cruelty, which makes him look at the world with completely different eyes. Love for shooters and arcades often ends in the appearance of mental disorders, depression and fears, and also develops aggression and increased nervousness in the child.

Do you have a mobile addiction?

Let's start by saying that there are many good and righteous ways to use a mobile phone. For example, there are apps where you can read the Bible; also writing a message can be more convenient and faster than calling, and the ability to call someone allows us to connect with people who are close or far from us, as if they were nearby. Through Skype, for example, parents and their children or grandparents can contact each other, regardless of whether they are in different cities or countries. And this makes it possible for friends to remain friends while walking along the roads of life. I could go on and on about how and why phones can be useful and used for righteous purposes. But like many things, when something good begins to control our thoughts, feelings and impulses, that potentially good thing becomes unhealthy and leads to addiction.

Overweight

Immobility and the habit of eating while holding a phone in hand are one of the main reasons for children gaining excess weight these days. Unless your child is petite, being dependent on gadgets will only make their weight problem worse.

To this list of problems one should also add the risk of developing cancer, decreased immunity and a host of other diseases caused by such a habit.

Go for a walk

Home walls are not often conducive to adventure, but, by the way, they unite. A few hours on bicycles or a walk in the park will be a good alternative to the smartphone screen. Plus, being outdoors improves performance 8 reasons to spend more time in nature and mental health. Physical activity, even just walking, helps relieve stress. Physical activity develops the respiratory and cardiovascular systems.

Walking not only distracts the child from the gadget, but also helps fight physical inactivity. Setting aside a couple of hours in your schedule for them is not as difficult as it seems, especially if you remember the benefits of active recreation. Hide your phone in your pocket while you walk.

Smarter use of electronics

All of the above points are really scary. But all this does not mean that now the child needs to be completely restricted from this terrible and harmful technology (especially if he has already received it).

As recent studies show, the telephone has firmly entered our lives and has become one of the most essential means of communication. And among children and especially teenagers, it is a powerful tool for self-expression and the formation of one’s own personality. Therefore, it is impossible to completely restrict a child from using gadgets, and it is not necessary. So he will feel like some kind of outcast, deprived of basic benefits. Instead, teach him how to treat them correctly and use them wisely. For this:

Entrust your child with household chores

Such assignments help children feel involved in common issues. The younger the child, the more willing he is to get involved in joint work. Especially if its result significantly affects the life of the family. By celebrating successes in household chores, you motivate him to try and take a responsible approach to tasks. A study by University of Minnesota professor Marty Rossman, Involving children in household tasks, showed that children who helped their parents around the house later became more independent and self-confident people. In addition, housework helps achieve not only short-term goals, but also the formation of character and habits that directly affect the child’s quality of life.

You can organize family brunches on weekends, where everyone has their own role. For example, someone chooses dishes and sets the table, someone prepares sandwiches, someone goes shopping. The main thing is that the roles are distributed among all family members. In such tasks, do not use a commanding tone; be sure to emphasize that the child is an important assistant in the house, and do not control his every step. Give specific tasks, spell them out in detail and thank them for their help.

Show your own example

Children follow the example of their parents. This rule is especially true in the case of telephone addiction, from which even adults suffer today. Therefore, when you decide to teach your child how to use your gadget usefully, try to show by personal example how to do it. If your work is directly related to the use of a computer or telephone, you need to explain this to the child as clearly as possible and show that you are not playing games there at all, but are doing something important and useful.

Go to a museum or aquarium

Plan visits to interesting places with the whole family and turn it into a tradition. The oceanarium is a suitable place not only to take a break from smartphones, but also to develop erudition and horizons.

According to the Binet-Simon scale, there are three ages of children's perception: at 3–7 years old, the child records surrounding objects, at 7–12 years old he describes them, and at the age of over 12 years he explains what he sees.

Each stage has its own characteristics of perceiving information and understanding the world. Children learn new things through games, communication, and study. This is the child’s usual environment, it directly affects development. In order to expand the boundaries of children's perception, you can use additional methods, for example, going to museums, exhibitions or the aquarium. This will not only distract the child from gadgets, but will also help develop his cognitive abilities, interest him in something unusual, and maybe even find a new hobby.

In the Moskvarium at VDNKh there are about 12,000 species of marine animals: seals, caimans, turtles, octopuses, stingrays, sharks and hundreds of other species of fish. The aquarium is a living encyclopedia of the world's oceans.

To make it more convenient to study the inhabitants of the underwater world, information displays are installed near each aquarium. If you want to know more, sign up for an educational excursion or quest. Moskvarium also hosts master classes, educational classes and other events. All of them are designed for different ages.

Buy tickets to Moskvarium

Make your gadget useful

Another great technique against mindless addiction to watching videos on Youtube is to show your child that the same phone can be very useful. For example, with its help, a child can learn English, watch educational programs, do math, or learn something new. Thus, thanks to his favorite gadget, the child will be able to improve his performance at school or acquire a lot of new skills.

Child psychology

Rating 5

Tips on how to identify a child’s addiction to mobile devices in the early stages and cope with it

Type
Ask
Send to a friend
Share
subscribe to news

Has your child become restless and fussy lately? Does he only appear in a good mood when he holds a mobile phone or tablet in his hands? Is he unable to concentrate and his performance at school is slipping? If you answered yes to at least one of these questions, your child probably has a mobile addiction.

Recently, mobile devices have played a huge role in the lives of teenagers. Mobile phones and tablets become a source of entertainment for them, make them feel like superheroes, and increase their adrenaline levels. At the same time, the teenager becomes dependent on gadgets and can no longer cope without them. A teenager’s mood directly depends on mobile devices, and without access to them, he can no longer fully enjoy real life.

The most dangerous thing in such a situation is the frivolous attitude of parents towards this problem, who begin to pay attention to it only when the child shows clear signs of dependence, as with alcoholism and drug addiction.

Signs of mobile addiction

Mobile addiction prevents a child from achieving his life goals. It turns a teenager into a lazy, bored person who sees the only meaning of his existence in using gadgets. Pay special attention to your child's behavior.

It's worth considering if you notice the following signs:

Apart from mobile devices, the teenager has no other interests, and the activities that he liked before (for example, going to the movies or playing football) are no longer of interest.
He constantly argues about playing longer on his smartphone or tablet. In disputes, the teenager zealously defends his position and cannot look at the situation objectively.
The child looks upset when he does not have access to his mobile account, and is happy when he gets access.
He lies about how much time he played with the mobile device.

Side effects of mobile addiction

Mobile technologies unite countries and different groups of people. On the other hand, the mobile industry is responsible for isolating teenagers from the outside world, making their lives gray and lonely. This addiction can have serious consequences for teenagers:

Obesity. Constant use of gadgets leads to a sedentary lifestyle. Teenagers sit on the couch for days on end, eating fast food between games. In the long term, this leads to lack of physical activity and obesity. In turn, obesity can cause cardiovascular disease, diabetes or arthritis.
Aggressiveness. Recent studies have shown that teenagers who play a lot of violent, aggressive games on mobile devices are more likely to be aggressive towards their peers. They also tend to be rude and impolite towards teachers.
Behavior problems. Parents of children with mobile addiction often face many unpleasant situations: children offend each other, spy on parents’ passwords and secretly use them, browse prohibited sites, and when they lose access to them, try to get it back using their parents’ passwords. To gain access to a computer, they lie to parents that they need the Internet to prepare for lessons. Instead they play computer games. When a child is told to get up from the computer or put down the mobile device, he has outbursts of anger. Children also constantly compete for the right to sit at the computer or play on a tablet.
Sleep disorders. Mobile devices interfere with children's sleep patterns. Constant SMS correspondence takes up part of their night time. Therefore, children may feel tired during the day. They have problems with concentration, which causes their school performance to decline.
Problems in relationships with others. Becoming increasingly dependent on mobile devices, teenagers strive to own the latest gadget, regardless of its cost. Therefore, a dependent teenager becomes more mercantile in relationships with others. In a society where mutual assistance and selflessness are valued, he often feels lonely. He finds it difficult to make new friends and withdraws from his family and loved ones.

How to overcome mobile addiction

Mobile addiction “kills” all a teenager’s free time. But disputes and arguments do not give the desired result. To overcome mobile addiction, a holistic, constructive approach is needed that will help the teenager begin to live according to a new routine. Start with these steps:

Don’t get into an argument with your teenager; set clear time limits for when he can use the gadget. If a teenager asks to sit at the computer for an hour longer, tell him that tomorrow he can play for an hour less. Make sure that the established restrictions are strictly followed.
Reward your child if he honestly sticks to the set schedule.
Spend time with your child. If you see that he is feeling lonely or bored, invite him to take a walk in the park together. While walking, turn off your mobile devices and pay attention to your child.
If in the end all the efforts made do not bring the desired result, contact a psychologist who can offer a more professional approach to solving the problem. Typically, the work of a psychologist with a child’s mobile addiction consists of three components: teaching the healthy use of mobile devices, developing vital skills and a healthy lifestyle.

Finally, if you want to wean your child from addiction to mobile devices, take a closer look at your own behavior. Perhaps you will see the reason why a child runs away into the virtual world. Show your child the world that exists outside the monitor of his tablet. Let him experience joy and pleasure in simple things.

Rate this publication

Article rating: 5.00

out of 5 based on
1
rating.

Check what your child is doing

It is fundamentally wrong to send a child to the nursery with a phone in his hands, hoping that he will sit and watch beautiful cartoons. Today, among children of primary school age and teenagers, a fairly large number of violent games and watching videos about various games are common, where profanity is often used. Therefore, you must constantly monitor what your child is watching or doing online, and, if necessary, block this or that type of content.

Invite guests

Make sure that when your child’s friends come to visit you, it will be special for them: arrange an impromptu celebration or a costume party. Modern children really need something that gadgets do not have - emotions.

In live communication, unlike online dialogues, children receive the opportunity for tactile contact. They can hug and shake hands. And this has a positive effect on mood and well-being. Hugs and kisses: the impact of emotional touch on health. Live communication teaches children to manage themselves, develop empathy, understand their interlocutor, be flexible, and adequately assess what is happening in real time and without the “filters” of social networks.

Teach how to behave correctly on the Internet

And the last thing you can do for a schoolchild is to teach him how to properly maintain his page on social networks. That is, talk about what information you can share about yourself and what you shouldn’t, how to communicate with different types of people, and why it is dangerous to correspond with complete strangers.

And lastly, never forget that the best way out of the situation is personal attention. So instead of surfing Instagram, play fun games with your kids, take a walk in the park, or encourage them to do something creative. Personal attention from parents and active pastime have always been and will remain the favorite activities of children of all ages, if we do not forget that they also require your attention and care.

Find clubs based on your interests

Everything is simple here: children themselves choose an activity they like, which they don’t mind spending time on. Listen to what your child most often talks about and what he is interested in. By providing him with a hobby, you don’t have to worry about wasting time on your smartphone. Any offline activity will help not only take your mind off the screen, but also develop certain skills: attention, concentration, strength, endurance. Two factors are important here: regularity and children's interest. As soon as one of the parameters is lost, the efforts may come to naught.

Even if you don’t really like the chosen hobby and you think that putting together puzzles or a Rubik’s cube is a waste of time, give your child the opportunity to decide for himself what to do. A hobby should be fun.