Smartphone Use Can Harm Your Child

Does your child not detach from his smartphone? It is time to do something. Find out how to make your smartphone profitable.

Is the use of the smartphone excessive in your child? Some parents allow their children to use the smartphone to distract themselves, however, excessive use can be detrimental to their health and development.

Today it is common for children to have their own smartphone. In fact, if your child does not have one yet, be prepared because it should not be long before he asks for it. Although the telephone facilitates communication with your little one, you should bear in mind that the use of the smartphone in children may not be too beneficial.

First of all, children become sedentary people. This can lead to diseases such as obesity and even diabetes.  In addition, the smartphone causes addiction and when the child does not have it at hand it can present irritability, aggressiveness and anger.

At what age is the use of the smartphone recommended?

Birthdays, Three Kings Day or Christmas are the ideal dates to give your child a mobile. But have you ever wondered what is the best age for children to have a phone? According to a study carried out by the National Institute of Statistics, in 2016 one in four children at 10 years of age already had their own mobile.

At 12 years of age, three out of every four infants use the smartphone. This age coincides with the passage from school to a secondary institution. Also, if your son’s friends have phones, he’ll probably ask for one too.

The use of the smartphone does not depend on the age of your child, but on whether or not he is ready to have it. Your child’s circumstances and needs also play a role. Also, it is important to consider whether you will use the phone to communicate or to search for curiosities on the web and watch videos without supervision.

How often should the smartphone be used?

Since they are young, children are exposed to mobile screens. But, they need limits since their excessive consumption can considerably affect their health, personal and school development.

Using the phone for longer than indicated can have consequences such as:

• Irritability.
• Sleep disturbances
• Aggressiveness.
• Attention deficit.

• Obesity.
• Eating disorders.

If your baby is less than two years old, avoid exposing him to the mobile screen . Only in cases of video calls. Later, the time can be increased, although this must be governed by the common sense of the parents, who must act as sentries. Teach your child to take advantage of the use of the smartphone, and never allow them to use it alone.

The most common is that the little ones in the house want to use their mobile for videos and online games. However, as a parent, you must take advantage of their preferences. In other words, there is a wide variety of apps designed for children to play while working on their motor and cognitive skills.

In addition, there are many educational and entertaining videos that your children can enjoy while learning   interactive lessons , not everything has to be games that do not provide anything more than idle time.

Apps to learn

With the arrival of the smartphone, toys have been losing ground. The screens have become the favorite option of the little ones when it comes to playing.

Likewise, there are different games designed for your child to reinforce the knowledge they acquire at school or to allow them to develop their creativity and motor skills.

For example, some apps mimic the shape and sounds of musical instruments such as pianos, xylophones, or guitars. With them, your child can develop their sense of hearing and at the same time, arouse interest in music.There are also apps that, through games, teach children to count, speak in other languages ​​and learn the alphabet. Puzzle or tangram games are ideal for your little one to work on their spatial and cognitive skills.

To reinforce their learning with the smartphone, you just have to choose the ideal applications. Remember to ask him what things they like so you know which game might interest him.

Be able to research topics related to school assignments

Sometimes children can bring home an assignment that you have trouble helping him with. However, you should not worry, this is where the use of the smartphone can get you out of trouble. Not only do you have the internet to investigate any questions or tasks that your child has, you can also make use of educational apps such as interactive encyclopedias, calculators, atlases and geographic maps.

Healthy entertainment

The smartphone can also be used to enjoy with the family.  Remember that among the types of mobile applications there are entertainment centers, apps to watch movies and play music.

If you connect your phone to the family TV, your child can enjoy the movies and cartoons of their choice while sharing a different time with the family. These movies can be animated fables that leave a moral for your little one.

However, you must not forget that the use of the smartphone must be supervised by you. Avoid leaving your child manipulating the phone alone, as they could find videos or Internet pages that are not suitable for their age.

What to avoid as a parent

In addition to monitoring and controlling the time your child spends using the smartphone, you must be aware of the pages they browse and the applications they download.

Sometimes, children can consult websites that put their moral integrity at risk. For example, unsupervised social media use can expose your little one to interacting with strangers and accessing violent or pornographic content.

To avoid this, you can create a specific browsing profile for your child. In this you block access to certain web pages, and you configure it in such a way that only you are the one who can download files to the device.

Violent content

Some video playlists may include clips of violent material not suitable for minors. With just a couple of clicks, your child can access videos with inappropriate content

However, you should take advantage of the “kid browsing” mode to block such content. Try to be close to your child when he wants to watch videos, to select what content he can watch and what not.

Pornography

Research published by the International Journal of Developmental and Educational Psychology found that every three out of four 13-year-olds have come across pornography while surfing the internet.

Apart from having access to this kind of content, some children put their moral integrity at risk by leaving their personal data in the registration boxes of pornographic websites. To avoid this, you should constantly check your search history. If you get that he has reviewed pronographic material, talk and explain why he should not frequent these types of pages.

Talk to strangers

One of the biggest risks that your child runs from unsupervised smartphone use is that they enter chat rooms or create social profiles in which they can talk to strangers. Your child will think that he is chatting with one more friend, however, chatting with a stranger can be a risk for him and the family in general.

Many pedophiles who are dedicated to finding out personal information surf the net. Some are so persuasive that they convince children to send you photos and are even able to convince them to schedule a meeting.

To minimize this risk, it is best to have access to your child’s social networks and limits the use of the smartphone. Also, try to ask him what websites he frequents and with whom he commonly talks.

By way of recapitulation

The use of smartphones can be a tool for your child to learn in a more creative and interactive way . However, parents are the main responsible for the content they consume through this device, it is important that you constantly check the privacy settings in the browser and on your child’s social profiles.