New Tips For The Use Of Tablets And Mobile Phones By Children

The new advice published by the American Academy of Pediatrics for the use of tablets and mobile phones by children is aimed at protecting children. They are basically a collection of proposals that experts offer to parents to prevent health problems, attention deficit and behavior of minors.

Due to its importance, in this text we offer you a summary commenting on some of the main points included in the ad.

Dedication of time to more profitable activities

The leisure time of minors must be shared between rest, passive games and activities that allow them to exercise physically.

The psychomotor development of children who abuse electronic devices is affected.

Parents must regulate the hours that their children spend in front of the computer and motivate them to have more fun with the ball, rope, hula hop, and many other games that come from long ago but that, in their time, as well as today, develop motor skills and muscles at an early age.

Today’s children need to stick to more constructive activities that promote mobility.

Regulation of the use of devices during family dinners and night rest

Family dinners are for that: get together as a family. Although the manners that some cultures pursue discourage it, many take advantage of that moment when everyone is together to comment on their day, their plans for the next few hours and any other topic that concerns them.

Meals are that special moment in which glances of affection, recognition, approval are exchanged …, in which the child can talk about what he learned during the school day, how he behaved in class, the tasks he has, the game that he wants them to buy from him … it is time to share and have a good time.

The American Academy of Pediatrics cautions about the importance of taking advantage of dinners to strengthen family ties.

The same happens with the rest schedule. Pediatricians warn about sleep disorders, including insomnia, which affect those who spend a lot of time in front of screens before going to sleep.

There is also talk of poor school performance, sleep during waking hours, poor concentration, apathy and excessive fatigue as a result of not sleeping well.

Social relationships versus isolation caused by screens

Children who abuse electronic devices have little interaction with other children.

These minors begin to have problems establishing friendships, it is difficult for them to learn, speak correctly, express their feelings and moods …

This lack of treatment “you to you” also affects their emotional intelligence and deprives them of learning how to act and respond to the different scenarios to which they are exposed.

Children of this time must be given the opportunity to interact with others under their age, learn from them and even compare themselves in the healthiest sense, because it depends on that they learn to be and behave like everyone else, set goals, they are nourished by the experiences of others, their spirit of wanting to explore and prove for themselves what that other tells them is awakened.

Limits according to the ages of the children for the use of tablets and mobile phones

Finally, the American Academy of Pediatrics also states that there must be limits regarding the ages of children to use and take advantage of the “benefits” of computers, tablets and mobiles.

It is said that babies (under 18 months) should not be exposed to this type of media except for exceptions when, for example, the father, mother or another relative wants to see and speak to them through a video call.

Children between 2 and 5 years of age could be given quality content, that is, songs, animated specifically designed for those ages, but limiting the time to 1 hour per day and always in the presence of an adult who can explain what the pictures you see mean.

The media content must be specifically supervised after the child reaches, for example, 6 years of age, when he begins to be more in control of his routines, lies alone in a room, has a computer that he knows how to access easily and therefore, he stops being dependent on mom to find him his favorite cartoons and games.