The Bad Impact of Cell Phones on Children Who Are Not Yet School Age

Technological advances, especially telecommunications equipment in the current era, have penetrated all aspects of people's lives on a massive scale, to the point that products such as cellphones can now be owned by the majority of people from various economic layers/stratums. So quite a few people are not aware that not all technological equipment is safe to use for all ages.

In particular, the negative impacts of cellphones/gadgets appear when given to children who are not yet school age, especially toddlers (under 5 years).

Therefore, it is necessary to understand that children under five (under 5 years of age) are the golden period for a child's growth, including physical growth, sensory organs, language skills, social interaction with friends his age.

At this golden age, children have an amazing speed in absorbing the mother tongue/local language spoken by their parents and those around them. Children tend to like to ask what is this or that all the time, because of their high curiosity about everything they see and can reach. Psychologically children will explore - actively run and run, holding everything they have just seen (so parents of toddlers must be careful when storing dangerous objects such as medicines, matches, knives, needles/nails, beads, electrical sockets, and so on which have the potential to cause harm to toddlers)

When children meet playmates the same age as them, they will have play interactions, usually playing roles, having imagination in playing like playing with cars, children will imagine as if the car is moving, speeding, turning or crashing, going uphill and so on. Imagining will stimulate active brain nerves, developing simple thought patterns at a young age.

However, all of these things will not be realized or will not develop when children under five are given cellphones/gadgets,

Here are some of the bad impacts that are possible and can occur:

1. Slow to speak.

     Mobile phones/gadgets are a one-way means of communication/multi-media, the user only watches/sees/hears. Toddlers will only tend to remain silent all the time by just watching and listening, so that speaking motor skills become untrained, their vocabulary does not increase, because what they hear/see is not communication material for daily life (such as mommy, I'm hungry, daddy brought it what, what is that, stomach ache, where are my toys, and so on)

2. Lazy to move and selfish

     A toddler's preoccupation with watching/playing with cellphones/gadgets has a bad impact where toddlers become lazy about playing, lazy to move, so that quite a few toddlers tend to have weight/obesity problems. Children become disobedient, ignore what their parents tell them to do, psychologically, children tend to be selfish and don't care about their surroundings.

3. Disorders to the point of damage to the eyes

     Mobile phones/gadgets are objects that are capable of producing and emitting their own light such as laptops, televisions, which if used continuously for hours will cause the eyes to become tired, but the toddler does not know/do not understand that the feeling of tiredness that is felt is a sign that the body has become exhausted from watching continuously. So that quite a few children under five as they get older and enter school age cannot clearly see the writing written by the teacher on the blackboard, so it is only then detected that they require the use of glasses. Common symptoms that occur are often watery eyes, children are often fussy because of pain around the eyes because the motor muscles of the eyes become tense because they are forced to look continuously without stopping.

4. Emotions are unstable

     Apart from children being selfish and not caring about their surroundings, children will become fussy and even become irritable to the point of throwing a tantrum when their cellphone/gadget is taken/damaged, their quota runs out or something else. Parents of toddlers need to understand that children cry when they want to ask for something which is not granted/not given, this is the child's way of softening the parents' hearts so that the child's wishes are granted. Toddlers who are used to/addicted to playing with cellphones/gadgets when they are taken or confiscated will become grumpy/fussy all day, and this could happen for the next few days.

The existing solution requires support, commitment and agreement with parents in the house such as father, mother, grandfather, grandmother and uncle, not to give cellphones/gadgets to their toddlers, even if the toddler's natural method is to whine until they cry. if what he asks for is not given. So that adults, whoever they are, must be firm and have the heart not to give because it is for the good of the toddler to go back to playing with his peers, running around, moving his motoric hands and feet, exploring the home and surrounding environment, playing roles that stimulate the imagination. , allowing children to chatter to each other and arrange what they want with their playmates, establishing communication and increasing vocabulary in their speaking skills.

Give your toddler something to be busy with, by involving him in taking care of the house every day, starting from tidying up his toys after playing with them, helping tidy up his sandals, brushing his teeth regularly, bathing independently, learning to wear simple clothes, and parents will also Enjoy the beautiful times watching your toddler grow and develop from day to day.