Response to the parents concerned about the effects of media and digital games on their children

Technology and its use has long been a debated topic, people do realize how beneficial all of these tools are to the development of the mind, though fail to understand what are some of the negative effects that these could have on a child or teen. Failing to understand some of the concepts in teaching combined with technology some parents may exaggerate the benefits and disadvantages that tech can have, causing a further misunderstanding between them, the child and the teacher.

In my experience, not a lot of parents are worried about their child’s “digital-time” when the child is supervised by the teacher, and. of course, when they trust the teacher. Usually, they will only talk to the teacher when they are worried about privacy issues of their child, when it comes to the child accidentally uploading unwanted pictures of the family to the web. Some of the parents are also worried about the physical aspects of tech use, their concern is that it might cause bad eyesight or wrong posture.

Research shows that only a few short steps of limiting tech use at home can prevent any negative consequences that tech might have.

First of all, supervision. Every once in a while it’s important to take a look at the screen of your child’s device to understand what is it exactly that they’re up to. Having the TV, gaming consoles (Xbox or PlayStation) and the computers in an area where you can easily observe the behaviour is recommended. This can also help you limit the use of some of the unwanted content on the web. An hour or two should be the limit, try to come up with another activity that the child could do before you tell them that their daily two hours are done. Not having something to replace the technology with is usually what causes the child to think that everything else is boring.