Parenting in a TikTok Cyber World:
Is it time to reverse the clock and get your child off their devices?
Growing up in America before the Internet, kids played outside all day long. They had greater self-awareness, and many hours were spent making up games to play with neighbors, learning a great skill set for communicating with others. Teamwork and imagination were part of their emotional growth. Children had better physical development and, frequently, advanced motor skills. In my neighborhood, kids made ramps and jumps for bikes, rolled down ice plant ravines with cardboard boxes, and spent hours exploring the neighborhood while learning how to mitigate risk. Kids would return home for dinner when it got dark, sometimes with scrapes and bruises. Kids would use their critical thinking skills to plan their next day of adventures and do their best to perfect their strategies to lessen the risks, hoping for less pain. Adolescence is a period when you push yourself out of your comfort zone and go through various changes. If you're not pushing yourself to learn about your environment and the people in it as a child, your brain is missing out on the fantastic chance for creativity and problem-solving.
We need children to participate in and experience emotional and social learning daily. Kids who play outside can use all five senses with sensory engagement with the world, touch, feel, smell, sight, and hearing, in contrast to online activities or TV, where they only use sight and hearing while they sit. While outdoor play can be challenging in some communities with safety issues and a lack of green space, getting kids involved with other activities offline and away from the TV, computer, and cell phones is still a great idea. The benefits are too great to ignore, lower stress, increased happiness, and more energy. You can read more about how green space can provide benefits and improve mental health and how residential green space in childhood is associated with a lower risk of psychiatric disorders from adolescence into adulthood.
What Can Parents Do?
How can parents get their children off the Internet, devices, and couches and outside to play? You must be an example. Get off your device and take your children outside. Parents can encourage their children to play outside by being positive role models and participating in outdoor activities with them. Make it fun and part of your routine. Encourage your kids to explore. Go on a scavenger hunt. Here are 35 Creative Scavenger Hunt Ideas for Kids.
https://www.goodhousekeeping.com/life/parenting/g32050844/scavenger-hunt-ideas-for-kids/
By strategizing your children's time away from devices, they will learn how to collaborate with other kids, gain independence, and build confidence and self-esteem. All are beautiful byproducts of outdoor exportation. If these reasons are not enough for a parent to inspire their child to be off devices and outside, then just examine how children are affected by the usage of social media, TikTok, and devices. In this large international study of six thousand eight- to thirteen-year-old children, 32 percent reported feeling "unimportant" when their parents use their cellphones during meals, conversations, or other family times. The children reported competing with technology for their parent's attention. Over half of the children in the study said their parents spend too much time on their phones. In addition, Psychology Today had a great article titled Why Parents Really Need to Put Down Their Phones.
Parents on devices distress children and reduce their resilience.
It's concerning to witness how some parents and teachers are unwittingly contributing to rewiring their children's brains in a negative way. Then, there is the dark side of social media and TikTok’s algorithm, which consistently exploits children's vulnerabilities. It is alarming to observe their impact on the current generation of children. It seems the children are a generation that has been subjected to an experiment.
An excellent eye-opening documentary to watch is called Childhood 2.0. Children are Guinea pigs for what happens when you give a young child full Internet and social media access without boundaries. Kids are exposed to pornography and bullying, they are distracted, their sleep is disrupted, and they have unrealistic views of others with filters, sexting, and sextortion, all of which are leading many kids to be more depressed and anxious than any generation before.
There is more self-harm, and for the first time in history, mental illness and suicide have become one of the greatest threats to school-age children. Rates for every measurable negative impact on their mental health that you could think of have taken place because of social media and online life reducing in-person interactions, which are critical to becoming an adult, developing unique personality traits, and building fortitude.
Children have suffered; in some cases, our younger generation has been taught to be risk-averse and to believe that they're safer inside and that the outside world is dangerous. They have focused on safe places and are fragile, and for other children, there has been an impact that’s leading to aggressive behavior and violence. The impact on social and emotional development is evident on both sides.
Yikes!
If we want to create a better future, we need to take action now and encourage children to explore, express themselves, and make mistakes that won't put their lives at risk but will help them develop cultural awareness, mental resilience, and physical strength.
Children need to learn the importance of engaging in free play and reduce their dependence on electronic devices. As a society, we can collectively work towards achieving this goal. The previous generations have always taken care of the younger ones, and it is our responsibility to follow in their footsteps and enable children to lead a better life than we do. Let's keep it going. Protect the children, teach them values and boundaries, how to be kind, and show them empathy and love. Put the phones down and spend time together. Watch them grow. Let time pass like molasses, and try to take snapshots with your mind, not your phone. Be present in the moment and help the younger generation experience what it's like to be disconnected from devices.
By Carrie Pasquarello Global Secure Resources
Resource: Childhood 2.0 https://www.globalsecurestudent.com/bark
