Your opinion matters/Week # 1/Cell phone addiction in children

Hi friends, it is my pleasure to share my thoughts with you on this topic. I appreciate the organiser @genomil for bringing such a topic in a time like this, the 21st century, where everything is seen as opportunity, not minding the implications that may bring.

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Talking about the issues of mobile phones, I'd love to ask an honest question. Was the original purpose of the mobile phone meant for children? If we can remember vividly, mobile phones were made specifically for the purpose of communication before other features were set in. I'd love you to stay tuned and this to end while I focus on the contest hints.

When I gave birth to my first child, I was just a novice. I thought what I saw others doing was the best. I copied them and started playing cartoons for my 3-month-old baby to pacify him when he cries. I continued until he was about a year old, when I read an article on my Facebook page by a parenting coach about the effects of the use of phones and screens on children.

After I read that article, I was head bent on making all my children not want to fondle with my phone. I started withdrawing my phone from my son. By this time, he was a year old. But then, I noticed that my child was beginning to get used to the phone, such that he would always bring the phone to me to operate, since he couldn't operate the phone by himself. When I want to get my phone from him, he will cry and cause a scene. By then, I knew I was already in trouble.

If you ask me, giving phones to children may ruin them, especially if there is no parental control to streamline their activities on phones.

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1. Phones are distractions to children as they will make them lose interest in reading or studying.

2. It exposes them to things they shouldn't see or know since there may be no parental control.

3. It makes them feel entitled to the phone even at your inconveniences.

4. Excess use of phones may lead to addiction, which may also affect the child negatively. When addiction sets in, many things will go wrong, such as:

5. Use of phones by children may affect the child's social life and may result in anti-sociality.

6. Excess use of phones may affect the child's sense of reasoning or even lead to some negative behaviours/attitudes such as yelling or becoming an extreme introvert.

7. Excess use of phones may also affect a child's sight.

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Like I mentioned above, during the time I allowed my son to watch cartoons with it, I noticed that it was always difficult to get my phone from him. That was the reason why I made a resolution that I would not allow him or his siblings to make use of phones any more.

I don't need many signs before I react, and I don't want to learn the hard way either. Whenever I notice any negative behaviours, attitudes, actions etc. I will take immediate action to stop such behaviours from escalating into uncontrollable character that will take a rehabilitation to fix. Ever since I noticed my son, I have not given a chance, I allow maybe 20-30 minutes of screen time and then we close for the day.

Advice: If phones should be given to children, it should be closely monitored and maybe include parental control which could be set using the phone's setting. And then, screen time should be set and followed strictly no matter how much they cry, phones should be taken away when the time is exhausted. Just know that children will always be children no matter what, it is in your place as a parent to guide them the right way.

I invite

@ogechukwu-martha
@okere-blessing