Desperate Parent Cries Out; Smart Technology Exposure Has Made Our Kids Go Gaga!

As a parent, I often wonder about the impact that technology will have on the social and mental behavior of my kids.

 Few weeks ago, while spending time with the girls, trying to tidy up homework and all whatnot, the following conversation ensued between my 5 year old and I; She asked me this almighty question, “Mum, where do babies come from?” ever so innocently. I didn’t even know what to think, I mean coming from a child that young…

I responded with mixed feelings, initially I impulsively wanted to be upset and rebuke her in the usual typical Nigerian mum style. But after about a split, indecisive second, I chose to reply instead, “Honey of course you know babies come from God,” picking my words so carefully, even though it eventually turned out that I was actually being too skeptical for nothing really. But what would you expect?

And she replied, “I know that mum because you always tell me how my sisters and I used to be in heaven before you gave birth to us.” I tried to feign innocence as much as I could. My daughter’s smartness and inquisitiveness actually tends to throw me off balance sometimes. I mean she’s only just 5! *insert surprise face emoji*

When I tried to enquire as softly as I could, I found out that she had seen a picture on my phone. It was a picture of a woman who obviously just came out of labor and was lying on the hospital bed with a new born baby cuddled up on her bare chest. Thankfully though, her lower regions (from her waist to her ankles) were covered in cloths.

The aftermath of seeing the picture was that Niki wanted to know how the baby came out of the woman’s body. So I had to tell her that the doctors cut her tummy open with a pair of surgical scissors and brought out the baby and after that, she was stitched back up. And that settled it then. She just expressed her fears that maybe being a mum wasn’t as easy as she had thought.

Don’t worry Niki, you still have ample time ahead of you and mum is going to make sure you are emotionally, physically and financially stable before that sort of thought even crosses your mind again.

I was to be disappointed though because only a few hours later, I could hear her calling out to Steph to hurry up with her hospital bag because she was going into labor soon and had to be in the hospital. *sighing heavily! * What do I do with Niki for crying out loud??? If you are wondering about the origin of the name bearers, click hereto read the blog post titled, ‘It’s So Heavenly Having Daughters!’

I have put a lock on all our phones (mine and hubby’s) and tablets and I don’t even let them have access to their Education City internet homework without adult supervision. I even have new TV favorites now… I watch ‘Cbeebies and Disney’ channels a lot instead of my preferred ‘Keeping up with the Kardashians’ or ‘American Idol’.

PS: It’s important to always check the ratings and on movies, soaps and shows.  Most PG rated movies are not suitable for kids of a certain age and so on.

There is a growing body of research which shows that technology can be both beneficial and harmful to kids. The temerity and exposure is one thing but it should always be channeled towards positivity or the after effect may be drastic!

Managing the use of media in our homes is among the biggest challenges of 21^st century parenting. Thanks to technology, the way we played and interacted growing up, is different from the way our kids play and interact with their peers. Reading story books which develops critical thinking and reflection is now being relegated to the background most of the time (except if we make a conscious effort which I do). They don’t even get as much exercise as they should because all the laptops, tablets, phones and tv encourages them to be sedentary as opposed to playing outside.

Neither do they get enough dosage of the morning sunlight vitamin D or even the appropriate production of melatonin.

Going forward, and knowing now that some of these technologies emit harmful blue light and rays which can disrupt children’s sleep cycle, I am definitely removing ‘TV watching’ from my girls’ bedtime routine on school nights. Sometimes, especially when I am not opportune to read them bed time stories, I tend to indulge them by allowing them to watch their favorite animation and then turning off the tv and lights after they have slept. Steph who is an early bird and not really a TV person would have fallen asleep before the Vampirina theme song comes to an end for instance, but Niki would be fully awake for an extra hour or more if you let her.

Exposure to these technologies isn’t all bad though when you think about the development of their visual spatial capabilities and other things.

As parents, it is our responsibility to learn how to strike a balance so that our kids can learn to thrive in this crazy new world of technology.

What are some of the measures you put in place to check your children’s technology use? Please share with us in the comment section below.

XOXO,

Yours Truly.

Nikimandi