Mobile phones distract children to a great extent from their studies. Even we adults are kept ever since we entered the world of mobile phones. However, there are several advantages also in using them. Which includes, they are easy to communicate, keep children digitally occupied, easy to access information at any time, boosts creativity in kids, etc…
Human studies show that mobile phones have certain harmful effects on adults’ as well as kids’ mental and physical health. Primarily, the overuse of mobile phones will affect the functioning of the brain, when kids are exposed to long hours of screen time. Moreover, it disrupts the sleeping habits of children, causes problems in the eyes, slows down academic performance, and creates inappropriate behavior in children. In which, Kids mental health is what damages the most when they get addicted to cell phones.
Affects brain processing
It is a known fact that the human brain is sensitive to electromagnetic radiation. Moreover, radiation will disrupt the processing of the brain. We are aware that mobile phones work primarily on electromagnetic waves. If we are attending the calls, playing video games, or even messaging, these electromagnetic waves are transferred to the neural network of the brain. Scientists have discovered that just a few minutes of a phone call can alter the kid’s neural activity of the brain for up to an hour. What happens late is that these radiations will disturb the neural network which causes the brain to slow down its processing.
Although the mobile phone has been captured by the world in the past decades, it has brought a significant influence on children’s learning and academic performance. The extent to which children use mobile phones is indeed the fact that leads them to step back from academic studies. Recent research shows that mobile phones can have a negative impact on the academic grades of children. They lose their concentration and time spent in their studies. Furthermore, this will affect children’s awareness problems and will lead to weak focus and attention to studies.
Affects on eyes
Mobile phone overuse has many harmful effects on adults as well as children’s health but primarily on children’s health. We are molded into the fact that whenever we feel tired, happy, sad, or free we tend to lock ourselves on mobile phones. The same thing applies to children as well. When children get addicted to mobile phones, they will spare more time on them. Spending more time on mobile screens and staring at them without even blinking will put a lot of strain on children’s eyes. This will lead to risk conditions like myopia and eye fatigue. Children will experience less sleep or be hard to sleep and will be less able to focus. To keep their eyes safe, we have to let them use the phone under bright light, adjust the screen setting, advise reducing glare and keep a sensible distance from mobile phones.
Most of us, including children, used to set alarms on mobile phones and keep them near to our heads or even under the pillow in order to hear them aloud. When we do so, microwave radiation from the mobile phone is transmitted and is very much harmful to our brains, especially kids’ brains. Do not let children sleep holding mobile phones in their hands. Whenever the phone beeps, they’ll tend to look into it and again start playing with it. This will disrupt their sleeping habits and, of course, will lead to mental health problems.
Overuse of cell phones can lead children to captivate their minds into inappropriate content which will, in turn, influence their behavior too. At first, they may start everything for fun but lately, it will lead to addiction and they become anxious and curious whenever they can’t get hold of mobile phones. The age limit isn’t a barrier to getting access to everything on mobile phones if you have a good network connection as your child can log in to whichever site and you’ll never know about it. When children get extensively locked by the programs of mobile phones, they begin to lose their ties with the outside world. They began to lose connection with their surrounding which will lead to decreased social engagement
Solutions to save children from harmful effects of mobile phones
- A child’s brain is too sensitive to withstand the effects of radiation from mobile phones. So, it is advised not to let them play with it for long hours.
- Always keep a distance between the head and the mobile phone. It is best to use a headset or AirPods for hearing and that to be with a lower voice.
- Control yourself while using mobile phones in front of your kids. Actually, you are being the worst example for your kid by showing things that they should not do.
- Always keep an eye on what your kid is playing or doing with the phone. They might tell you something and will do something else when you are gone. In order to keep them safe from inappropriate content, you should make sure they are using phones for urgent purposes only.
- Do not ever let children take mobile phones to school when not being requested or approved by the teacher.
- Make sure to take back your mobile phone before the bedtime of your kids in order to save some hours to get better sleep for them.
It is necessary to educate your kids from a very young age about the harmful effects caused by the overuse of mobile phones. So, from now onwards before giving them mobile phones to make yourself free from disturbances, note that you are only making big mistakes about it, and you will realize it when your kids grow with it.