Is your child plugged in?

While the digital world comes as a blessing in the modern scenario, research says that it can be dangerous, especially for kids who’re ‘plugged in’ all the time. Aruna Rathod discusses at length the dangers of the excessive use of gadgets and devices and the need for social skills.

The excessive use of mobile phones and gadgets is leading the society towards cyber bullying, health hazards, deteriorating social skills and various other modern-day problems. Research has found a link between exposure to electromagnetic emissions and various health issues, ranging from brain tumours to hearing problems. Electromagnetic emissions (also known as electromagnetic radiations) are radio waves sent out by any mobile or wireless device—phone or tablet—and are dangerous. Ann Louise Gittleman, Ph.D., C.N.S., New York Times’ award-winning author of 30 books on detox, health and healing says, “In an ideal world, you would never buy a cellphone or wi-fi gadget for anyone under the age of 18. By all means, do not buy preschoolers cellphones. It is far too dangerous a device to put into their hands and especially for them to put up to their ears.” Children are always the most vulnerable victims of environmental assaults. Gittleman explains, children absorb 50 per cent more air pollution than adults. “When it comes to radiation from electromagnetic fields (EMFs)—especially the biologically impacting non-ionising radiation from cellphones and the like, studies have shown that their thinner skulls and bones allow growing children to absorb twice the amount of radiation as compared to a grownup,”
she elaborates.

Dangers of going digital

A good way to understand the need for social skills is to go back to how a baby learns from the mother. We all know that babies need a lot of ‘face time’ with their parents to learn to read the emotional cues. Similarly, growing kids need to explore the world around them, engage all of their senses and learn to interact and get along with others in real time. But gadgets are taking up mind space and social skills are deteriorating. Psychotherapist Neeta Shetty observes that cellphone and other gadgets are introduced to young children by parents themselves. “Parents provide their children with a cellphone to keep a tab on them, but introducing a phone to very young children works against them. Besides, the harmful effects of radiation from the phone continuously can lead to lack of concentration and distraction,” believes Shetty. On the social level, using the mobile for almost all communication can lead to the damage of interpersonal skills, disturbing the child’s social skills. “It is such a shame that children are using social networking through smartphones to communicate instead of meeting and talking. I have seen friends of kids living in the same building either messaging or calling on the phone, instead of meeting each other. What most of us have forgotten is that in order to build relationships, it’s important to meet physically—the physical presence, emotions, expressions all add up to it,” she opines.

Safe use of cellphone

There are studies suggesting that, in addition to brain tumours, cellphone use could result in hearing loss in children (if they use it an hour a day or more) and the death of auditory nerve cells. A recent Indian study has found that cellphone users who used the device for 60 minutes a day for over four years had around 40 per cent of their cells damaged. Cellphones are just as dangerous for tweens and teens as they are for preschoolers. “But peer pressure kicks in. Parents of both pre-teens and adolescents need to establish clear guidelines as to the cellphone use while understanding the kids’ need for independence,” advises Gittleman. It is not only using the phone that creates an issue but also the constant attention being given to it. “Many teens already have sleep problems and the constant beep or buzz—with friends being just a text message away—adds to the problem. No matter how old your child is, I would recommend that there should be no phones in the bedroom. A word of caution: Keep iPads off the lap. Wherever the gadget is placed, the radiation gets directed there. Teach your kids to keep their phones away from the body while they’re turned on. The incoming calls and texts cause a burst of RF emissions that can penetrate the body. So have them stash the phone in their purse or the backpack,” she observes.

The status issue

Swati Kapoor received an expensive smartphone from her parents as a gift on her 13th birthday. She started using it all day for playing games and chatting. What’s more, she also carried it along with her to her tutorials. She loved to flaunt it to her friends and make an impression on them. Cellphones, today, have become a ‘status’ symbol among young kids, points out Shetty. The demand for newer features, additional storage space and ‘smarter’ phones is growing by the day. “All kids want a phone and they keep pestering their parents to buy them the latest and expensive model. Usage of cellphones had led to comparison between peers,” she says. She adds that kids are seen playing games on phone all the time, which leads to severe health problems. Another nuisance is cyber bullying. The cellphone gives them the confidence to bully other children through personalised messages. The most harmful and troublesome thing is the easy access to forbidden sites through cellphones. “Children using smartphones tend to surf the Internet for porn and forbidden sites, which leads to problems,” she observes.

Check for online safety

Online safety is an important aspect that needs to be discussed with kids at an early age. “I’d suggest that young kids should browse the Internet when one of the parents is around. Children and teens need to know that whatever they post online is there for everyone to see. So stay away from posting personal contact data or information. Avoid posting any pictures or information that they will regret later being made public. Instruct them to chat only with people they know—family and close friends. Communicating with people they do not know is inappropriate and unsafe. Make sure they do not open unsolicited email attachments. Try to ensure that you (the parent) are on the contact list of your child’s social media circle so you can monitor your child’s posts,” advocates Gittleman. “A sincere advice that you should give your children is, ‘If you wouldn’t do an activity face to face, don’t do it online either.’ For instance, you wouldn’t go up to a total stranger and start a conversation. Similarly, you can’t do that online too. The online world parallels the real world and both have safe as well as unsafe things out there.” She further cautions preteens and adolescents from texting or calling while driving. The US Department of Transportation reports that teen drivers on cellphones have slower reaction times than teens who are not on the phone while behind the wheel. British scientist Andrew Goldsworthy has suggested that it’s not just inattention that triggers car accidents involving cellphone use, but the false signals sent by our nerve cells when they leak, as they do when exposed to EMFs. “The brain hyperactivity that results may also be at the root of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in children,” she speculates.
With all this and more, take note of the serious effects of going digital and curb it NOW.