The Risk Of Doing Nothing For Your Child Before They Go Online
There are risks to everything we face today. And online is no different. Excessive exposure to the digital world can impact their cognitive, social, and emotional development, potentially leading to delays in language, empathy development, and problem-solving skills.
The risks of not protecting your child before they go online can have the following affects:
- It can affect their health and wellbeing – such as obesity, and poor posture and there have even been reports of an increase in carpal tunnel syndrome and poor eyesight in teens. Teen depression and anxiety is on the rise worldwide.
- They have unlimited access to information, if we don’t monitor what they are exposed to, they can be influenced by misinformation. Learning from peers or through trial and error. That is a dangerous game to play.
- We run the risk of exposing them to master manipulators, who now have access to AI technology, meaning they can cast their net even wider. They can be left vulnerable and gullible to predators and scammers.
- Children could unintentionally share sensitive personal information online or engage in risky behaviours, such as downloading malware or interacting with strangers, putting their privacy and security at risk.
- By not setting boundaries, they can get lost in the digital world we created and forget how to connect in person. It can affect their sleep, physical and mental development. They could have major issues as they grow up understanding nonverbal communication, showing empathy, and managing conflict, leading to difficulties in forming meaningful relationships offline.
What is seen, cannot be unseen. This can have a massive impact on a child’s psyche and outlook on life. Not everyone is kind and has good intentions online. They need to understand how to balance their time, be more cautious, and not engage with strangers online. According to Jonathan Haidt, author of The Anxious Generation: How the Great Rewiring of Childhood Is Causing an Epidemic of Mental Illness The harm of growing up online includes:
- Social deprivation: Kids need to play with other kids. Risky play, and physical play all have major effects on how they understand communication and interaction.
- Sleep deprivation: This affects all sorts of health and well-being – No devices next to the bed in the room
- Attention Fragmentation: The ability to focus on a task and be present in the real world
Don’t take the risk, for a once-off fee of R425 you can start the conversation and prepare your child for the world wide web. Being more cautious and setting boundaries in place that will protect your child.