Hello, Habr! I present to your attention a translation of the article "" by Kim Flaherty and Kate Moran.
While parents in America worry about their children enjoying technological progress, parents in China think about how to protect their children from technological madness.
How do technologies affect modern children and their lives?
In the Life Online study, we surveyed more than 100 parents from 6 different cities around the world. We listened to all their concerns and fears and asked: how do their children engage with the modern technological environment?
Today, our children grow up in a digital universe, surrounded by smartphones, tablets, computers, drones, virtual and augmented realities; we encounter technology in some way every day. In a short period, we have invented many incredible devices, but we have no idea how they will affect the future, including the lives of our children.
What are parents worried about?
Parents worry about everything from health to social-cognitive skills and their child's future social status. They do not know whether internet communication will harm their child or help them excel among peers and become slightly more successful in life.
They fear that a world with digital screens and electronic devices will contribute to a decrease in physical activity.
Lastly, they are afraid that by allowing children to use digital devices, they stop being involved in the child's upbringing and shift that burden onto soulless machines and algorithms.
In the U.S. and Canada, the main focus is not on prohibition but on minimizing the negative impacts of technology on children, for example:
- Decline in social skills
- Decline in attention and concentration
- Decline in adaptability to society
- Loss of self-identity
The mother of one child in Toronto is concerned that her boy appears to have autism symptoms when looking at his mobile phone screen.
If you need to distract a child and donāt want to come up with anything, you can simply hand them an iPad, but do you really think this method should be used all the time? Yes, definitely, there are cases when you can take advantage of this approach and give a child a tablet for 30-60 minutesā¦ but in such cases, try to ask questions about what they watched or include educational programs for the child.
Usually, another root of the problem lies in time management. Some people do not manage the time they spend on a computer or other digital device, yet they try to impose limits on their children (of course, unsuccessfully).
A mother of two first-graders says: "If I can't control how much time I spend on the computer, how can my daughter do it?"
Another significant concern for parents is: "A child used to the dynamic shows presented by a tablet will not want to listen to any school teacher, as that will be less exciting than the constantly changing images and visuals on the screen."
Some parents are worried that online games and video watching destroy childrenās social skills, making them outcasts, and therefore they forbid their children from using YouTube and Twitch.
Many parents are concerned about the balance between their childrenās virtual and real lives.
Clubs, groups, or physical exercises can bring more benefits than sitting in front of a computer screen after coming home from school.
Some parents deliberately force their children to use the tablet only as an electronic primer or encyclopedia, imposing restrictions on all other services and apps.
The Golden Mean
On the one hand, tablets make us reclusive, stealing our time and attention; on the otherā¦ My two-year-old daughter already knows the alphabet! When our acquaintances ask us how we managed to do this, I answer - itās all thanks to the tablet. My six-year-old child already knows all about the structure of the Earth, various other planets, like Mars, and can tell how many rings each one has. We didnāt teach him thisā¦ itās all from the tablet. But sometimes, we arrange rest days and go to the dacha to pick apples, refusing any electronic devices.
A young mother from Toronto decided to limit the time her child spends in front of the screen after her little one crawled up to the supermarket TV and started swiping his finger across the regular screen, hoping to change the picture.
Parents in China hold the following opinion:
"Technology is a blessing and a great responsibility. We must act as guides and guardians for our children, helping them discover new and interesting things, but also remember to monitor the time they spend in front of the screen."
Control and Influence Strategies
Parents who decide to limit their children's gadget use employ various methods...
"I don't want my child to carry a phone and play on it. The phone is only for emergency calls."
Some parents provide their children with devices that have restrictions and allow them to play only as a reward for some other activity (like completing homework or cleaning the house).
Another mother gave her daughter an iPhone that wasn't connected to the internet, so her child could listen to music, use offline language learning apps, and make regular calls.
Nowadays, most modern smartphones and tablets already have a "kids mode"āthis no longer surprises anyone.
In China, some parents prohibit their children from using gadgets and playing computer games until they transition to high school.
The Chinese government also monitors the gaming industry.Ā
One mandatory requirement for a product to enter the Chinese market is the inclusion of built-in time control mechanisms for how long a player spends in the game.
Some games in China require entering a personal user ID to monitor total gaming time and the content that can be shown to a child of a specific age.
In America and Canada, children are usually tech experts and often provide technical advice to their parents.
Some parents ask their children to help them connect to the Wi-Fi at home. One mom needed her six-year-old's help to project her computer screen onto the TV using Apple TV. That same mom said, "They must be tech-savvy, it's obvious. And my 9-year-old daughter seems to just know how to handle these things; she just has a knack for solving these kinds of problems [with devices and technology]. It amazes me, I honestly don't know where it comes from."
Conclusion
We live in a hyper-technological age.
We achieved this in an incredibly short time, and while we enjoyed the wonders of progress, it has shaped a new life vector and created numerous contradictions that need to be addressed as soon as possible.
Funnel: the feeling of pleasure we experience when a couple of swipes separates us from food, groceries, and clothing ordered to our doorstep, instead of the possible physical effort we would have needed to expend to procure food or clothing for ourselves.
Filling the silence: people have begun using gadgets to fill their free time and 'empty' moments in their lives.
On trains, in subways, airplanes, waiting rooms, at work, in schoolā¦ the phone has become an everyday source of distraction for our attention. A rattle against boredom.
Digital life sometimes overshadows everyday life, plunging us and our children into a sea of loneliness and false society (chats, communities, groups).
We become closer virtually, but further apart physically. This changes the lifestyle of us and our children, affecting our health and productivity. Communication over the internet feels more like business interaction; it completely fails to convey the emotional reactions and experiences of the speaker that we can pick up on during in-person meetings.
Please note that our research does not prove whether excessive use of digital devices harms children. To answer this question, it is necessary to conduct long-term and serious studies, as any negative consequences manifest over time, not during a single observation. []
Our research has shown how children today use gadgets, and this raises conflicting feelings and concerns among many parents across different continents.
Therefore, it is crucial to understand parents' concerns when developing technologies or products for children.
A few key points to remember:
- Restrictions
Try to thoughtfully design and minimize transitions from content to screen with restrictions. Let it be less intrusive.
- Help parents
Assist parents in setting up and configuring the app for their children. You will make people's lives easier and relieve them from the need for constant supervision.
- We are all children
When you enter a shopping mall, you surely see play areas and playrooms.
Many children, just like us, use the internet, watch cartoons, and listen to music. Why not consider a separate child-friendly design for your product, website, or app?
This is a very important topic, and if you're interested, check out the on the differences between adult and child interfaces and their patterns.
Lastly, remember that children often emulate adults.Ā
What example are we setting for children when their parents smile at their mobile phone screens more often than at each other?
Source: habr.com
