Limit Your Social Media Time

 

'Ma'am, my son glues his eyes on the mobile phone all the time. He doesn't want to read any book or go out to play. I'm worried. What can I do?' a parent complained to me. To pacify her, I said, 'It's not only your son; other parents also tell me the same story. Yeah, it's really a serious problem these days.' At the same time, my inner voice was whispering, 'It's not only the children's fault. The parents introduce their children to the mobile phone first. They don't want to spend quality time with the children because they themselves have numerous activities to attend to on social media. It's natural for children to imitate their parents.'

When I observe my surroundings, I can see that almost all children sit in a corner of the room, enjoying one programme or another on their mobile phones. They are completely immersed in it; even if you try to speak to them, they do not respond. It is not surprising that the adult members of the family also use their mobile phones. This is the common picture of every household these days. With the advent of something, both advantages and disadvantages emerge. Initially, only its bright side is visible, but gradually the dark side also begins to emerge. The same has happened with the internet and different social sites as well. 

Discourse 

Now, the whole world is engaged in the discourse on how to prevent young children from becoming addicted to social media. Many countries have already started taking a strong initiative in this direction. For instance, last year the Senate in Australia approved that children under the age of 16 will be banned from using social media from the end of 2025, i.e., from December this year. If tech companies do not comply with this, they will be heavily fined. Like the United States, Australia, the United Kingdom, France, Spain, Norway, Greece, Italy, or even South Korea, these countries have also taken initiatives to restrict the use of social media platforms by minors. 

Who doesn't know about Silicon Valley? It is a region in Northern California that is a global centre for high technology and innovation. All top-class tech companies, such as Apple, Google, Meta, and many more, are located there. What is more interesting is that many employees of these companies also prefer not to expose their children to technology. Therefore, they send their children to the Waldorf School of the Peninsula, where computers are not used in the classrooms. Waldorf education emphasises children's holistic development. The goal of such education is to develop students' intellectual, artistic and practical skills, with a focus on imagination and creativity. It is believed that learning happens effectively if students interact with one another and with their teachers, and work with real materials in the real world. For all this, technology will not help.

There is a growing body of research that supports the view that social media has numerous negative effects on young children. For example, it is found that those who spend a lot of time in front of the screen tend to show more symptoms of depression, anxiety, mood swings, sleep deprivation and eating disorders. Cyberbullying can be another problem that happens on social media. There is a risk that students may be distracted from their studies, as there are numerous distractions that can capture their attention. Studies also show that early exposure to social media might cause attitude problems and risky behaviour in adolescence. In addition, there is a high chance that children are exposed to inappropriate or harmful content detrimental to their psychological development.

Parents' role 

On the one hand, there are numerous adverse effects of exposing children to social media at a young age. On the other hand, we cannot completely control their use of it, as it has become an integral part of everyone's life. However, it has many positive aspects as well, but the condition is that social media must be used wisely. Various research studies show that social media helps children to develop global connections, it provides them with different platforms such as Facebook, Instagram or TikTok to showcase their creative work for a wider audience, they can be updated with current world affairs, and they can find a lot of resource materials which are helpful in their studies, among others.

Parents have an important role in balancing children's on-screen and off-screen activities. First of all, they can set a particular on-screen time slot for their children. For example, after completing all of their homework, they can use the mobile phone for an hour, not more than that. Occasionally, parents must monitor the types of activities their children are engaging in on the phone. They should minimise their own screen time. Children imitate adults. The parents should spend a sufficient amount of time interacting with their children. There are a lot of topics they can discuss. This way, parent-child bonding will also be strengthened. Most of all, the parents can introduce their children to the book world. Once children divert their attention from a mobile phone to books, then parents' worry starts melting. But to develop children's reading habits, the parents must also read with them.

(Published in an English Daily The Rising Nepal on Saturday, September 6, 2025 ) 

[The pictures on this blog are posted here with permission from their owners or have been gathered from various sources on the Internet. If you are the copyright-holder to any of the photographs herein do not hesitate to contact me. They will be swiftly removed if desired so.]