The current generation of kids
are a smart, precocious bunch. Owing perhaps to their wide-eyed curiosity,
innate awareness, learning aptitude, pace of civilization/societal development and
of course the influence of technology, these young ones display a greater sense
of exposure at much tender ages than older generations.
According to the Research and
Development Unit of Yudala, Nigeria’s fastest growing e-commerce company, the
technology-mediated world we live in means that the current generation of kids
get exposed to technology at a much younger age. Most proud parents waste no
time in buying a smartphone or tablet for their young ones at very tender ages.
This is a major development which, in spite of all the benefits it holds in
improving the learning abilities and technological awareness of kids, can also
expose them to the dangers associated with technology.
Before taking the decision to
expose your child to technology, here are five points worth considering.
1.Is
your child ready?: The decision to buy your child a smartphone,
tablet, laptop or any other tech gadget is one that requires careful thought.
Is that child mature enough to handle the responsibility of owning and using a smartphone,
for instance, that is connected to the internet and the depth of content out
there? While there is no right age to allow a child own a tech d7=evice, the
maturity level and personality of the child matters. For kids who are naturally
reserved, early exposure to technology may provide a shell they can
conveniently retreat into, inadvertently alienating parents and other family
members.
Worse still, there are loads of damaging materials out there on the
internet that your child must be protected from. Most parents or care-givers
fail to realize that there is no going back once a child has been exposed to
technology, especially through ownership of a smart device. A strong feeling of
attachment or fascination is developed by the child for the device. Coupled
with the natural curiosity and inclination to explore inherent in kids, you
will be doing more harm than good trying to block access to technology once a
child has had a taste of it. The foregoing shows how huge the entry decision is
and why parents must consciously decide whether the time is right for their
children.
2.Set
the ground rules: Before you decide to allow your child own a
tablet or smartphone, it is essential to lay down certain rules that will guide
the use of the device. This will involve some form of agreement on your
expectations and the responsibilities that come with their ownership of the
device. In addition to setting out times for usage other than answering and
making calls or replying short messages, cyber concerns such as the dangers of
meeting strangers online, cyber-bullying and the need for extreme caution when
using social media should also be discussed. Furthermore, conversations around the
legal, moral and other damaging implications of inappropriate pictures and
text, pornography and nudity must also be had in order to ensure that the child
is not mislead online.
Research shows that it is also
advisable to draw up a contract that will guide your child’s usage of a tech
device. Punishments for irresponsible or wrong usage must also be clearly spelt
out and the document signed off by both parties. Among other things, this
contract will grant the parent ownership of the device, specify access for the
parent to all passwords and apps on the phone, indicate the hours the phone can
be on and off and penalties to be applied if the rules are flouted.
3.Parental
control is a must: One of the first things a parent should do before
handing over a smart device to a child is to set up parental control apps.
There are several apps you can download and install on your child’s tablet,
laptop or smartphone. These apps allow you keep track of everything your child
is doing on the device while others provide instant alerts when inappropriate
or high-risk words are used in texts or on social media. With parental control
apps installed, there is greater control over the materials and contents your
kid is exposed to on the often-notorious web, thereby giving you peace of mind.
It is equally important to point
out that today’s kids are precocious and quite dexterous with the use of tech
devices, hence you must take steps to ensure that you are not being outsmarted
by your child. Parental controls can be disabled at specific times by a naughty
child who knows where to tweak these settings. Hidden file directories can be
used to surreptitiously save inappropriate pictures, videos and other
potentially damaging contents. As a result, you must ensure all bases are
covered in this regard before you relax
in the knowledge that your child is safe online.
4.Availability
of local content: With the influx of foreign technology and the
overwhelming abundance of technological devices and gadgets from other climes
in the market, our children often miss out on an opportunity to get exposed,
from an early age, to the rich local culture and content that make up our
indigenous identity as a nation. The majority of devices produced by foreign
Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) hardly provide for local content and
instead may expose your kid to cultural materials ill-suited or at dissonance
with our local realities.
While much of the argument for preferring foreign
tech gadgets hinges on quality, it is important to consider the need to have
useful, culturally-sensitive materials in entry-level devices for kids such as
children tablets and pads, etc. A number of world-class local technology
companies such as Zinox Technologies Ltd., among others, often design children
tabs pre-loaded with games and educative contents, some of them in the major
local languages. These go a long way to imbue a sense of cultural identity and
awareness in the users from a tender age.
5.Build
responsibility through gadget use: Allowing your child own and use a
smart device means you are handing them a huge responsibility. In other words,
you are giving them an element of freedom which must not be abused. As aptly
stated by former US President, Ronald Reagan: “With freedom comes
responsibility, a responsibility that can only be met by the individual.”
Before taking the decision to allow your child own a tech gadget, you must be
convinced that this privilege can be used to build more responsibility in the
kid concerned.
This could come in the form of convincing the child to set aside
a small portion of his/her allowance to offset the cost of data plan for the
device. Furthermore, the child must be made to embrace a culture of using the
device in a constructive, less addictive manner through having set times for
usage, unplugging at agreed times and constantly exploring ways of increasing
learning and productivity through the use of the device.
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