Problem Statement: Addiction to digital technology is affecting mental and physical development in children.

We are living in a world of digital technology, and with each passing year, the advancement in technologies is providing more comfort in human life, but this comfort is adversely affecting the working efficiency of a person of every age group. According to a report by UNICEF-2017 “Children in Digital World”, the addiction to digital technology is adversely affecting the growth and thinking ability of a child whose parents are not aware of it.

We as a parent are responsible for the growing inefficiencies in children. We all are busy with our daily working schedules. For our ease, we handover mobile, computer or television to our children to watch cartoon or poem, and playing games ( usually for half an hour ), but it is never limited to it, it mostly goes up to 7 to 8 hours.

Unknowingly, due to this, our children are getting socially disconnected, and with growing age fear of the world is developing in them. It is affecting their eyesight and they don't focus on sports activities necessary for their physical and mental development. Listen to what Dr. Priyanka Jain is saying about mobile addiction in her video “Mobile Addiction and it’s effect in children”

I have interviewed some parents in my neighborhood and family. I have asked them about their thoughts about growing inefficiencies in children due to digital technology. Here is what they think in this regard:

1. Muhammad Saad

He is Muhammad Saad my cousin’s eldest child. Recently they visited us, and this is what he was doing with my mobile. Saad always asked for a laptop or mobile to play games whenever he goes anywhere. I asked him why don't play outside, so he said, “Mamma don't allow me to go outside”. And when I asked him, what did you do all day, he said, “I wake up then after having breakfast watch cartoon, and in the evening I go to Madarsa and then I play online video games on the computer”.

When I asked his mother why don't let him go out, she said, “He might get spoiled and it is not safe for him”. When I make her realize the impact on saad, she said, “ I scold him for using mobile but he didn't listen. We bought him a cycle, he sometimes rides it when his baba takes him outside”.

2. Zainab Fatima

She is Zainab. At only the age of two, she knows many poems, when I asked her mother, she proudly said, “She is very intelligent and learns the lyrics of every poem she watches on mobile, Zainab doesn't need my assistance, she can watch the poem on her own”.

The point, I want to mention here is, many of us judge the child's intellect by their ability to learn the poem. Zainab is no doubt a brilliant child, MashaAllah, but somewhere we are doing wrong with her. She could have done paintings instead of watching mobile.

3. Ahmad Nizam

He is Ahmad, the younger brother of Saad. He is the one I admire the most, but what saddens me is that he always play angry bird on the computer most of the time and during this, he never pays attention to anyone and when her mother turns off the computer he cries very badly.

4. Azfar

Azfar is my student, he is in 6th standard O’levels. He is the youngest and the only son among 3 children. I am teaching them for the last 3 years. What I observed in Azfar is that he is usually get exhausted, and he easily losses his attention because of his laziness. He was never like this before. He spends most of his time in bed watching mobile. I discussed with his mother last month, and this is what she said, “The boys outside are not good that's why I don't allow him to play outside, when he will grow old he will become active”, and when I asked why don’t you let him bring small household thing on his own. She said, “He cannot do that as he is too innocent”

5. Shayan

Shayan is only 1 year old. Talking to his parents, they said that “Shayan sometimes disturbs a lot, we find it difficult to focus on other work, he left us with no choice but to make him watch poems so that we may relax till time being he is busy in watching it”.

Conclusion

It is very necessary to educate the parents on effective parenting tips because most of them don’t even know about how they are spoiling their own child. We should take steps to promote the physical activities among children necessary for their development and growth.