Children Don’t Need Cell Phones: The Best Gift Is Spending Time With Them

More and more of us are suffering from nomophobia: cell phone addiction. But there are better things to offer a child so that they are fulfilled and balanced before giving them a phone.

Children must learn to enjoy the world around them. The abuse of electronic devices can turn them into hermetic people who neglect their social relationships.

According to statistical data, 70% of 12-year-olds already own a cell phone. And nearly 90% of them have access from an early age to the electronic devices their parents use.

It is obvious that we live in a digital society where the internet, cell phones, computers, and tablets have become tools of work, of access to knowledge and of connection between people.

All parents have already had the opportunity to observe the great fascination that these objects exert on children from an early age.

This is why it often happens that they offer them electronic devices, which will determine the way in which children will interact with the world as well as with their parents.

Therefore, it is necessary to strike a balance and never forget that  the best gift we can give a child is our time.

Children must grow up in harmony with all the world has to offer them

It’s not about restricting or censoring certain things. As Steve Jobs did with his children, for example, by prohibiting them from using cell phones, computers or tablets.

Sometimes the very “act” of forbidding something generates even more curiosity on the part of the children, even a greater need.

Based on this observation, it therefore seems essential to allow them to grow in harmony. That is, by having access to everything the world has to offer them.

What can society and everyday situations bring them?

Culture

Make sure your children have books close at hand so that  they can touch them, smell them, and leaf through them. Thus, they will turn into real everyday companions.

Serve as a model

Get your kids used to seeing you reading books. Don’t just use electronic devices.

Establish schedules for each activity

Try not to get them used to computers and video games. Allow them to use it for a few hours a week, that’s more than enough.

Life is not lived on a computer screen

It is essential that the children go out to play, that they spend time with friends, that they fall, that they get up, that they run in the fields, that they touch animals …

At what age can you buy a phone for your child?

Before you take the plunge, it is important that you think about some important aspects.

• Buying a cell phone comes with an economic cost that every family will have to estimate to see if it’s worth it. And if the child is also mature and responsible enough to use it alone.
• Before buying a cell phone, we need to educate children about it.
• The age from which we can offer a phone to our children depends on whether the child understands the implicit risks that accompany the use of this device, for example, social networks.

The most appropriate solution when teens are on their toes is to allow children to use electronic devices in common areas of the house. This should be done under the supervision of an adult in order to control the use of their profiles and the information they post.

Give your children time before giving them an electronic device

The education of a child begins the day he arrives in the world.

The daily life we ​​offer them, the type of education, the affection we give them, and the discipline we impose on them are all elements that determine the bond we have with our children.

Using cell phones or computers in a bedroom with the door closed can lead to a lot of problems as a teenager.

We run the risk of raising hermetic children who understand the world only behind a screen. As a result, they may lose the ability to communicate with us.

Spend as much time as you can with your kids when they are little.

Although our professional responsibilities do not always allow us to reconcile work and family, we should never neglect this dimension of life.

• The time you share with your children should always be quality time. Cut your phones off and go for a walk with them,  listen to their worries and concerns without judging or punishing. Use positive support as well.
• Make your child’s contact with society easier. For example, enroll him in the sports he chooses. Offer him activities in which he can thrive such as music, dancing, drawing, etc.
• A child who is surrounded by various stimuli is a child who will be more interested in reality than in the internet.
• New technologies are perfect tools for learning and discovering things. But they should not occupy 100% of their time, not even 50%.

You need to be a role model every day in your children’s lives, showing them the beauty of face-to-face relationships, sports, and the joy of reading.

You need to teach them how to spend hours without electronics so they can enjoy the moment.