Published on October 9th, 2021 📆 | 4138 Views ⚑
0Kids battle technology dependence in lockdown
One Sydney father, who asked to be anonymous, said his 13-year-old son had recently developed a habit of watching TV shows on Netflix while also gaming, and gets very agitated if his parents ask him to stop doing both at once. His seven-year-old daughter watches YouTube and goes into a âdeep grumpâ for half an hour when she stops.
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âWhen we call a day off screens, we end up going through hell,â he said. âIt looks a lot like addiction.â
Jocelyn Brewer, a Sydney psychologist who specialises in digital wellbeing, said it was only accurate to call it âaddictionâ in really significant cases, but there was definitely an increase in habitual usage, and she expected an influx of clients.
Ms Brewer said technology including communications and gaming was compelling because it met many of childrenâs psychological needs - connection with others, developing competence and discovering their strengths.
Ms Brewer said that was not a good thing if the children were only getting it online.
âWhat I do with kids in therapy is look for sources of connection, competence and control in the offline worlds as well,â she said.
âWe know that you can feel really, really confident doing lots of things in Roblox but can you do that in the playground? Can you do that in handball? Can you do that in maths? So itâs about mimicking that back in âreal lifeâ.â
Another mother said she had screen locks on the iPads before lockdown but lost control because she had to remove them so her children could access Google Classroom.
âMy son is usually very active and weâve noticed heâs become much more despondent about going to the beach, using the pool in our complex or even meeting friends, preferring instead to remain hooked to the screen,â she said.
âMy kindy girl meanwhile switches her screen to watch mindless dribble of âperfectâ Barbie and is already displaying signs of lack of confidence in her appearance and weight.â
Anna from Northcote in Melbourne, who asked to use her first name only, said her six-year-old son gravitates to his iPad and sometimes plays on it before she gets up in the morning.
âIâm concerned about the effect on his attention span and imagination but I wouldnât say thereâs any particular occasions where Iâve been completely alarmed,â she said. âWeâre trying to wind it back and heâs getting into reading.â
Sarah Cohen from Lewisham in the inner west said her six-year-old son, who has ADHD, was getting aggressive when itâs time to finish on the iPad, so she has resorted to pretending it is lost.
âI feel a bit of guilt but itâs been a good thing for him - itâs really just eliminated so much of the conflict and calmed down with his aggression, Ms Cohen said. âHe is more interested in his toys and puzzles, he is more interested in interaction with us.â
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