Boom…. 21st century!
This is an era when digital technologies have never evolved more and faster. The world is full of digital devices, and in almost every corner of the world, we can see some of this technology no matter what we do. From the most popular mobile communication device or some other form of digital education to the simplest like light sensors or traffic lights. There has been a digital age in which digital technologies are found in almost all devices that surround us and are powered by different sources.
All of us, including children of all ages, live in this world of fast and accessible digital information and the internet. It is very important for us, adults, who are aware of this digital age and all its consequences and the impact it brings with it, to protect our youngest from the very beginning of their lives in this digital world. Later when, due to our carelessness, they are generally heavily influenced by these digital devices which, if not properly controlled by adults, can have a very negative impact and convey a bad message to our youngest. Therefore, children are negatively educated because all the content of digital media and the internet, if not controlled, is very easily accessible to all, especially those who are just learning about this new world that seems to have no boundaries. As we blink their thinking and behavior begin to present an enigma for us. At first, this seems interesting to us, a child with a sea of new information, such small and innocent creatures that absorb information like a sponge you drop into a bucket of water. But later this can have inconsiderable consequences in their mental and physical development, their understanding of good and bad things, good and bad behavior, and how they differentiate them. Life in this digital world and the Internet as its main representative stands wide open with a sea of different information available to anyone who tries and opens that seemingly harmless door. They have easy access to just about anything. Even the youngest ones can easily navigate its content regardless of our beliefs.
The internet is inevitable in growing up our children, even from our youngest days and harmless songs for a good night. As the internet is an inevitable thing in adult life, and all adults sometimes take the time to stay there for a little longer, since we, adults, are mostly an example to our youngest, because they spend most of their time with us, the internet has no better promoter than ourselves. Every time we go to that beautiful place in search of any digital content, we give our children the green light that the internet is something that they should visit as well. In a very short time, it becomes their daily activity. As we turn around, they are already appropriating our old, still functional devices that have internet access and will be very uncomfortable if we try to take them away.
But are they guilty ???
Unfortunately, they only imitate us, adults, who are their role models and their educators. What to expect when they see us behaving and not separating ourselves from our mobile multifunctional devices that have become part of our daily lives. Today, unfortunately, most adults are unable to do anything without first consulting their digital mobile devices. The paper and pen slowly go into oblivion. The Internet, an inexhaustible source of all kinds of different information and content, as such, without the constant monitoring of precise setting and control, is a great danger at all levels for our youngest. As the Internet has become an inevitable thing in our lives and the lives of our children, we must not take it lightly and irresponsibly. It is wise to set the rules and skillfully educate our youth to navigate this inexhaustible sea of information and fun content, the Internet.
Any strict prohibition on children only encourages curiosity and a desire in them to do exactly what is forbidden, it is also best to educate children according to our example and our way of behavior. When children see their parents spending a huge amount of time on that forbidden internet, how can we expect them to behave differently? When it comes to our youngest we think we are carefree, who still cannot handle these digital devices on their own and search the Internet themselves. We, adults, release educational or entertaining content to them to occupy their attention, while children are there only as observers and we have time to finish the sea of obligations from this fast-paced life. Even in this way, we are not entirely sure that at some point, for example, watching video content, which is the most represented at that age does not pop up any short-lived advertising content about the subject, generally inappropriate and their age.
The Internet for the youngest must be used over age-adapted applications, where such sudden outages cannot occur. It is also very important to selectively choose your Internet time. By no means, we should not present to our children internet content as an everyday place and the only form of entertainment. It is also necessary to take time for other types of physical and psychological recreation, which includes engaging us, adults.
Positive educational content
A very important question that only arises is whether this type of education with the internet, selected and safe, really protects them from the cruel everyday life for which they are not yet ready, or we gradually getting them to use to the internet every day??? Where they are in later ages, it will be a completely normal thing for them to spend a certain amount of time online. Of course, with the proper control and supervision of the Internet, there is a wealth of positive educational content that can positively animate and entertain our youngest and encourage and accelerate their mental development. For example, it’s much easier and faster to show them what we’re are talking about. To gain a full visual experience, in those infant ages, depending on the child, these are mostly images of nature, things, and beings that are there. Pictures of different colors and shapes, as well as many other things, most of us do not have these features to show the child at the moment, but we have the Internet that is full of such examples and besides all that there is a sound to complete the picture.
For example, if we talk about an elephant. It is much easier and faster to find the right picture of the animal on the Internet and also to make the sound of the animal. You can also use some of the children’s apps that are also available on the Internet. It is crazy to list all the benefits of the internet because they are limitless and the imagination is the limit.
Adults, pay attention to your child!
After a few years, when the children are growing up, it is once again an individual thing, because all the children are maturing differently, they begin to understand independently the things around them and how these digital devices work. These kids, envisioned in our role model, are slowly beginning to explore that endless world of interesting content and continue to visit sites that have been specially adapted for their age visitors. At this age, these are mostly video and audio content. These activities and their ability to navigate the Internet are evolving at an astronomical rate day by day, and And it’s very common to see a kid teaching his grandparents some things that interest him on the Internet. Everything must be still tightly controlled and timed. Now we have a lot of physical development that we must not neglect, and unfortunately, the internet has not progressed that much.
This is a very sensitive age of children, in this period of life. They are slowly starting to decide for certain contents, while others which until yesterday visited skips, depending on the mental structure of the child, find that some content is more interesting than others and favor them looking only at similar content. Children of this age can change several dozen different pages per minute, of course, depending on the flow and speed of the Internet. The problem that occurs at this age is with care. This content, already scrolled through several hundred times slowly ceases to hold their attention, and they start a search for new content, expressing dissatisfaction if we try to direct them to some educational content. It is a completely normal thing for some internet content to get bored and they start exploring further, so we are the ones who need to pay special attention to the settings of those devices and software to search and navigate the Internet. Adults are the ones who have to pay attention to the child and teach him what content is good and which are bad and they have to do it in a very tricky way, without causing the child too much curiosity because the most interesting is what is forbidden and the child will hardly wait for the opportunity to go there where he is strictly forbidden.
Create an online account for your child
Based on this information when creating an online account, the internet knows the age of the person who logs in and searches the internet and automatically restricts access to inappropriate sites by the age of the person logged in. Which makes it even easier for adults to create a safe surfing environment for the internet, displaying only content appropriate for our toddler’s age. Of course, some entire associations and societies strive to make these search filters work best and create a safer environment for the most vulnerable, namely children. Sometimes all the effort is in vain, the kids find a way to get out of this safe pattern. These are mostly links that redirect to other pages of suspicious content and look very nice on the corners and edges of the screen, or just pop out of there after some time spent on a page. These icons are very attractive to children because they look nice, shine or moves. The real bait for inexperienced little ones eager to explore is to tap or click and see what’s going on there. From such pop-up sites, we have to protect our children, who are mostly content of dubious characters, such as advertisements for various products, bookmakers or some explicit content only for the eyes of adults.
Also, the next inevitable step in a child’s development comes immediately after they have mastered the use of the internet and those digital devices. It is a period of video games, video cameras, and social networks, the truth is that those social networks are restricted to members of the immediate and wider family and sometimes to a friend. Driven by our example again, children quickly become obsessed with this fun content. The video games themselves are designed to attract the attention of the child and provoke his curiosity so that what is left longer and entertained right there. Various applications involving the use of a video camera, where the little ones would take pictures until the battery is exhausted, and then process and edit those photos with various interesting tools, all to stay in that environment for as long as possible.
Also, social networks, at this age the least represented, but unfortunately inevitable, represent a complete association of children. As children get deeper into this matter, the fewer they are in playgrounds, parks, and places where they can physically hang out, share experiences and talk. We can often see in the park friends or boyfriend and girlfriend sitting side by side and not talking and looking at their digital gadgets all the time as if that world is much more beautiful than the one they are in. In most cases, such things have a very negative impact on the later development of the child. Also, with proper guidance and monitoring, these can be the benefits of the internet.
Supervision and control of adults
Let’s say many online games are closely related to a child’s age and activate their brain cells. These are mostly games where the child is required to solve a problem, the truth is that they are not particularly interesting to children because their persistence and patience are only in development, but with proper work with children and practicing these features, they can be very positive. On the other hand, by taking various photographs, working properly with the child can activate his or her artistic side. Just like social networks, with reasonable use, they can have many positive sides. Many people who invented them are very young.
The Internet, as such, is very popular and important in the growing up of our children and must be under the constant supervision and control of adults. No moment should be allowed for our youngest to wander into the unwanted waters of this endless sea of data. Also, some software helps us with this. If parents are not sure how they can handle this new digital age that has come, there are also services where they can consult how to behave and how to educate their children without shutting them down completely or letting them go of this new digital age. It is very important to maintain balance and seek help if you see that the situation is out of
control because time cannot be restored. If we obey all the rules and create a safe environment from the internet for our little ones to enjoy and we can enjoy, the positive experiences are limitless and only imagination is the limit.
