• Noor advises against gadgets to improve a child’s focus, reduce meltdowns, regulate dopamine and melatonin for sleep regulation.
• Nicole’s grandmother had recommended she visit a therapist, who advised her to spend more ‘outside’ time with Nicole and engage her mentally through colouring lessons.
Image: REUTERS
"Put that phone down and finish your food, Nicole!"
This is what Caroline Wanjiru, a mother of two, has to go through almost three times a day while feeding Nicole.
Her three-year-old daughter and one-year-old son Nick already know what gadgets are.
"Mom. Tiktok!!" cries Nicole during an interview with her mother on Monday at their home in Kasarani.
But Caroline, 27, is not alone in this as many other parents are struggling to end their children's addiction to mobile phones and TV.
Caroline says her daughter Nicole has even started developing outbursts and aggressiveness.
“Feeding time is the most difficult time we have in this house because Nicole will demand the TV to be on or either use my phone or the Nanny’s for selfies, Snapchat or Tiktok.”
She says when she doesn’t do as she pleases, Nicole screams, has wild outbursts, and sometimes throws things at her or the nanny.
Nicole’s grandmother had recommended she visit a therapist, who advised Caroline to spend more ‘outside’ time with Nicole and engage her mentally through colouring lessons.
“It’s been a month now since we started the colouring and Lego techniques as instructed by the doctor and I can say she is not quite there yet but her condition is improving,” she added.
Screen time is a phrase used to refer to activities done in front of a screen, such as watching TV, working on a computer, or playing video games.
In this digital era, controlling screen time is not easy, especially now that almost everything can be done through the tap of a screen. This is according to research conducted by Iscole Kenya, a non-profit organisation that represents a global effort to increase understanding of childhood obesity.
In its study conducted in Nairobi in 2017 and released in June 2018, it found that many children spend more time on screen than recommended, particularly at the weekends when they have access to various gadgets such as video games, tablets, mobile phones and television, hence having less ‘green time'.
Nature, being the ‘green’ time, is associated with favourable psychological outcomes, while high levels of screen time appeared to be associated with unfavourable psychological outcomes such as depression, obesity, eye problems, and diabetes due to inadequate exercising.
Finding the balance is key
Scientists recommend parents moderate their children's screen time and engage them in not only physical exercises but also mental exercises such as chess and puzzles.
Watching their diets and ensuring more vegetables, fatty fish and less sugary and fatty foods can increase the grey matter of not only the child but also the parent.
EXPERT COMMENT
“Infants are actually the most vulnerable, the more that children watch, the more they want to watch. Even toddlers can become drawn to the set. Once addicted, turning off the TV can become a daily battle,” says Abdi Noor Mohammed, acting CEO at the National Council for Children Services.
“Screen viewing, especially for babies below 18 months, is detrimental and brings about lasting negative effects on a child,” Noor told the Star on Tuesday.
He added that some of the effects were slow language and reading development, eye problems, less creativity and focus, body deformity and neural and muscle problems due to limited physical activities, addiction to the gadgets, and portrayal of some negative behaviour.
“These bad behaviours and languages you will find 70 per cent are learned through the television sets and a parent will be shocked why their child is cursing and start blaming the nannies or other children when the root of these problems is just staring at them in the faces!” he said.
“Parents, try as much being physically and emotionally present with your child…and try as much and avoid phones during those sessions.”
Mohammed says that habits take time to develop and before a child starts throwing tantrums whenever you take the gadgets away, he or she must have been used to it over some time.
“Avoid strapping or glueing the children to TVs and phones, instead engage them in more physical activities such as rope skipping, building blocks, colouring books, chart reading, Jenga and puzzles or even tea parties,” he advised.
He said doing this would improve the child’s focus; reduce meltdowns; regulate dopamine, of which a high amount is responsible for aggressiveness; and reduce melatonin for sleep regulation.
“There should be a sense of control for the child’s exposure to these gadgets, password protection to various applications and sites, and use of other distractions that are not gadgets.”
“The screen is not the parent, you are!” he concluded.
Edited by F'Orieny