Addiction to video games, smartphones and tablets: it is an alarm for children and adolescents

    Addiction to video games, smartphones and tablets: it is an alarm for children and adolescents

    Addiction to video games, smartphone tablets, a phenomenon also called screen addiction. Excessive use of video games and electronic devices among children in China is taking a worrying turn that should affect parents around the world whose children spend too many hours in front of electronic screens.



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    Addiction to video games, smartphone tablets, a phenomenon also called screen addiction. Excessive use of video games and electronic devices among children in China is taking a worrying turn that should affect parents all over the world whose children they spend too many hours in front of electronic screens.

    A documentary called Web Junkie is highlighting the negative effects for children and teens to stay for hours in front of a screen, glued to video games for hours, often without breaks to eat, rest or go to the bathroom.

    The fear is that the passion for video games can take precedence over basic needs of real life. Chinese doctors consider this phenomenon a real clinical disorder and have created rehabilitation centers for children, who have to follow months of therapy completely isolated from the internet and video games. However, the effectiveness of this therapy has yet to be demonstrated.

    La internet and video game addiction it can affect children from an early age given the ease of access to electronic devices that are granted to them and given the ability to learn how to use these tools quickly and intuitively. Children are often attracted to their parents' tablets and mobile phones and thus begin to spend some time in front of the screen, when instead they should observe the world around them and interact with other people.

    The phenomenon certainly does not concern China alone. L'American Academy of Pediatrics based on a study of the Kaiser Family Foundation found that already in 2010 children between the ages of 8 and 10 spent on average almost 8 hours a day in front of the computer and the television. For older children and adolescents it goes up to 11 hours a day. The children at just 7 they have already spent a year of their life in front of TV and video games.



    In the last few decades, television has turned into a real “babysitter”, but now computers, tablets and cell phones are taking over, with all the risks associated with their use. Lot of Parents, according to experts, they don't set rules in the use of smartphones, tablets and PCs for children and adolescents.

    So the situation is degenerating and more and more young and very young they prefer to spend most of their time in front of a screen rather than in the company of peers. And even when I'm with friends, the smartphone is always there. A phenomenon that also affects adults but which in the case of young people and growing children is even more worrying.

    According to US pediatricians, children under the age of 2 should not be exposed to any electronic media because at this stage their brains develop rapidly and children learn much better through interacting with people, not with a screen.

    Again according to experts, older children and adolescents they shouldn't spend more than one or two hours a day in front of television, pc and tablet. They should only follow high-quality content through the media and spend more free time playing outdoors, playing, playing sports, reading and using their imagination and creativity.

    La tech can not and it is not to replace the interaction between live people, even more so when it comes to young and very young people. The final appeal is therefore to parents, who should make different stimuli available to their children than computers, tablets and smartphones.



    Marta Albè

    Photo source: imview.com

    Read also:

    Children: at 7 they have already spent a year of their life in front of TV and video games
    7 ways to keep your kids away from video games
    Digital Detox: tips to detoxify from the internet and smartphones

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