1. Is all this tech impacting my child's mental health?
You've likely come across studies and articles claiming that social media and the tech world are damaging to the mental health of children and teens. While it's true that there are risks to navigating the online world, there are also numerous positive and even beneficial aspects.
For starters, many websites and apps focus on mental health, offering support for overcoming depression, anxiety, and supporting mindfulness and stress resilience. Scientists from MIT focused on children's usage of such apps and found out that “children who used a mindfulness app at home for 40 days showed improvements in several aspects of mental health, including reductions in stress and negative emotions such as loneliness and fear.”
Technology also fosters human connection, which is vital for mental health. Your kids can use various communication tools to stay in touch with long-distance friends or relatives, ensuring they never feel alone or abandoned. You can also encourage them to search for influencers and micro-influencers who share their world views or struggles and whom your kids might find inspirational.
Moreover, technology can enhance your child's mental health through artistic engagement. Various forms of art have been proven to help release negative emotions. Digital art tools are easy to use and transport, allowing your child to create and share their art wherever they go. Whether it's painting, drawing, photography, writing, or music, technology makes it easier to pursue these creative outlets. Social media can then serve as a gallery where your child can display their art for friends to see and appreciate.
Of course there are some risks you should be mindful about. When publishing their art online, your children might overshare some personal information or – if they choose to publish photos of themselves – they might come across body shaming. Consider educating your children on these topics beforehand, so they are ready:
2. Won't my child lose all their social skills? What about my relationship with them?
As mentioned before, thanks to various communication platforms, children can easily stay in touch with friends and family, even when they are physically apart. In that way, they develop their social skills, empathy and collaboration. Also, thanks to the vastness of the online world and its many communities, children can easily find likeminded people or peers who share their unique interests and hobbies. Plus, if they also happen to build cross-cultural friendships in the online world, their horizons broaden thanks to exposure to other cultural backgrounds and ideas.
In order to better prepare your kids for online communication, you could, for example, create a family WhatsApp group for all of you to share funny updates on your day-to-day lives. Having such a family channel might serve as a training pool for respectful communication styles but also as a learning place for all of you. Encourage your kids to point out when they feel some messages are risky, demanding or disrespectful so you can all learn how to improve your communication skills.
There are still risks your children might come across in the world of online communication. Discuss them together so they are better prepared for the situations they might find themselves in later:
3. Technologies make it hard for my child to focus and learn
It is also natural to worry about your child's performance at school. While it has been repeatedly proven that multitasking can result in children struggling with attention span and focus, there are many ways in which online and technology tools can in fact be beneficial for your kids' learning process and education. Maryville University research, for example, suggests that: “Technology helps children become independent learners more quickly. Once they learn how to access digital information sources safely, they’re able to explore the topics that interest them on their own.”
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Technology indeed provides (often free) access to a wealth of educational resources that can boost your child's learning and confidence. Through interactive apps and online courses, children can explore new subjects, develop critical thinking skills, and achieve academic success. Learning to code? Starting a new language? Interested in piano lessons? Whatever they put their minds to, they can find sources online that will help them achieve it. You should oversee their choice of learning apps to make sure they are age appropriate and good quality but leave the ultimate choice up to them once you have prepared a selection of apps.
Learn how AI can boost your kids’ creativity.
What about video games?
The National Institutes of Health describes a study of nearly 2,000 children which came to an interesting conclusion that “those who reported playing video games for three hours per day or more performed better on cognitive skills tests involving impulse control and working memory compared to children who had never played video games”. The study highlights the need for more research, but it seems that video games, which amongst some parents were villainized for a long time, might in fact be beneficial to children in various ways.
Risks to be mindful about when learning online:
Misinformation
Hopefully, we have debunked some myths for you and provided more peace of mind regarding technology and its role in your children’s lives. Always remember that you need to consider the online risks in wider context such as overall family situation, offline relationships and sense of self-esteem. Online tools and technologies in themselves are neutral, it is the way we and others use them that pose risks.
But risks do not automatically equal harm. Instead, you can see them as opportunity for learning and building resilience. Once your children go through a risky situation with your assistance, they will be able to do it again even when left unsupervised. While it is crucial to discuss online risks with them and educate them, it is equally important to grant them the freedom to explore the digital world they are growing up in. Explore the online world hand in hand with them as their companion, not just someone who monitors and restricts. In such way, you create the best possible environment of trust and learning for all of you.
