Dubai: In a recent edition of the Denmark-based Lego Club magazine, it ran an article featuring beauty tips for five-year-old girls. It gave them insights into what haircut would suit the shape of their face. It went on to give them tips on how to look more attractive. At such a young age, could being exposed to such information influence children negatively?
Gulf News reader Tina Albert, a business developer based in Sharjah, is a mother to a five-year-old son and finds it hard to raise children in a time of over-exposure.
She said: “I think children grow up so fast psychologically, compared to their real age, due to over-exposure and advanced technology. It is easier to explain things to children now than it was a few years ago. They have a better understanding of things compared to us when we were their age. Parents can get some ‘me time’ when their children are busy playing video games. But, on the other hand, it has its disadvantages. A gadget-free day has become a real challenge. Books and picnics do not excite them anymore, but the latest video games or cartoons, do.”
As far as the media is concerned, Albert thinks that it has made a lot of progress and has helped children learn things at an earlier age.
She said: “Times have changed and the mind-set and limits have, too. What was considered ‘hush-hush’ is no more so. For instance, molestation was something parents never discussed with their children, but these days it has become mandatory that children of a very young age are made aware of the basics at least, by their parents or guardians, so that they know how to recognise the wrong moves made against them by adults. However, media does need to be aware that their audience consists not only of adults, but children too, so if they regulate adult content in a way that if such topics, including advertisements meant for adults, are discussed or aired at night or at a time when it is bed time for children, it can put a limit to or censor what children are exposed to. Even explicit pictures, illustrations and reports of violence are a cause of worry.”
Albert thinks that children should be allowed to use the latest gadgets under parental or adult supervision.
She said: “It is alright for them to use these devices within set limits. If we keep them alienated, they will surely have a hard time coping with the technologically advanced world. The more knowledge they earn, the more they get acclimatised with the latest gadgets and the more they advance to a technologically advanced world.”
However, the disadvantages of technology are not far off.
Albert said: “From the perspective of time that should be allocated to studying, gadgets offer far too many distractions compared to earlier ages. The quality of information learned online within a set time is really questionable compared to the information we learned through books we read in our childhood. There are so many video games available, most with some form of violence in it. Children get so used to playing these that it gets rooted in their mind that it is perfectly alright to be violent or attack someone to win. Adults and children are equally mesmerised by the latest gadgets, so much so that face-to-face communication has become a rare event in many households.”
