I want to use the example of going on a road trip back in the day. On road trips, we did not have electronic devices and so this isn't necessarily because our parents are just as desperate as you to entertain their children and keep things calm on a road trip. They didn't have electronic devices. So what did they do instead? For many, it was games. It was a story. We could create stories on our own and play 20 questions like guessing the animal, find the alphabet in the environment or anything that can entertain the kids. We would find ways to entertain our children just out of being desperate, right?
Nowadays, they go to electronics. How many times do I see the minivans or other vehicles that have the flip down videos and their children are watching videos? You can certainly say that kids nowadays are all eyes on their gadgets as you see the little heads and the little glowing light on the face, that says they're playing. At least at night, you see it glowing. Not necessarily during the day, but you do see this and this is children whose eyes are stuck on a small device.
Whether it's right here or whether it's just up a little ways, they're not looking out at their environment as much, they're not noticing, they're not seeing, they're not exercising their eyes into the distance. But what does that mean for electronics? Because that doesn't mean electronics are bad, because they're not. There are lots of good things about electronics.
But what I've noticed and what you might see in some of the research is. What has it replaced? What has electronics replaced? A lot of interaction happened with other people. I know there will be others that interact with their online friends and families. At that point, it is really a good benefit for everyone, but it could also be something different, something more vulnerable, something you learn more if you talk in person like maintaining eye to eye contact and hand gestures.
So as you look at it, you know what has replaced it. Let's take it going outside to play with children, and it depends on where you are in the world. Even in a city or a town, there might be places that are safer than others, and so our children aren't going outside, they're not running around and having that freedom to choose what they're doing at that moment so in electronics it's replaced certain needs.
Our children have that need for independence, that need to make decisions on their own to feel responsible. They can use electronics because we might not allow them to go down to the store on the corner of the street because it's dangerous, but in a video game they can choose to go wherever or do whatever they want. There are skills that are not being developed that used to be developed, and video games do help with certain skills.
Actually brain surgeons do well with that. There's a study out there that shows that it can help brain surgeons with some of their little fine motor tasks and things which blew my mind a little bit. It's what the research had said about these things, but also what does it take away in relationships, in other skills, and then in the US finding healthier ways to meet our personal needs, such as independence, such as connection.
Maybe we didn't connect with our children as well, or maybe they're struggling with friends at school, so they turn to electronic devices. So it's. It can be a means to avoid. It can be a means to fill a void.
It's not the electronics that we need to worry about, it's how we use electronics. It's what we use electronics to fulfill us or to avoid things. Take a look at that for ourselves and there's research out there that shows that children who have got to structure their own time. They have unlimited time,others prefer electronic devices such as video games and things like that, they do not use video games to replace outside time. They will more often replace TV watching with video games and keep that same amount of time to play outside.
Again, it's not about the electronic devices and them being addictive, it's what other choices do our children have and what they might feel they're lacking in and so take a look at that for yourself and for your children and see where we are in this electronic . There are people who use gadgets or any type of electronics to ease the boredom and even relieving stress, mostly adults. It could just be the same with our kids and it is just a matter of understanding them and also connecting with them.
With the use of electronics, it can also be a good platform to have bonding with your kids. Playing with them can establish a good connection and will definitely have the opportunity for you to be closer with them and them being able to open up everything that they have in mind.
Remember, children are great by their very natures and we have that privilege and that responsibility to raise them
