Manufacturing Electronic Addicts
Are Parents Enablers?
Let’s face it. We bought it … with our hard earned dinero. Or maybe grandma did … but we didn’t stop her, did we? It’s 2023. Birthday parties are hosted inside oversized gaming trucks and kids have i-pads in front of them while eating dinner. Convenient? Yes. Ideal? No. Let’s admit it … the war against this electronic plague makes us feel like Sisyphus rolling up that boulder for what feels like eternity. Is it a lost cause? Will the rock roll back down and crush us?
The hefty sighs and the huffing and puffing by parents is proof that the answer is not so clear. In our defense, we weren’t born into a fully digitalized world. Most of us oscillated between both spheres, only being introduced to the intoxication of gadgets as adults.
Yet, we find ourselves taking out our wallets. And here’s where we are droppin some serious dough:
$699.00 - Microsoft Xbox w/ accessories kit
$469.00 - 2021 Apple iPad Mini WiFi
$299.99 - Nintendo Switch
$399.00 - Apple watch series 9
$499.00 - Xbox One X
Let’s consider for a second what it’s like to buy something and then take it away. Or even worse, to attach a ton of restrictions on it while all the gadgets are in plain sight. Reasonable? Hmmm, isn’t it like giving a drug addict a pound of cocaine and restricting them to only taking one hit per week? The temptation is the problem. The unlimited access is the dilemma.
Is it time to hold ourselves more accountable? Who’s filling up these rooms so that kids are knee deep in electronic wires and chords? Who’s buying the high-definition TVs so that their experiences are so real they never want to live outside the screen? Research shows 75% of kids have TVs or videogames inside their bedrooms and spend 2-3 hours a day engaging in virtual reality.
Technology may have its perks but here’s what it also causes:
- Difficulty sleeping due to mental arousal;
- A family gap;
- Behavior disorders;
- Deficit of social skills;
- Severe headaches
The struggle is real. So is accountability. Let’s own our part in this cycle. We are not powerless. We are not victims. We can donate, return or trash any gifts given to our children.
Here are some tricks of the trade:
1. Send out party invites with a “No Electronical Gifts” memo;
2. Ask grandparents to plan experiences (i.e., concert, theme park, zoo, etc) in lieu of electronic gifts;
3. Rummage through all gifts before your child gets to it and toss, donate or return the electronics.
If you have any other ideas to help us mamas out, drop a comment below to share your tips and advice!
Written by: Mary Terterov
Works Referenced:
Zahra, Nehad Ahmed Ibrahim, and Ahuad Abdulrazaq Alanazi. “Digital Childhood: The Impact of Using Digital Technology on Children’s Health.” International Journal of Pharmaceutical Research & Allied Sciences, vol. 8, no. 3, July 2019, pp. 144–54. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx direct=true&db=a9h&AN=139449132&site=ehost-live.