Digital addiction is quite common in recent times. It is an inclusive concept as digital addiction is not limited to excessive use of mobile phones. Playing video games for a longer time or using the Internet or social media platforms for most of the day is also a part of digital addiction.
Now, the point is that almost every kid is using a mobile phone or plays video games or is using the Internet, so does that mean everybody has digital addiction? Well, not everyone is suffering from digital addiction. Digital addiction can be considered when you let all these things interfere in your daily life and work. Because of that, your daily routine is sacrificed.
To prevent your child from digital addiction, you should use the Parental Control App to block social media apps and keep track of all the websites your child visits. There are more other features of the parental control app by which you can monitor and control your child’s activity on their mobile device.
Digital addiction can be referred to as many other names like phone addiction, Social media addiction, and Internet addiction.
Digital addiction is different from others and does not seem very harmful. But if you look at the effect that it has on the brain and physical health, then you will realize that it is equally or more dangerous than other types of addictions.
You would not even notice, and slowly your kids will get addicted to smartphones or the Internet or games. They have been using their phone regularly for the whole day, and it won’t be elementary for them to give up on it for just one day.
Artificial Intelligence has made this thing even worse by making the phones even more addictive. They also play a lot of games on smartphones and watch a lot of videos daily, for every smallest thing and detail they look in their smartphones. All this adds up and leads to digital addiction.
This digital addiction affects them physically as well as mentally. Some of the mental and physical symptoms are mentioned below:
1. Mental Symptoms
One of the essential things it includes is the information overload that is decreasing their productivity because of the Internet and smartphones. They get indulged in their smartphones to such extent that they forget to pay attention to other works that are far more important. They do not even focus on their goals or hobbies because of this.
Digital addiction can lead to various other harmful issues like gambling and online shopping. All these things will cause a lot of problems. It causes anxiety and results in more stress.
If the usage of phones is high, then they might suffer from more anxiety and stress. There will be nothing productive, but still, they will feel exhausted. It has a significant impact on their sleep cycle, and it also causes insomnia.
Digital addiction also affects creativity, attentiveness, and problem-solving because, throughout the day, smartphones and the Internet cause a lot of distractions.
2. Physical Symptoms
People suffering from social media addiction might distance themselves from other people and will get isolated from their family and friends. Other physical symptoms include Back pain, Headache, Neck pain, etc. The public is addicted to smartphones, and the Internet might not even eat, or they overeat in some cases. This has a bad impact on their health as they do not get proper nutrition; this will lead to excess weight gain or loss.
They also have bad personal hygiene. Vision is adversely affected because, throughout the day, you are glued to your smartphone or computer, causing dry eyes. Their personal life, relationships, and school life gets affected and has a very negative impact on them. They will stay alone because they feel more comfortable online rather than in the physical world.
We know how harmful digital addiction is for kids and what it can do to their mental and physical state. However, it is not untreatable, and you can easily cure it. But, for that, you have to take some strict actions. Some of the steps of getting rid of digital addiction are stated below:
The first and foremost thing is that you must find the reason behind the usage of smartphones, the Internet, or gaming. Reasons can be anything like feeling lonely or getting bored. Anything can trigger their mind to use a phone, and you must find out that reason. After knowing the reason, you can work on diverting their mind from that and should also focus on relaxing techniques.
Set a schedule for using phones. Create a time table and tell them to use the telephone according to that or set some certain hours for using the phone or spending time on the internet or playing games. Even turning off their phones for a certain period will also help.
While they are doing some activities, then the use of a phone must be avoided entirely. For example, when they are eating, reading, or working, then at that time, phones should not be used. Also, try to avoid usage of the phone before sleeping for a healthier sleep.
The Internet is full of information, and they have to accept that they will miss out on a lot of things that are available on the Internet. There are so many things that it is complicated to know about everything available on the Internet. Once they start accepting this fact, then it will help them in decreasing their dependence on technology.
Try to make them follow their hobby or tell them to learn something new and keep them busy throughout the day. Make them involved in other activities that do not require mobile phones or the Internet. They can interact with their friends that are around them, or they can also go out and play.
Parental Control Apps can be beneficial as you can limit the usage of phones and set the amount of time your kid spends on it. You can also block the websites that you might feel are not proper for your kids or are misleading. This app will help you keep an eye on your kids without any difficulty, and you can easily protect your kids from digital addiction.
