We are feeding opium to our kids all day , legally!

Photo by Thought Catalog on Unsplash

I wrote about adults taking a break from youtube, facebook etc, and a friend asked, how about kids?

 

Oh, yes. This addiction applies to every human from 1 year old onwards. (So far I am not aware any non human addiction to gadgets. May be I am wrong?).  

 

Yes, giving a smartphone to a kid without limits is exactly the same as handing him a bottle of whisky.   The only difference is that one is against the law. They other is totally legal.

 

Is it a kid’s problem? I would argue that it’s even more an adult’s problem. Many kids are becoming more restless and need to have a gadget to pacify themselves. Well guess what, they are following all the adults around them who are doing exactly the same. The kids are simply following the lead. They are surrounded by people, whether in their own family, or people outside the family wherever they are, who are constantly using gadgets.

 

Many adults are turning more and more of their attention towards the gadgets because it’s easier than looking at other humans in their eyes. Kids are no different, and more so. And many parents are leading very busy lives, they have less time and patience to offer to their children, and so it becomes automatic that for both the parents and the kids, having everyone stare at a gadget is a quick short term solution.

 

It is definitely a hugely complex issue.   But still, I would argue that most people, without exception,  can definitely take more resolute action than they tell themselves!

 

And we are only at the beginning! It’s probably almost universally agreed that it’s going to get worse and that right now, kids are already using gadgets more than it’s good for them.

 

It is still worth our every effort to be mindful and take whatever action to allow some more non-gadget time back to our lives, especially the kid’s lives.  And stop the harm that it’s known to be doing to our health and mind.

 

I am curious, would anyone disagree with me if I said that most of us are either addicted or are potentially addicts of gadgets?

 

If so, then we need to act immediately. But like everything else, it will be easier to have clearly defined limits.

 

How many hours or minutes of the gadget, at what times and ruthlessly enforce it either by physically locking up all gadgets or unplugging the wifi cable.

 

There is no other way. Decide on how many glasses of whisky you accept as healthy, then have someone with authority lock up all the other bottles. Same with gadgets.

 

Have a locker box for all gadgets. Be ruthless.  Lock them up.

 

And find other non gadget activities to fill up the empty time slots.

 

To expect an adult who has been surrounded by boozing friends all his life, and with unlimited free supply of booze within arms reach, not to drink himself to addiction, is quite unrealistic. So, how come we are surprised that kids who are given smartphones without ruthless limits, are addicted to them. Let’s be realistic and accept reality.