Combating Tech Tantrum

by Hima P, IT Facilitator

Right from the beginning of time, human beings have been exploring new ways to support their survival, and thus, it gave rise to the discovery of technology. Although the invention of technology came with a motive of making our lives easier by minimizing our efforts and hard work in getting things done, it ended up making us it's slave.

Gone are the days when a baby was put to sleep by a lullaby sung by mother; when a crying baby was controlled using a pacifier or distracted with a favorite toy, and the child was fed not just with food but also with moral stories told by parents or grandparents. Now the lullaby has been proudly replaced by music/video applications. A pacifier placed in a crying toddler's mouth replaced by mobile phones placed in his/her hand. The stories that created excitement and curiosity to immerse in his/her imaginary world and have food replaced by cartoons or videos shown on TV. And now as a result we see children throwing tantrums when the technology is taken away from them.

How do we tackle this problem?

Just as this addiction happens slowly over time, withdrawal from this habit takes time too. As a parent some basic things that can be resorted to are the following:

1.  Let children have a basic idea about using major technology.

2. Spend quality time with them and engage them in real-time activities, physical and/or creative which is completely devoid of technology.

3.  Limit the time a child spends on technology because children usually do what they see.

4.  Have talks with the child and try to make him/ her understand that technology is part of life and not life itself.

These are minor steps you can take care of to deal with tech tantrums of your child. But having said that, we should try not to indulge children in technology, and realize that precaution is always better than cure.