Getting Your Kids to Play Without Screens and Technology
While gaming devices, tablets, and smartphones are everywhere you turn nowadays, it easy to forget that they are all still a relatively new invention. There are plenty of parents who can still remember life without mobile devices and the Xbox, and also how playing as a child used to be so different. Just a couple of decades ago, parents would punish children by making them stay indoors while their friends played outside, but nowadays, it is limiting time in front of screens and technology that serves as punishment. Perhaps limiting that time is something that should be done every day, as it seems as though children are forgetting how to play without a device in front of their face.
It’s not just a reliance on technology that is becoming a problem with the youth of today, it is the overall effect that it has on their personality and health. The art of conversation is dying, some kids don’t know how to make eye contact while talking to others, and it can also be argued that compassion for others is becoming extinct. When your friends are nothing more than someone at the other end of a text message or a social media page, it’s tough to form a truly tight bond. There is also the issue of childhood obesity to consider. Kids don’t expend any energy sitting in front of a computer or spending their day on a mobile device. That needs to change.
Modern parents are busier than ever before, often working long hours and still trying to maintain a family and household. It can all be very exhausting, making it easy to entertain a child by simply giving them the latest gadget to play with. Independent play is healthy for a child, but so is social interaction, which is why getting them off the device and out into the world is such a good idea. Parents need to make time for their kids, even if it means taking them to and from places where other kids frequently hang out (the park, a trampoline or bounce-house place, the zoo, a museum, etc).
A day at the park is a great way to get some fresh air, burn some energy, and potentially meet new friends. Encouraging your kid to be part of a club or team at school is also a good idea. This is an excellent way for them to meet people with shared goals and interests, and while they will all likely end up following each other on social media, they will also be in a position where they will be meeting up face to face a couple of times per week.
Getting your kids to play without the aid of technology can be done, but it all starts with you taking the lead. Your child is not likely to buy into the idea of getting out to play if you spend all your time with your face buried in a smartphone or tablet (kids learning eye contact starts at home). This is an opportunity for you to lead by example, and to also become more social by putting down the phone, even if only for a few hours per day to begin with.