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Childhood is the best time to learn things and enhance your brain’s potential. However, in the digital age, this constant use of devices and gadgets can hinder this process by reducing the challenges our brain needs to develop. The use of digital devices can reduce children’s attention span making it difficult for them to focus on tasks for long periods of time. Instant gratification from constant internet access can limit critical thinking and problem-solving skills, as children rely on quick answers rather than facing challenges. (Also read: Childhood obesity on the rise: 6 effective ways to deal with junk food addiction in children)
Being glued to gadgets all the time is also affecting the development of social skills in children as they lose interest in face-to-face interactions which are essential for building emotional intelligence and empathy. Exposure to blue light from screens can also disrupt their sleep which can affect brain function and learning abilities.
Author Neha Hiranandani is the author of the parenting book – iParent: Embracing Parenting in the Digital Age Here are some tips for parents that can help them enhance their children’s intelligence and improve their mental health in this digital age.
“It’s not just the ‘screenagers’ who are affected. Nine- and ten-year-olds who watch more than two hours of screen time per day score lower on thinking and language tests. Some children have prematurely thinned cerebral cortexes due to screen time – their grey matter is literally disappearing! But living in a tech-free world is not an option, so how can you boost your child’s mental health and intelligence in this digital age?” Hiranandani said in an interview to HT Digital.
She offers tips to help parents improve their children’s intelligence.
1. Reduce the habit of doing multiple tasks at once
Our kids often insist that they are perfectly capable of doing their homework, as they sit with a phone in one hand and a tablet in the other. Using their device as an integrated supercomputer, slot machine, porn portal, date finder and messaging service all at once, they are multitasking wildly. But research shows that multitasking almost guarantees that your performance will suffer.
This suffering can be minor, like scoring a few low marks on a test, but it can also be devastating, which is what happens during most texting and driving accidents. Our brains are not designed to constantly juggle balls like circus performers and, therefore, opening three tabs while writing a paper is not what we are made for. Encourage kids to stop multitasking. We are not made for this – it’s like telling a fish to climb a tree.
2. Learn from the Dutch
As modern-day parents, we have become experts at scheduling too much time for our children. Mandarin classes must be balanced with piano tuition and, of course, every child should learn at least two sports. ‘Team sports build teamwork, but solo sports build leadership,’ we insist breathlessly as we take our kids to both soccer camp and tennis classes.
Leading busy lives with a laptop in one hand, a tablet in the other and a phone tucked under their ear, kids are living at a frenetic, frenetic pace. So, when they are advised to put their phone away, they think of what to do instead. Do nothing, says ‘Nixon’, a Dutch practice that is becoming popular among psychologists around the world. Do absolutely nothing. Put the phone aside and enjoy the pause. Look out the window. Lie awake in bed. Watch the grass grow. Every artist will agree: creativity is usually born from moments of emptiness. That’s why the best ideas often come to you when you take a long bath or stir the dishes.
For too long we have been led to believe that busy kids are a stepping stone to success, when in fact endless busyness can actually hinder progress. So, the next time your child asks you what to do, answer plainly, ‘Do nothing.’ This isn’t laziness, it’s probably the most important skill they’ll ever learn.
3. Unloading selectively
From sending them reminders to call their mom to doing their math homework, our kids’ phones can do it all for them. But in a world where they can give their whole brain over to technology, our kids have to consciously decide how much brain they want to invest in. For example, in a museum, you’re more likely to remember a painting if you actually look at it rather than take a picture of it.
Remind kids to take time to experience the things that really matter — beautiful things, artwork, a full moon — rather than just putting them on their phones and posting them on Instagram. If you want something to live forever, it’s safer to keep it in your heart than in a photo album on your phone.
4. Find your flow
Recently, I was at a violin recital event. When the violinist placed her bow on the instrument, everyone in the audience forgot their phones and sat back, mesmerized. The performer, an older woman in black pants with her hair tied down, was completely lost in the music of her strings. She was in flow. Technology has given us a cognitive gift by freeing up some of our mental capacity.
It would be a waste to use this space to just watch cat videos. Instead, what if we could use it to intentionally gain real expertise and go deep into something that really matters? To strip away the ego, to let time fly, to achieve a zen-like state where every movement flows seamlessly from the previous one. It’s true that most of us won’t become concert violinists, but I’m realizing that you can achieve flow even while washing dishes.
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